1. Thursday Nov. 30 Bell Ringer: What are these?? Agenda:
Greatest Hits of Roman Architecture
Homework:
Study for tomorrow’s quiz on architectural terms
Nov. 30
Thursday

2. Consider: Political reasons Social reasons Economic reasons
Why is the Colosseum the most representative building of the Roman Empire?
Consider:
Political reasons
Social reasons
Economic reasons
Architectural Design reasons

3. NOVA documentary Colosseum: Roman Death Trap
ing-wonders.html#colosseum-death-trap

4. Colosseum (aka Flavian Amphitheatre) 72-80 AD
Cut stone (marble, traventine (limestone), tuff (volcanic ash), etc – you need specialized workers to do it right.
Concrete is much easier to make and more cost effective, as you don’t need to drag specific huge stones everywhere
Roman Concrete, Traventine, Tuff
Colosseum (aka Flavian Amphitheatre) AD

5. Where did name come from?
Emperor Nero built Golden House
After death, successors tore down and built Colosseum over his private lake (could be flooded)
Colossus -> sun god Sol
Emperor Nero (54-68 AD) was viewed differently by Senators and upper class people and by the lower classes. He taxed the middle and wealthy citizens of Rome to pay for various public and private works. He also appeared in public as an actor, poet, musician, and chariot riders, which some saw as undignified. Seemed to be controlled by his mother, who he turned on a few years into his reign and had killed, which hurt his mental state and affected his later reign. Supposedly started the fire of Rome to make way for a cool palace he wanted to build (Golden House, or Domus Aurea)
Golden House included statue of himself – 98 ft high (a tad smaller than Statue of Liberty). Could be Nero as Sol, or maybe it was just Nero and Romans saw it as Sol later, when everyone hated Nero. Colosseum so named after Emperor Hadrian moved Colossus next to it (using 24 elephants!) in 127 AD

6. The Design
Oval = 2 amphitheaters (adopted and adapted from Greek Theater)
Greeks relied on landscapes to fit what they wanted to do - Romans made landscapes work for them
50,000 spectators – efficient (10 minutes) (76 entrances/exits)

7. 4 tiers – exterior (Doric/Ionic/Corinthian)

8. Roman Arch order!

9. Medallions –
Bronze shields

10. Barrel Vaults and Groin Vaults

11. Valerium
canopy of canvas to cover seating area

12. Hypogeum: rooms/tunnels under Colosseum floor
Hypogeum: rooms/tunnels for
Gladiators; criminals; animals; equipment
Emperor Vespasian (after Nero) began Colosseum, son Emperor Titus finished. His younger brother and successor, Domitian, was known for staging particularly cruel battles and built the hypogeum to house criminals who would fight or be executed, as well as cages for wild animals from across the land and elevators so slaves could use pulley systems to bring up a surprise lion seemingly out of nowhere.

13. 4 Tiers Tier #l: Podium Emperor (center – north side)
Vestal Virgins (priestesses)
Roman Senators
Tier #2: Maenianum primum (marble seats)
Noble class (non-Senators)
Tier #3: Ordinary citizens
Tier #4: Wooden seats and standing room (women, slaves, the poor)

14. Tier #1 – Emperor

15. Schedule of events
Start: Chariot procession. Ave, imperator, morituri te salutant! (Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you!)
Morning – comic fights; sea battles; animal fights and slaughter
Noon – execution of criminals (often Christians) -- thrown to lions, shot down with arrows, roasted alive, etc.
Afternoon – gladiator battles (generally slaves, condemned criminals, or prisoners of war)
93 games per year under Claudius

16. Thumbs Up or Down?
When a gladiator went down, cries of Habet, Hoc habet! (He's had it!), and shouts of Mitte! (Let him go!) or Iugula! (Kill him!) could be heard. If able, the wounded gladiator would lay down his shield and raise his left hand to plea for mercy, which the crowd signified either by extending their thumbs up or down.

17. Colosseum as Propaganda
Rome the center of a vast empire
Showcase the power of Rome
Foster military/violent mindset
Reinforcing social order
The emperor is in charge
Opportunity to see the emperor in person
Wealth and generosity of the emperor
“Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses” (Juvenal)

18. Seneca on Gladiator Games
"There is nothing so ruinous to good character as to idle away one's time at some spectacle. Vices have a way of creeping in because of the feeling of pleasure that it brings. Why do you think that I say that I personally return from shows greedier, more ambitious and more given to luxury, and I might add, with thoughts of greater cruelty and less humanity, simply because I have been among humans?”
“The other day, I chanced to drop in at the midday games, expecting sport and wit and some relaxation to rest men's eyes from the sight of human blood. Just the opposite was the case. Any fighting before that was as nothing; all trifles were now put aside - it was plain butchery.”
Seneca on Gladiator Games

19. Then and Now

20. Influence/Legacy