The Coliseum and the Forum
Some 2,000 years ago, the Forum and the Coliseum were the center of Roman civilization. The consisted of enormous churches, palaces, shopping malls, sports arenas and public buildings. Over the centuries, they suffered a lack of upkeep, as well as outright looting. Despite this, the evidence of their building ability is still on display. Now, it is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations. A fascinating visit!
And, as luck would have it, we arrived on the 2,766th anniversary of Rome. We were able to catch the tail end of a huge parade with people outfitted in garments like they were over the centuries. So we had the original buildings, as well as representative peoples. It was hard to narrow my pictures down to a manageable level; here are a few.
From a distance, it doesn’t look that big.. but it held 50,000 spectators!
More wall views
Enormous walls still stand
A view of the tunnels under the floor
A night visit gave an entirely different view
It is just as impressive at night
Arch of Constantine
Seating for 50,000
Dressed to kill (literally)
Those are some big dogs!
Roman war formation
Want to fight this guy? To the death?
Forum walls and portal
Some of the Forum buildings artwork
Laninga's Travel Blog 