Ancient Rome: Colosseum and The Pantheon

This weekend we went to Rome guided by our CET leader Randell which was quite an exciting yet not totally fulfilling experience for me. My only recollection of Rome is through movies such as that of Gladiator so this visit to Rome would help put the movie in a more historical context straying for a sometimes exaggerated Hollywood portrayal. We first visited the Colosseum which was where performances as well as gladiator fighting occurred between slaves as well as slaves against wild animals such as that of tigers. As I walked to the Colosseum, I was taken back by the size of this enormous structure mainly attributed to picturing how many people would of been in attendance at one of certain Roman events. The fact that the Colosseum was not completely still standing lead me to finally realize how old ancient Rome truly is. While standing inside this enormous structure I was puzzled at why there was stone ruins in the middle of the grassy field where the battles and events presumably took place. Maybe this is the floor underneath the grassy field that I picture being the battlefield that has maybe deteriorated over time but I am not sure. The size and old look of the Colosseum is what truly blew me away putting this massive structure only seen in movies in context.

The next place I would like to comment on, but not to take the place of the ancient Roman city that was truly unbelievable is The Pantheon which is an old Pagan temple. What stuck out in my mind that blew my mind was the roof of the structure. In the ceiling is a giant hole or circular opening that does not protect the inside of the temple from weather. This hole was told to us to only have significance for the purpose of providing light for the interior of the structure but I still am sceptical of this fact. I feel as though maybe there is some religious symbolic reasoning but with the absence of Professor Cooperman this information is still not known. I plan on discussing this with the professor tomorrow to clarify Randell's information. I could not grasp the fact that the floor of The Pantheon was not totally deteriorated by the storms that roll through Rome but once again without the professor took away from my Rome experience. In conclusion, I would like to go back to Rome and further explore these two structures again. I will be going back to Rome to visit Vatican City with Nick this weekend so that will be amazing.