Colosseum – The ultimate Rome trip itinerary Day 2

Arm yourself, men, facing your destiny and glory

This Rome trip is in the honor of my birthday boy, for over half year we can’t wait to spend time in Colosseum at that exact day! The countdown ended, and we are here in the most amazing work from ancient Romans.

Here is the short history background of Colosseum:

Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his heir, Titus.

The name Colosseum is believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Nero (Colossus Neronis) which was placed nearby. This giant bronze statue was later remodeled by Nero’s successors into the likeness of Helios or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown, which you may seen from some movies or video games that recreate the scene.

The Colloseum was used for gladiator contests and public spectacles such as naval combat (Naumachia), animal hunts, and executions.

Naval battle is the one that surprised me the most but it only happened once, then romans constructed the current underground cages and training areas that would be under the boards of the main arena.

Today we are talking about some of the ideas behind the Colosseum. There is so much trivia on the internet, and I also don’t want to include spoilers, so I’ll just mention a few:

The gladiators were professional fighters, they trained to fight each other or  beasts, I have to admit at here, there are two movies I like a lot as a kid, one is Gladiator, the other is -guilty-pleasure- Double team which Jean-claude Van Damme (!) where he saved a baby at the colosseum it left a huge impression on me! like seriously? fought the tiger?! and still to these days I couldn’t believe there are once the live performance of these brutal scene. the performance is REAL life and death at every moment. Even the gladiators had won the battle, he would still need the favor of the emperor, thumb up or down to be set free.

We bought a book from Colosseum souvenir shop, a painting that indicate actually women were infatuated with the idea of killing and often risked themselves by jumping on the arena to get the sweat and blood of gladiators as aphrodisiacs. What do you think of this part?

Before Constantine the Great converted to Christianity, the Christians were considered criminals, and will be brought to the stage for last execution… although it had made a huge turn over about this part of the history, there is a big Cross is placed at the front of the stage, saying rest in peace to those poor souls.

Although the epic fights were abandoned and the Colosseum was forgotten when nature took over, she became a giant botanic garden for over hundreds of years, and after several times earthquakes, thunder, wars, even Napoleon’s army, she is still standing there, and will be always there.   

We enjoyed it a great time even though the crowd is huge. She really got me thinking about fatalism. You never know your destiny. That’s the philosophical question that thousands years people always talk about. It’s undeniable the nature of as a human being, we are all curious about knowing our own destiny. Asking the helps from fortune tellers, tarot cards, astrology signs, blood types…etc, anything can help to unveil the surface of life, has the charm to some people. But when you standing on the arena facing the beast, it is the moment you are facing the life or death. What can you do? you can only Fight! fight for your dignity, strength, and faith. Although nowaday everything seems much peaceful once compared to the Colosseum fights, it is the remarkable architecture that reminds me the strength within me.

In old time, Colosseum was the most extravagant theater of the world, and to these days, after our visit, I still will say she is the most extravagant work to all world! here I would like to quote from a Italian journey from 1787 by Johann Wolfgang “In the evening we came upon the Colosseum, when it was already twilight.When one looks at it, all else seems little; the edifice is so vast, that one can not hold the image of it in one’s soul-in memory we think it smaller, and then return to it again to find it every time greater than before.” That’s exactly how I feel about Colosseum. we appreciate it so much especially my man loves to spend time in museum at his birthday! seeing him happy makes me delighted! No matter how much time I had spent to know the right tickets to buy, everything seems so worth it! And please feel free to see my previous post about what kind of ticket is best for you, believe me, it’s really helpful.
Alright, friends, Caio! come with us for more Rome adventures!

Tips for visiting Colosseum:

1. Please see the full post of tips about buying ticket here.
2. I Suggest stay here at least 2 hours.
3. Please wear walkable shoes, sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, and water bottle.
4. Bring your camera! it’s photogenic place to keep memories with.

To see other attractions of Rome stories and tips, click below to see individual posts:

Day 1
Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain)→ Pantheon & Fontana del Pantheon→ Obelisco Della Minerva (Elephant and Obelisk)→ Church of St. Louis of the French (San Luigi dei Francesi) → Largo di Torre Argentina→ Capitoline Museums

Day 2
Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps)→ Palatine Hill→ Foro Romano (Roman Forum)→ Colosseum

Day 3
Domus Aurea (Only open on weekend)→ Galleria Borghese→ Piazza del Popolo→ MAXXI museum

I wish you had enjoyed today’s sharing. follow me ＠gabbie_arciniegas  & @betterthanauthentic on Instagram or sign up the newsletter of the blog! you will get notification of new post here!

XO,

Gabrielle