Roman Forum & Colosseum, Day 3

"Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you!"

This was our view of the iconic Colosseum as we awaited our tour. We signed up for a complete guided tour of the Forum, inside the Colosseum, and the exclusive "underground" tour where the gladiators prepared for battle. Unfortunately, whatever luck we'd had evading crowds had run out.

First we walked through the Forum ruins. If someone can give me a comprehensive summary of the Forum, that would be fantastic. Our guide was clearly knowledgeable, but difficult to understand in all the chaos. From what I can gather, it was an important center of Roman life where elections, speeches, and governments operations took place. It was even a marketplace at some point. Over the hundreds of years, the buildings would sink into the earth and others were built on top of them. Several excavations have occurred, and now it's a mishmash of ruins from many eras.

Palatine Hill, the mythical founding place of Rome.

This is the Arc of Titus. From what I gather, arcs were typically built to symbolize triumphs in battle. According to our guide, however, this was an "arc of death" which

memorialized Titus's death.

The Colosseum (also called the Flavian Amphitheater) is the coolest building. Let's set aside the death and carnage that took place here for a moment and bask in the iconic nature of it. It's the largest ancient amphitheater ever built, and still the largest standing amphitheater. In its heyday it could hold 50,000-80,000 spectators.

And now for the exclusive "underground" tour where gladiators prepared to compete and animals were kept and prepared for the games.

We had a different guide take us through the catacombs. Away from the chaos, I was able to understand a bit more of the presentation. Our guide was insistent that gladiators weren't free--that they were prisoners and slaves. I'm finding opposing information on the Internet, that some gladiators were venerated heroes and free men. But because the Colosseum was in use for 400 years, there was probably more than one narrative.

One thing is certain, countless men and animals met their deaths here. This is a replica of an elevator type mechanism that would transport animals to the stage area.

We made our way to the stage or arena. Part of the stage floor has been rebuilt and part has been left exposed to show the underground tunnels.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" (Sorry, I had to.)

Though we were tired, we decided to come back at night to get some cool views of the Colosseum lit up. Not a mistake.

This is probably the coolest image from the night, Julie's photography skills fully on display here. So we got our final glimpses and said goodbye, for now, to the Colosseum.