Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1885-02-14
The Colosseum.
Prof. ]. Id. Kinds, in S. S. Gem.

one building, and twenty thousand
more standing in the aisles and CALLER
les One hundred thousand people
assembled in Rome's great anphithea-
ter Kings, queens, princes, mobiles,
and common people, with one accord
gathered together to see men engage
in mortal combat and battle their
hands in each others blood !
The Colosseum was the largest thea
ter ever built, and is now one of the
most imposing ruins in the world. 1t
must be seen to be appreciated. 1t is
elliptical in shape, and is 612 feet long
and 515 wide. 1t is about one>third
of mile around it. 1t was entirely
built of stone, the outside being en-
crusted with marble and decorated
with statues. 1t was composed of four
stories, each of which was formed by
eighty arches, supported by as many
marble columns. Each of the arches
of the lower story served as an en-.
trance to the building, and in every
fourth one there was staircase. The
entire height was about 100 feet.
Within the building, in the center,
was the arena, SO called because it was
usually covered with fine sand. This
was also elliptical in shape, and 25O
feet long and 100 feet wide. 1t was
here that the contest took place.
Around the arena were some eighty
rows OF marble seats, rising one behind
and above the other. In the arcades
beneath the seats we're the dens for
the wild animals and the cells in which
the gladiators were kept.
The Colosseum was built by Titus,
about eighty years after Christ. It's
completion was celebrated by gladia-
torial combats continuing one hundred
days. 1t is said that during this time
five thousand animals were killed for
the amusement of the multitued, and
nobody knows how many men. In
the arena were given all sorts Of games,
shows, exhibitions, and contests. Ar.
engagements were even made by which
it could be flooded by water. Boats
were foated in it, and naval battles
were fought there.
During the middle ages the Colosse'
UNI was used as fortress. In the
fourteenth century its destruction be-
gan. The stone was carried away tC
be used in building other houses. Al
least three magnificent palaces were
largely built of material taken from
the Colosseum. In the eighteenth
century means were taken TO preserve
it, and large buttresses were afterward
built to prevent the walls from falling
Only about onethird of the struc
ture remains, and yet au architect hai
estimated that the stone still in thu
ruins is worth $2,500,000. If this b.
true, the material alone used in thu
construction of this vast amphitheatel
must have cost near $8,000,000. A
moderate estimate of its entire cost may
be placed at $2O,OOO,O00.
The games, contests, and displays il
the Colosseum were under the specia
direction and patronage ofthe emperor
and vast sums of money were spen
upon them. They have been excelled
perhaps, either in magni6cence o
cruelty, by no exhibitions in any coun
try or any age. But when we thlnl
of the hundreds of human beings VIII
were here compelled to sacrifice thei
lives in order to divert the minds of {
blood>thirsty people, we can but re
ioice that the whole is now moulder
ing mass of ruins.
The Colosseum in its glory may b
taken as a symbol of the greatness 0
Rome. In its ruins, 1t is emblemati
of her departed grandeur, and of tn
fact that the cruel rites which wer
celebrated within its walls have give
place to the benign and humane infu
ences of Christianity.