L'Italo-Americano

Continued from page 16 t a k e n l e s s t h a n t o d a y , b e c a u s e a l l o f i t s 8 0 entrance doors were used! At the apex of its popu- larity, gladiator games were perhaps the most common among the forms of enter- tainment presented at the Colosseum, but they weren't c e r t a i n l y t h e o n l y o n e s . There were hunting games, military re-enactments, and e v e n m y t h o l o g y - b a s e d plays, but the most impres- sive of all must have been the naumachiae, re-enact- m e n t s o f n a v a l b a t t l e s : a c c o r d i n g t o M a r t i n Crapper, professor of civil e n g i n e e r i n g a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f E d i n b u r g h , t h e a r e n a w a s f i l l e d w i t h water stored into internal wells, located underneath the bleachers, which would then flow through a com- p l e x p i p e s y s t e m t o t h e arena: it would take up to 7 hours to fill it all. It must have all been very scenic, b u t g l a d i a t o r g a m e s r e m a i n e d t h e f a v o r i t e a m o n g R o m a n p e o p l e , a n d m a u m a c h i a e n e v e r quite manage to become as popular. When it was in use, the Colosseum had other inter- esting features, such as a huge velarium (a cloth cov- ering) made up of some 80 triangular sails, controlled b y 3 3 2 s u p p o r t r o p e s . The velarium was used to c o v e r t h e a r e n a a n d t h e bleachers when the sun was t o o h o t . A n o t h e r n o t a b l e characteristic was the pres- ence of hundreds of statues a n d m a r b l e d e c o r a t i o n s , both outside and inside the structure: if it stands majes- tic and breathtaking today, imagine how it must have been 2000 years ago. Around the 6th century, h o w e v e r , t h e C o l o s s e u m s t o p p e d b e i n g u s e d a n d b e g a n s u f f e r i n g f r o m neglect. Throughout the fol- l o w i n g c e n t u r i e s , i t w a s used mostly as a source of primary materials – think of marble and bricks- to build or decorate other buildings in the city: this wonder of t h e C l a s s i c a l w o r l d w a s reduced in size and magni- t u d e t o w h a t w e s t i l l s e e today which, according to experts, represents only 1/3 of the original construction. Travertine was either used as it was, or cooked to pro- duce lye; marble was taken away to embellish or restore buildings and homes; water pipes were pulled out and used as a source of lead, and even the iron rods keeping together masonry structures w e r e o f t e n r e m o v e d a n d repurposed. The "sack of the Colosseum" continued well into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance when popes would easily concede, for a handsome sum of money, the right to export materials from the ancient building; the only area left untouched was the north-side façade, because it faced the way fol- lowed by religious proces- sions to reach San Giovanni in Laterano. Speaking of the Lateran, marbles, stones, a n d i r o n r o d s f r o m t h e C o l o s s e u m w e r e u s e d t o restore its façade in 1439. In 1452, some Giovanni Foglia from Como exported 2,522 cartloads of materials taken from the Colosseum and ten years later, it was again the ancient wonder's travertine that was used to build the Holy Staircase, part of the c i t y ' s w a l l s , S a i n t M a r k B a s i l i c a a n d P a l a z z o Venezia. So far, we found out that marble, stones, metal, and e v e n b r i c k s w e r e s t o l e n f r o m t h e C o l o s s e u m throughout the centuries, b u t w h a t a b o u t t h e m o s t c o n s p i c u o u s t h i n g t h a t ' s missing from it, half of its t o p p a r t ? T o u s , t h e Colosseum has always been asymmetrical, but of course, i t h a d n ' t b e e n b u i l t t h a t w a y ! I n f a c t , p a r t o f i t s structure collapsed in 1349, w h e n a n e a r t h q u a k e , t h e epicenter of which was in the Central Apennines, hit the capital. I can see some raising their hands to ask questions… yes, Rome isn't in an area at high risk for earthquakes, but it can hap- pen, when they are particu- larly violent and their epi- center is relatively near, that they damage buildings in t h e c a p i t a l , t o o . W h a t ' s interesting though, is dis- covering why only half of t h e C o l o s s e u m c r u m b l e d down, while the other was barely compromised, if at all. That's because the struc- ture was erected in part on solid, rocky ground, in part on a much more unstable terrain, mostly formed of r i v e r s e d i m e n t s c o m i n g from an ancient affluent of t h e T i b e r . B u t t h e 1 3 4 9 earthquake wasn't the only o n e t o d a m a g e o u r Colosseum: the same hap- p e n e d i n 4 4 2 , 4 8 4 , 1 2 3 1 , 1255, and 1703. Made of travertine, tuff and brick-faced concrete, the Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever built (Photo: Stechouse/Dreamstime) This elliptical beauty, with its 189 meters in length, 156 in width and 48 in height, is the largest amphitheater in the world. In its heyday, it could host between 50,000 and 87, 000 people A dream-like sky over the Colosseum (Photo: Jan Wachala/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano

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