The Colosseum, the Jewish Revolt, the Diaspora, and Christianity | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Rome Colosseum

Okay, we did the Colosseum today, partly because it was one of those “When in Rome” things. On reflection, we rather wish that we had done the Basilicas.

However, there is no way to grasp the sheer magnitude of the place without seeing it in real life.

The nearly 2000 year old structure was so solidly built that despite the depredations of earthquakes, fires, riots, war, and the plundering of its apparently inexhaustible supply of ready cut travertine blocks for St. Peter’s, the Barberini and Cancelleria palaces, and pollution and the vibrations of cars and the metro, it’s still relatively intact. “A noble wreck in ruinous perfection,” Byron called it.

Construction commenced in AD 72 with the booty from Vespasian’s brutal crushing of the Jewish revolt.

70, 000 Hebrew slaves did the heavy work at the Colosseum, hauling 50,000 cartloads of pre-cut travertine from the quarries at Tivoli 27 km away.

Interestingly, these were the people Paul wrote his letter to the Romans to.

Vespasian chose the site of a lake that lay in front of Nero’s Aureus Doma, Golden Palace, where Nero had erected a Colossus, giant statue, of himself as a Sun God (hence its name).

It was inaugurated in 8 years, a short time for such a massive building by Vespasian’s son, Titus.

Before the building of the Colosseum, gladiatorial and other bloody sports took place in the Forum in wooden stands specially erected and taken down for the occasion.

The colosseum was designed over four levels, seating up to 70-80,000 people. “Tickets” were free–carved on wood, with the entrance, row, aisle, and seat under. There were 80 entrances, beneath the magnificent arches. Thus 80,000 people could be seated within minutes, with admirable Roman efficiency (now inherited by the Swiss, Germans and US military??).

The word arena is derived from the Latin for sand, which covered the floor to soak up blood.

And here, the gladiators greeted Caesar with their famous greeting, “Hail Caesar, we who are about to die, salute you. Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutamus.”

In the hundred day games that inaugurated the Colosseum, 9000 beasts were massacred, 12 a minute, and during the 450 years it was used, several breeds of African elephants and lions were rendered extinct.

As Christianity took hold, the gladiatorial games gradually grew less popular. They were eventually banned in 404 AD, and animal fights ended in the next century.

Isn’t it amazing that people who now weep at the suffering of animals could once see bears tied to bulls, fighting to the death, dogs set against wolves, lions taking on tigers, all to the death!

Has Christianity contributed to an evolution and softening of the heart? I hope so.

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Interior of the Coliseum, with a partially reconstructed arena floor in the foreground

Coliseum — interior archway leading to the arena.

The Jewish historian Josephus who was present at the festivities and the display of the Jewish booty after the crushing of the Jewish revolt writes,

“As dawn began to break, Titus and Vespasian emerged, crowned in laurel wreaths and wearing the time-honored purple clothes, and walked to the Octavian colonnade. There the Senate, the magistrates and those of Equestrian status were waiting for their arrival.

A tribunal had been erected in front of the colonnade, with ivory chairs placed on it for them. As they walked forward to take their seats, all the soldiers raised an immediate cheer, paying abundant testimony to their valor, while Titus and Vespasian sat unarmed, dressed in silk garments and wearing their laurel wreaths. Vespasian acknowledged their acclaim, and, although they were keen to continue cheering, made a sign for silence. As all fell completely quiet, he rose, and, covering most of his head with a veil, made the traditional prayers. Titus followed him in doing likewise. . . Afterwards, donning the triumphal robes and sacrificing to the gods stationed at the gate, they sent the procession on its way through the theatres to give the crowds a better view.

In Rome, The Arch of Titus
celebrating the Roman
victory over the Jews still stands

It is impossible to do justice in the description of the number of things to be seen and to the magnificence of everything that met the eye, whether in skilled craftsmanship, staggering richness or natural rarity. For almost all the remarkable and valuable objects which have ever been collected, piece by piece, by prosperous people, were on that day massed together, affording a clear demonstration of the might of the Roman Empire. The quantities of silver, gold and ivory, worked into every conceivable form, were not like those usually carried in a triumph, but resembled, as it were, a running river of wealth. Purple cloth of extreme rarity was carried along, some of it fashioned by Babylonian skill into accurate pictorial representations. Translucent gems, embedded in diadems or other objects, were borne in such profusion as to dispel any idea that they were rare. . . In charge of each part of the procession was a number of men in purple and gold costumes, while those selected for the triumph itself wore choice clothes of astonishing richness. Even the prisoners were worth seeing – no disordered mob, but the variety and beauty of their clothes diverted the eye from the disfigurement of their injuries.

The greatest amazement was caused by the floats. Their size gave grounds for alarm about their stability, for many were three or four stories high, and in the richness of their manufacture they provided an astonishing and pleasurable sight. Many were covered in cloth of gold, and worked gold or ivory was fixed on all of them. The war was divided into various aspects and represented in many tableaux which gave a good indication of its character. Here was a fertile land being ravaged, here whole detachments of enemy being slaughtered, others -in flight and others being led off into captivity. Here were walls of colossal size being pounded down by siege-engines, here strongpoints being captured, and here well-defended fortifications overwhelmed. On one float the army could be seen pouring inside the walls, on another was a place running with blood. Others showed defenseless men raising their hands in entreaty, firebrands being hurled at temples or buildings falling on their owners. On yet others were depicted rivers, which, after the destruction and desolation, flowed no longer through tilled fields providing water for men and cattle, but through a land on fire from end to end. It was to such miseries that the Jews doomed themselves by the war. . . Standing on his individual float was the commander of each of the captured cities showing the way he had been taken prisoner. . .

The sack of Jerusalem depicted
on the Arch of Titus

Spoil in abundance was carried past. None of it compared with that taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, a golden table many stones in weight and a golden lamp stand, similarly made, which was quite unlike any object in daily use. A centre shaft rose from a base, and from the shaft thin branches or arms extended, in a pattern very like that of tridents, each wrought at its end into a lamp. There were seven of these lamps, thus emphasizing the honour paid by the Jews to the number seven. A tablet of the Jewish Law was carried last of all the spoil. After it came a large group carrying statues of victory, all of them made of ivory and gold. The procession was completed by Vespasian, and, behind him, Titus. Domitian rode on horseback wearing a beautiful uniform and on a mount that was wonderfully well worth seeing.

The procession ended up at the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, where the generals got down. They still had to wait for the traditional moment when the news was brought of the death of the enemy leader. In this case he was Simon, son of Giovas, who had passed in procession with the captives, and had been dragged under the lash, with his head in a noose, to a spot near the Forum. That is the traditional place at Rome for the execution of those condemned to death for war-crimes. When his end was announced and a general cheer had arisen, they started the sacrifices, and after completing them with the customary prayers, they retired to the palace. . .

For on that day the city of Rome made holiday for their victory in the war against the Jews, for the end of civil disorder, and for the rising expectations of peace and prosperity.”

Other trivia: Vespasian partly financed the building of the Colosseum with taxes on using public urinals. The urine was collected and used to dye wool.

When asked by a son how he could bear to make money with such a malodorous substance, he replied, “Pecunia non olet,”–money doesn’t smell. Indeed!

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