The Grim Reality that was Rome.
We went to see the Colosseum during one of our first trips to Rome. We stood in the plebs queue for what seemed all day and finally made it inside. It was busy and it was hot, even in October. No surprise. And it was quite something to see.
The two things I remember most apart from the wait, are the small, delicate, gladiator graphitti carved into the stones and the modern timber cross to the Christian martyrs who died in there. To be honest once I saw the huge cross, which if I remember correctly stands just behind where the Emperors "box" was, it entirely changed my perception of the place. It's a pretty stark and effective reminder that you're standing in a butcher's yard.
I see the Colosseum's lower underground areas (that were so evocatively replicated and portrayed in the film "Gladiator") are being opened up to the public for tours. That's one tour that's not for me I'm afraid. In a mingling crowd of noisy tourists it will be a selfie nightmare; in a quiet evening, alone with the stones, (if such a thing is possible in Rome) it will be a sad and eerie place to be. Even after all these years, sometimes you can get too close to the details.
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