The Colosseum

INDEX

Amphitheatres

history and development 24–5, 36–8

Androcles and the lion 99

animal hunters 95–6

suicide 85 see also women

animals in the arena 44–9, 55, 94–103

dangers of 100, 135–6

morning shows 55, 73, 95–6

procurement 100–103

scale of slaughter 8, 42, 51, 94–5, 96–8

unimpressive? 53, 101 see also martyrs

architectural methods at Rome 144–5

Arval Brethren (Roman priesthood), seating allocation 108

Asterix the Gladiator 59

Augustus (Roman emperor, 31 BC–AD 14) 39, 43, 89, 98, 110

Byron, Lord, descriptions of Colosseum 3–4, 7–8, 10, 12

Cellini, Benvenuto 150–52

Chirico, Giorgio De, images of gladiators 68–9

Circus Maximus 23, 37, 98

Coliseum, London 158–9

‘Colossus’ 34–5, 95, 115, 150

Colosseum,

ambivalent modern reactions 5–12, 16–20

awnings (‘vela’) 127–8

boxes 133–4

boundary bollards 127–8

building and design 127–30, 142–8

bullfight in arena, 1332 2, 151, 154–5

Christian shrines, monuments and ceremonies 5–7, 13, 103, 164–71

dangers for visitors, ancient and modern 9–10, 114, 116, 135–6

depicted on Olympic medal vi-viii

drainage 142

emperor’s role in 40–41, 49–50, 113–18

end of gladiator and animal shows 152–4

entrance-ways 128–30

etymology 149–50

excavations 138, 171–3

Fascist interventions under Mussolini 13, 173–6, 188

flora 7–8, 177–80

flooding 43–4, 138–42

foundations 146–8

founding 26–35

frequency of use 54–5

Hitler visits 1938 173–5

Illumination 4–5, 19–20

inaugural shows, AD 80 8, 23–4, 42–50

medieval traditions 149–52

model for later architecture 157–8

modern tourism 12–19

necromancy 150–52

nineteenth-century responses 1–12, 169

original appearance and decoration 124, 126, 130–31, 188

‘passageway of Commodus’ 133–4, 188

plundering and ‘quarrying’ 160–62

restorations, ancient and modern 122–4, 154, 166–7, 171

re-use after antiquity 17, 157, 162–3, 170

role in Roman politics 25–6, 38–41, 106–7, 110–12, 117–18

Roman reactions 21–6

seating arrangements 106–111, 131–3

substructures beneath arena 15, 136–42, 171–2

Commodus (Roman emperor, AD 180–92) 82, 101, 114–17, 120, 134

‘condemnation to the wild beasts’ see martyrs

Constantius II (Roman emperor, AD 337–61) 24

Deakin, Richard, Flora of the Colosseum 178–80

Dickens, Charles, Pictures from Italy 8–9

Domitian (Roman emperor, AD 81–96) 61, 114

emperor, role of in Rome 39–41

executions, as mythical ‘charades’ 45–9, 55

Faustina (wife of Marcus Aurelius, died AD 175), rumoured affair with gladiator 82

Fea, Carlo 138–41, 163

Forum, gladiatorial display in 37

‘Frangipane palace’ 163

Gaudentius, ‘architect’ of Colosseum 2, 144

Galen (physician, died AD 199/216) 75–6

Gérôme, Jean-Léon, paintings of gladiatorial combat 14, 56–60, 68, 89, 134

Gladiator see Scott, Ridley

gladiatorial shows,

Christian reactions 120, 153

complexity of Roman reactions 118–121

economics 76, 90–92

end 153–4

organisation and programme 51, 70–73

origins 119

presented by aristocrats 52–3

scale and frequency 52–3, 91–3

standard modern image 55–60

version of military prowess 83

gladiators,

armour 63, 66–71

betting on 56, 72

civic status 76–7

emperors as 78, 114–18

graffiti from Pompeii 71, 81, 86–7, 89

last meal 56, 72

maximum prices 90

object of spectacle 83–4

Priscus and Verus 49–50

rates of death 42–3, 86–9, 93–4

Roman images 63–4, 80

Roman oratory 78, 85–6

senators as 78, 114

sexuality 64–5, 69, 80–83

suicide 53, 84–5

tax on sale, abolition 90, 91–2

tombstones 60–2. 86–9

total numbers 92–3

types 55–6, 60–66 see also Seneca, Tertullian, women

‘Golden House’ see Nero

‘Hail Caesar, those about to die…’ 55, 58–60

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Marble Faun 7

Ignatius, Saint (died early second century AD), martyrdom 104

James, Henry, Daisy Miller 10

Ludus Magnus 136, 185–6

McCartney, Paul 17

Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor, AD 161–80) 76, 82, 90, 119–20

Martial (Roman poet), Book of the Shows 23–4, 44–50, 66, 96–7

martyrs, Christian 5, 13, 103–6, 164–6

‘Meta Sudans’ 95, 186

Murray’s Handbook to Central Italy 1–9

Nero (Roman emperor AD 54–68) 26, 34–5, 75 ‘Golden House’ 28–32 see also ‘Colossus’

Olympic Games, Sydney vii-ix

Perpetua and Felicity, Saints (died AD 203) 72, 105–6, 130

Pompeii, gladiatorial barracks, armour from 66–8

woman in 82–3

riot in amphtheatre 38, 110 see also gladiators, graffiti from Pompeii

‘Roman fever’ 9–10

Saepta (‘Voting Pens’) 37, 39–40

Scott, Ridley, Gladiator 13, 57–8, 76, 121

Seneca (Roman writer, died AD 65), on gladiators and shows 70–72, 78. 80, 85, 118

Sixtus V, Pope 2, 157, 166

Spartacus (freedom fighter, died 71 BC) 77–9

Stael, Madame de, Corinne 9

Sulla, Lucius Cornelius (Roman dictator, c.138–79 BC) 107–8

Tertullian (Roman/Christian writer, died c. AD 240), on shows and gladiators 47, 72, 119

tintinnabulum, self-castration 64–5

Titus (Roman emperor, AD 79–81) 2, 27–9, 31–2, 42–5, 49–50, 51–2, 61

Trajan (Roman emperor, AD 98–117) 51–2, 61, 88–9, 145

Triumph over Jews, AD 71 27–9

Twain, Mark, Innocents Abroad 10–12, 16–17

Vespasian (Roman emperor, AD 69–79) 2, 26–35

Vestal Virgins 58, 107, 134

Virgil (Roman poet, 70–19 BC), ‘architect’ of Colosseum 149

‘Voting Pens’, see Saepta

Wharton, Edith, ‘Roman Fever’ 10, 189

women, as animal hunters 44

as gladiators 75