Keith Hopkins - The Colosseum

The history of the Colosseum’s role in botany is exhaustively discussed (in Italian) in G. Caneva (ed.), Amphi – theatrum Naturae. Il Colosseo: storia e ambiente letti attraverso la sua flora (Milan, 2004).

The Colosseum is cut down to size by M. Saiz in his A Colossal Blog , (London, 2010). It tells an engaging story of staying in Rome for almost a year without seeing the Colosseum.

1. Gold medal, Sydney Olympic Games 2000, diameter 7 cm (photo: Adam Pretty, Getty Pictures) viii

2. ‘Roma Interno del Colosseo’ (‘Rome Interior of the Colosseum’); mid-nineteenth-century postcard 6

3. Above: ‘The Colosseum Lights Up Life’ (Communità di Sant Egidio). Below: Caesars Palace Colosseum Showroom, Las Vegas, Nevada (photo: Ian Vaughan Productions, Inc.) 14

4. Modern ‘gladiators’ and tourists outside the Colosseum (photo: R. Cormack) 18

5. The Colosseum today 22

6. P. S. Bartoli, engraving of triumphal procession from the Arch of Titus, Rome, from G. P. Bellori, Veteres Arcus Augustorum triumphis insignes… (Rome, 1690), p. 5 (photo: N. Cassidy) 29

7. Reconstruction of dedicatory inscription from the Colosseum, height 118 cm (after Professor G. Alföldy, with permission) 33

8. J.-L. Gérôme, Pollice Verso , 1872, oil on canvas, 96.5 × 149.2 cm, copyright © Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona ( www.bridgeman.co.uk) 57

9. Asterix and Obelix in the gladiatorial arena, from R. Goscinny & A. Uderzo, Asterix the Gladiator (revised edition, London, 2004), p. 42 (copyright © 2005 Editions Albert René/Goscinny-Uderzo) 59

10. Tombstone of M. Antonius Exochus (CIL VI, 10194); engraving from J. Gruter, Corpus Inscriptionum (Amsterdam, 1707), Vol. 1, Part 2, p. 335 (photo: N. Cassidy) 62

11. Bronze tintinnabulum from Herculaneum, first century AD, 21 cm (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples) 65

12. Bronze helmet from Pompeii, first century AD (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples) 67

13. G. de Chirico, Scuola di Gladiatori (Gladiators in Training ), lithograph, 1928, 17.8 × 13.9 cm. copyright © DACS 2005 (photo courtesy of William Weston Gallery, London) 69

14. Drawing of graffiti showing gladiators from tomb 14 EN, cemetery at Nucerian Gate, Pompeii 71

15. Dmitri Belogolovtsev as Spartacus, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 2004 (photo: Dee Conway) 79

16. Bronze medallion of Gordian III (AD 238–44), showing the Colosseum; engraving from H. Cohen, Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l’empire romain (Paris, 1885), V, 37, no. 165 95

17. Drawing of graffiti showing animal hunts from the Colosseum (inv. 375837) 97

18. Mosaic from Zliten (Libya), second century AD; detail showing death of a criminal in the arena (Archaeological Museum, Tripoli) 99

19. S. Meyrick-Jones, cartoon 18 November 2000 (‘You’re right, I was a fool…) (reproduced with permission of The Spectator ) 102

20. Reconstructed seats, adjacent to the arena of the Colosseum (photo: R. Cormack) 125

21. Relief sculpture from the Tomb of the Haterii, first century AD, Rome (Musei Vaticani); detail showing the Colosseum (photo: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome) 126

22. Engraving of stuccoes in a side passage of north entrance of the Colosseum, after G. Da Udine (1487–1564), from Comte de Crozat, Recueil d’estampes d’après les plus beaux tableaux… (Paris, 1729), fol. 76 (photo: N Cassidy) 132

23. Fiorentissimo combatimento fra gli Antiquari di Roma nel Anno 1813 (Furious Conflict between the Antiquarians of Rome in the Year 1813 , artist unknown, pen and ink (Museo di Roma, Rome) 139

24. M. van. Heemskerck, Bullfights in an Ancient Arena , 1552, oil on wood, 75 × 121 cm (Lille, Musée des Beaux Arts: © Photo RMN/© René-Gabriel Ojéda) 151

25. J. -A. Constantin, Interno del Colosseo ( Interior ofthe Colosseum ), 1777–80, ink and pencil, 37.4 × 51.6 cm (Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence) 156

26. C. Lucangeli, cork model of the Colosseum, late eighteenth century; detail showing church of Sta Maria della Pietà (Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris) 168

27. The Colosseum from the north-east, showing original Roman bollards (photo: R. Cormack) 170

28. Mussolini at the opening of the Via del Impero, Rome, 1932 (photo: New York Times Co., Getty Images, Hulton Archive) 174

29. North side of the Colosseum arena, showing the cross erected by Mussolini (photo: R. Cormack) 176

30. Capparis Spinosa (‘caper’), illustration from R. Deakin, Flora of the Colosseum (London, 1855) 179

1. Plan of the Colosseum x

2. The Colosseum and its surroundings 30

3. Cross-section of the Colosseum (reconstruction) 129

While every effort has been made to contact copyright-holders of illustrations, the author and publishers would be grateful for information about any illustrations where they have been unable to trace them, and would be glad to make amendments in further editions.

Collaboration comes in many forms. Keith and I had often dreamed up plans to write a book together. It is a sad irony that this, our only joint venture, is the product of a strange form of collaboration in which one of the parties is no longer around to share the fun – or the blame. When Keith died in March 2004, he had already done a considerable amount of work towards a book on the Colosseum, which I agreed to continue and complete. Despite the circumstances, over the last six months, I have tremendously enjoyed the debates and dialogues I have had with him, through his notes and rough drafts.

In the process, many of our friends have lent a hand: in particular, Nigel Cassidy, Chloe Chard, Robin Cormack, William Harris, Henry Hurst, Christopher Kelly, Martin Millett, Helen Morales, Hilary Perrott, Walter Scheidel, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and Sophia Whitbread. The staff of the British School at Rome expertly arranged permits to visit ‘closed’ areas of the Colosseum, provided a marvellous Roman library and an agreeable base in the city. Peter Foskett of The Daniel Connal Partnership (Colchester office) kindly tackled the provisional cost of the Colosseum’s foundations – despite our unusual and amateur specification. At Profile, Peter Carson, Penny Daniel, Andrew Franklin, Trevor Horwood and Amelia Rowland made light work of the final stages of writing, editing and publication.

In bringing The Colosseum up to date I have been helped by all the old suspects – as well as by Ruth Killick, Valentina Zanca and, especially, Debbie Whittaker.

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