What Does Compassion Have To Do With It?
Last year I visited Rome. I spent more than a week in a conference confined inside a hotel with not many opportunities for sightseeing. It was my first time in Rome, so I wanted to at least to get to know something.
One day we sneaked out for shopping and I got to see some of the Rome’s centre around the main railway station. On another afternoon we could choose a tour. I chose the ‘Ancient Tour’ as I have always been fascinated by the history of the Roman Empire. We got to see the Capitol Hill and take a picture of the ancient Rome. But most of all I wanted a picture of myself in front of the Flavian Amphitheatre or the Colosseum.
I have read a lot about the fascinating history of the Amphitheatre. It has been described in many fictional and non-fictional books I’ve liked. For me like for many others this site represents the Ancient Rome at its glory but to be included in this blog it needs a compassionate angle. Can that be found thinking that over the centuries so many lives, people, animals and sea creatures have been lost there?
The ancient tour as such was not so successful. The ancient Rome is in ruins. How much can a tourist with not much money or time be expected to learn from that? Besides, according to the tour guide it is only in recent times, due to tourism that it has been cleared out as a tourist attraction. For less than a century ago, it served as a cow pad. Well, it certainly does not, for an accidental traveler look much from afar. In the end it seems to be in the sole hands of the tour guide to inspire tourists on a three hour tour to actually get interested on what they see.
The word that was working for the tour guides to hook the imagination of the tourist of today was ‘recycling’. According to our tour guide the ancient Romans were into it in a big way: “Just look at the wall structures where we can witness many different layers and styles as the buildings are built and rebuilt over the centuries. It can be detected from the use of the materials.” Cool!
The story of the Flavian Amphitheatre in accordance to our tour guide’s popularised and maybe slightly sidelining the historical facts goes like this:
You know the evil emperor Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, born Dec. 15, 37 ce, Antium, Latium—died June 9, 68, Rome). He was known for his personal debaucheries and extravagances. He raised this huge sculpture (30m high), made of cold (in actual fact it was of bronze) to glorify himself as a God. People were blinded by it.
Can you imagine what it would have looked liked to the spectators, blazing in the Sun, throwing light all around? It was the original colosseum.
After Nero came Vespasian (69AD). He was a people’s man and he wanted to give something back to the people. He built the amphitheatre to entertain them as people enjoyed live battles. In time it got to be known as the Colosseum because of the sculpture.
The amphitheatre was completed by Titus, Vespasian’s son and opened for public as a sacrifice to gods with huge 100-day long festivities where about 2000 gladiators and 9000 wild animals lost their lives on the first day alone. The structure was completed by Domitian, Vespasian’s younger son in 82AD.
Let’s put this is context.
Vespasian was the general who crushed the Jewish rebellion in the first war between Jews and Romans. After claiming the crown in 69, and with the booty in his disposal, he began to build several public buildings in Rome. The Flavian Amphitheatre was built on the site of the lake in the private gardens Nero had built for his private use. The architecture of the building ‘celebrates’ all the previous Creek and Roman building styles. It had a capacity to seat approximately 40000 of its 50000 places.
The Amphitheatre is a pretty impressive structure, even though it is in ruins and much of it has been affected by earthquakes and recycled to other buildings. Nero’s sculpture which had been redone to represent gods had been moved from its original place to a place near the theatre has not survived. By the 4th Century the Flavian Amphitheatre building was known as the Colosseum.
How about compassion in action?
I doubt that there was much of it. Compassion in action is highly debatable. Philanthropy had long since been reduced to a ‘philo’, a coin that was given as charity. ‘Giving back to people’ would have been an act of enhancing the power of the Emperor. At the same time, however, giving the public what they really enjoyed at the time, which was blood and gore, could have contributed to more peaceful living in Rome itself, at least while everybody were occupied in being entertained. So, some good could have resulted from it. A human life was not worth much and animal life much less.
However, even if they had prepared every one of the 9000 dead animals and used all the hives in production of tents and other products, there would still not have been enough meat to feed all the spectators, gladiators, entertainers and slaves. There still would have had to been more brought in. Even if the Romans protein intake was less than ours today, feeding 50000-70000 people a day would have been a gruesome business.
It is said in much of the historical writings that Roman’s especially liked live battles which would be fought to death and even though there was a change that they would spare some brave gladiator that was highly unlikely.
It is said in much of the historical writings that Roman’s especially liked live battles which would be fought to death and even though there was a change that they would spare some brave gladiator that was highly unlikely.
Putting my speculations into the modern context, it seems debatable that we have really changed a lot even though the body count might be on TV and violent movies, which a high percentage of people enjoy. The meat production to feed the people of today is still a gruesome business even though we do not witness the slaughter on everyday bases as entertainment.
To me The Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome represents the mixed messages our history teaches us and still, next time when I will visit Rome I aim to spend more time there, even pay my way inside to see more of it.
I am sure I will travel to Italy once more and then two books I received as gifts from the conference I attended will be very useful in my search of places of compassion in action in Rome. They are:
Monachesi, Claudio (2010). Theosophical Excursions in Rome. Edizioni Teosofiche Italiane and
Barcaro, Marzia & Brunetti, Mario (2010). Another Rome. Edizioni Theosofiche Italiane
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