Gladiator

Yesterday was such an amazing day....I got to go into the Colosseum!! We live right near this beautiful structure and have been walking by it since Monday but we finally got to go inside! Most people who are normal and not a scardy-cat like me have seen the movie Gladiator and probably know a little more history or what the Colosseum should look like. We didnt have a guide for this tour so I was kinda bummed about that because usually the guides give little secret facts about the place that most people dont know. After passing through everyone in line (we had a group pass) we walked up the steps to the first level. At this level you can pretty much see everything just not from a birds eye view (which is at the top level). The original flooring is gone and what you can see are the underground passageways that were used and this is where the animals and prisoners were kept before the event. The colosseum could hold 50,000 people and was built in 80 AD (sorry for this history buff but i think its interesting and i just had to write about it for my journal!). It was originally named the Flavian Amphitheatre but it got the nickname Colosseum because of its colossal structure.

Supposedly when it got really hot outside they would put a tarp like thing over the top of the entire stadium...like a sail from a boat...must have sucked if that was your job! The elite werent the only ones who were allowed to attend...the unemployed did also in order to keep the streets not so busy. It was really amazing to be in this giant stadium where so many events have taken place and I was just in awe thinking about all of it. Even though I hate gorey films...I really want to watch Gladiator now that I am learning about all of this amazing history!