The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1874-10-24
THE RENOVATION OF THE COLOSSEUM

The RESTORATION or THE COLOSSEUM
The monuments which time spares are
rarely those which the builders would
have chosen for preservation could they
have had their will. Sepulchers out
Hast palaces for the most part. The
Pyramids have survived, and the glo
ries of Carnac have persisted. The
rock tombs Of Palestine have outlived
the Great Temple. The grave of Achil'
les is still preserved in tradition. when
the site of Troy has been lost in the
mists of antiquity. And in Impe
rial Rome there are to-day few tokens
of the great pastsave the blood-stained
relics Of the Colosseum. The Palaces
of the Caesars have passed away. The
Golden House Of Nero has become a
fable. Even the forum where Cicero
spoke has almost vanished. But the
fragments of the Colosseum remain to
remind the world of the cruelty. the
magnifcenc, the brutality, the bloody
domination of Old Rome, and there lis
no spot in the Rome Of to-day which
appeals with so powerful a charm to
the traveller, the scholar and the poet.
Here, in this vast amphitheatre, hun
dred thousand eager souls assembled
Emperors, Senators, Knights, Vestal
Virgins, soldiers, citizens, canaille, and
protected by the vast canvass relarium,
sat for hours, and even whole days, alb
sorbed in the sanguinary scenes enact
ed before them. Here is the scene of
that striking picture of Gerome's in
which the gladiators pause. before COM
mencing the combat, in front of the
podium where the bloated Vitellius is
seated, and salute the Imperial wretch
with the thrilling cry "Aw, C9snr I'M
perator' Afor1turi te salulani" Here
the Flavian Emperos lavished the
wealth acquired by the conquest and
by plumber, and obtained by the exhi.
btion Of interminiblc costly shows. a
respite from political controversy. The
stories of the Colosseum are we'll nigh
incredible. yet they are fully authenti-
Gated. Thus, for instance, it is handed
down to us that on one occasion five
thousand wild beasts were fought on
the same day; that six hundred gladia-
tors encountered simultaneously; that
hundred lions bounded into the are
ia at the same instant; that hundred
and fifty elephants were introduced on
another occasion But nothing is too
magnificent or too horrible for the Co
losscum, or for the Romans who pat
ronize it, Their passions for the games
finally grew into perfect frenzy. and
their love for cruelty and bloodshed be-
Gang inpatient of the fair chances Of
war. 1t is said that the gladiatorial
games arose from the practice of funer-
al sacrifices Of human beings How
ever that may be, it is certain that they
so debauched the Roman mind As To
create an absolute lust of cruelty. II
is further notable that the licen,ious-
ness of the gladiatorial games was re-
served for the decline Of the empire,
and that from the destruction Of Jcru-
salem dates the existence Of that Co.
losscum which did so much at once TO
demoralize the Roman public. and to
terminate the seeds Of Christianity.
1t was Titus and vespasian who con.
demned the Jewish captives to toll on
the foundations Of the Flavian Amphi.
thcater, and it was the former Of these |
who dedicated the still unfinished work |
in 80, 4. d. And where the Christ de-
nying Jews had wrought under the
iron whip of the Roman taskmasters,
there the Christ asserting martys of.
fered up their testimony, and gave their
blood to be the seed Of the Church. II
is curious that after the downfall Of the
Roman Empire the Roman people should
have manifested 81 utter and barbarous
an Indifference to the relics Of the past
but during the Middle Ages the Colos.
scum was regarded merely as quarry
IF valuable stone, and whole palaces
,otably that Of the Farncse Princes
we're built out Of the material taken
rom it. 1t was not until the Church
If Rome Remembered the sacred asso-
cations Of the place, and took it under
Ter protection, that this systematic
'poliation ceased; yet SO vast was the
originally that even these re.
'eated plunderings have left noble
fragment. And now the interesting