The archæology of Rome, Part 7

by John Henry Parker

PREFACE TO THE COLOSSEUM.

The great excavations carried on in this colossal building in the years 1874 and 1875, have thrown an entirely new light on its history. These were made under the level of the ground, at the foot of the podium, which is the same as that of the original arena; this large level space had been indifferently called the ground, the floor, the stage, the area, or the arena; no one had any idea that the original pavement would be found 21 ft. below that level, and that the intervening space was filled with walls and passages, dens for wild beasts, places for lifts to send up men, and dogs, and animals: and canals for water, and several other contrivances for the use of the performers on the stage above, for practically the arena was the stage on which the performances took place. These excavations have enabled us to ascertain that this had been a boarded floor covered with sand, or arena (whence its name), and that this floor could be moved and replaced in a short time, at the word of the Emperor[1]. The evidence of this is brought out clearly in the present work. Large corbels, or brackets, are provided for placing the boards upon when removed, and keeping them out of sight of the people in the galleries; they project from the wall below the podium, in the passage over the dens[2].

We had all of us hitherto been taught that this enormous structure had been all built in ten years by the Flavian emperors; this is the uniform modern history, but no ancient author says so. It is only one of the so-called “Roman Traditions,” which (as I am obliged to repeat continually) are nothing but the conjectures of learned men during the last three centuries, especially Panvinius and his school in the seventeenth. In the present instance it is evident that so far from having been all built in ten years, it was more than a century about from first to last; it was begun in the time of Sylla the Dictator, by his step-son Scaurus, and is described by Pliny in his “Natural History” by the name of the insane work of Scaurus, who was called insane because he spent such an enormous fortune upon the work, (equal to more than two millions sterling of modern money). It is true that Pliny calls it a theatre and not an amphitheatre, and this has deceived scholars, who do not perceive that the two names were used quite indifferently at that period. Pliny himself contrasts it with the great theatre of Pompey, built long afterwards, and when the city had increased so much, yet which only held 40,000 people, while this building would hold 80,000. There is no other site in Rome where 80,000 people could be placed to see a show excepting this and the Circus Maximus, which is never called a theatre. An inscription has been found in the amphitheatre itself, in which it is called theatrum and not amphitheatrum, which is still a theatre, though it has two round ends to it, instead of one being flat. The celebrated Greek theatre at Taormina, in Sicily, which has the most perfect scena that is known anywhere, is still called by the people either theatre or amphitheatre indifferently, as I was told by the local guide on the spot, in May, 1876. Either a theatre or an amphitheatre was a place of public amusement.

This great building of Scaurus was three storeys high. On the level of the ground were marble columns by the hundred, on the first floor glass columns (the only instance on record), on the upper floor they were of gilt wood. Pliny says that part of this insane work was only calculated to be of a temporary character, and it was in fact all destroyed by fire a few years afterwards, and the glass columns perished equally with those of gilt wood; he also adds that other parts were calculated to be eternal, and this equally applies to the part we have remaining, the great substructures, which being underground, and built of large blocks of tufa, would last as long as the hills if let alone. Many of these great blocks of tufa appear to have been used a second time; they were most probably brought from the second wall of Rome, which enclosed the two hills (the Capitoline and Palatine) in one City, and therefore must have passed under the south end of the Palatine, close to this great amphitheatre. Immediately in front of it, and separated from it only by a paved street, the south end of the Summa Sacra Via is supported by a rough concrete wall of the time of Sylla, and on the surface of this concrete wall there are impressions of large blocks of tufa in the plaster with which the concrete is covered. It is well known that Roman mortar is often harder and more durable than stone. A few of the large blocks of tufa also remain in their places, where they were necessary to carry the vault of the platform above. These tufa blocks were used under the podium at the bottom, to the height of twenty feet, and parallel to them is another wall of the same kind, with just room enough for a narrow passage between them[3]. In these walls, on both sides, are vertical grooves, evidently for lifts to be pulled up and let down, and larger apertures at intervals for the counter-weights.

Behind this wall, under the path in front of the podium, are the dens for the wild beasts. At the back of each den, in the corner, is a vertical aperture about four feet square, descending from the passage in front of the podium; this descends to ten feet from the ground only, and was for the men to go down and feed the animals below without being exposed to danger. In front of each den is a hole in the original brick pavement, sometimes with a bronze socket remaining in its place. These sockets (of which there are a great number in the pavement) are evidently made for a pivot to work in each, and these pivots must have been the lower end of a post for a capstan to wind the twenty-one feet of cord upon, when the animal in his cage was pulled up to the top, and the trap-door opened by the same cord from below, to let him jump out when required for effect on the stage[4]. It is recorded by contemporary authors that on several occasions a hundred lions leapt on to the stage or arena at once. Some very curious graffiti, or scratchings on marble, by the workmen of the third century, have been found, one of which represents a hunt of wild beasts on the arena, in which apparently the dogs have broken loose[5]. Another shews the framework of the netting of gilt wire in front of the lower gallery[6].

There are five different representations of the Colosseum on the coins or medals of the Emperors, one of Vespasian, two of Alexander Severus, and one of Gordianus. These all appear to have been made from the architect’s designs before the work was completed; there are slight variations in the accessories, and the upper storey varies considerably. That of Gordianus has for the legend or inscription—

MVNIFICENTIA GORDIANI AVG.[7]

This great tufa wall, on the inner line, has evidently been much shaken by earthquakes in different parts, and the heads of the apertures (which are square-headed when original) have frequently had arches introduced, and are supported by brick walls of different periods[8]. In one instance an arch of tufa had been much shaken, and this is supported by a brick arch of the time of Nero[9]; there are also many other walls and arches of his time in different parts of the building, which make it clear that this building was the amphitheatre for the gymnasium and the naumachia of Nero. It is the natural site for it, close to his great palace, and the remains of that of Scaurus made him excellent foundations to build upon, according to the fashion of his own time, which was of brick, of the finest brickwork in the world. Those whose eyes are accustomed to it can never mistake the brickwork of the time of Nero; his awning is also mentioned; and the first book of the Epigrams of Martial is full of incidents and spectacles in this amphitheatre.