Today we woke around 8:30am to make it out to the Coliseum in time to get tickets without waiting in the line too long! We went to the ruins or more commonly known as the Palantine to get our tickets for the day. At the Palantine they give you a ticket for both access to the Palantine and the Coliseum. Bad thing was that Scott was in line ahead of me and told the ticket agent that he American…..no student discount after that!!! So we both paid 11 euro each. To see both the Palantine and the Coliseum for that price is a pretty good deal!
While first walking around the Palantine, I found myself trying to picture the Romans going about there daily routine or getting ready to go see a gladiator fight at the nearby coliseum. One thing about the Palantine is that it is a very large piece of land. The ruins stretch for almost ½ mile in all directions. I was astonished to see the marble pillars still standing. One other observation that I had was that even though the Romans seemed quite barbaric, they were very precise architects. By looking at some of the ruins you can see just how precise each brick was placed or how each archway is in perfect line with the one across from it.
The coliseum was another amazing sight! If you have ever seen the movie “Gladiator,” you can’t help but try and picture Marcus Aurelias fending off three other gladiators, all the while having thousands of screaming Romans either waving their white flags in mercy or giving the thumbs down if they were feeling like they needed to see somebody killed. Underneath the ground of the coliseum are a bunch of pathways, almost looked like a maze. It was an eerie feeling knowing that many prisoners were led through these pathways under the ground of the coliseum only minutes later to be slaughtered in front of thousands of people. I will mention that the most annoying thing about being a visitor to the coliseum is that you have to deal with many illegal swindlers….I can’t tell you how many times I had to say no.
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