The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-03-01
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
rHE BROOKLYN DIviNES SUM-
DAY SERMON
Subject: "The Coliseum of Rome

Subject: "The Coliseum of Rome
TEXT: ~ an, ready to preach the gospel
TO you that are at Rome also. o."-Romans
T., Is.
} Romei What a city it was when Paul
visited iti What a city it is nowi Romel
The place where Virgil sang and Horace
lsatirized. and Terence laughed and Catiline
Econspired. and Ovid dramatized and Nero
fddled, and Vesaasian prosecuted and Sulla
tlegisiated, and Cicero thundered, and Aurel.
lius and Decius and Caligula and Julian and
lHadriad and Constantine and Augustus
|reigned, and Paul the Apostle preached the
gospel
/ am not much of draftsman but have
lin my memorandum book sketch which !
fmade in the winter Of 1889, when l went out
Ito the gate through which Paul entered
Rome and walked up the very street he
bwalked up to sec somewhat how the city
Smust have looked to him as ne came IN on
1.-THE gospel errand proposed in the text.
tPalaces on either side OF the street through
(which the little missionary advanced. Piled
Iup wickedness. Enthroned accursedness.
lTempled cruelties. Affairs to sham deities.
lGlorified delusions. Pillarsd, archsd,
ldomed, turreted denominations. Wickedness
lof ali sorts at high premium and righteous
ness 99% per cent. of. And now he passes
tby the foundations Of building which Is to
lbe almost unparalleled for vastness. You
can see by the walls which have begun TO
rise. that here is to be something enough
lstupendous to astound the centuries. aye,
|it is the Coliseum started
OF the theatre at Ephesus where Paul
fought with wild beasts the temple OF Diana,
|of the Parthenon, OF Pharaoh's palace at
Memphis and OF other great buildings tho
iruins of which have seen, it has been my
lnriyilege to address you, but a member OF
INV family asked me recently why had not
spoken to you Of the Coliseum at Rome
(aince its moral and religious lessons are 50
impressive.
| Perhaps while in Rome the law Of contrast
wrought upon me. had visited the Mann
ertins dungeon where Paul was Incarcera-
ted. had measured the opening at the top
lof the dungeon through which Paul had
Ibeen let down, and it was twenty-three
Inches by twenty-six. The ceiling at It's
lhiphest point was seven feet from the toor,
tbut at the sides Of the room the ceiling was
five feet seven inches. The room at the
widest was fifteen feet. There was seat OF
rock e1< feet high. There was q shelf TOUR
(feet high. The only furniture was spiders
veb suspended from the roof, which saw
Inv the torchlight I carried. There was the
|mbterraneous passage from the dungeon to
the Roman forum, so that the prisoner could
ia taken directly from prison to trial.
( The dungeon was built out OF volcanic
stone from the Albano Mouutains Oh, it
Nvas dismal and terrific place. You never
saw coal hole 80 dark or 50 forbidden. The
|place was to me nervous shock, Tor re-
member that was the best thing chat the
world would afford the most illustrious be-
Ing. except one, that ever saw, and that
from that place Paul went out to die. From
that spot visited the Collseum-o1e Oh tne
most astounding miracles OF architecture
tthat the world ever saw. Indeed, l saw it
!morning. noon and night for it threw
spell on me from which I could not break
away.
:, Although now a vast ruin, the Coliseum
IA 40 we'll preserved that we can staudin ths
center and recall all that it once was. 1t Is
In shape ellipsoidaL, oval, oblong. 1t Is at
its greatest length 6l2 feat. After it had
furnished seats for 81. 900 people 1t had room
kor Is, 600 more to stard, so that l0o Ooo pso-
Eple could sit and stand transhred by its
Tcenes OF courage and msrGyrdom and bru-
.tality and horror.
Instead Of our moiern tickets Of admis-
sion. they entered by ivory check and
check dug up near Rome within few years
was marked "Section 8, Lowest Tier, Seat
Mo. 49," You understand that the building
was not constructed for an audience to be
addressed by human voice, although tested
Iit with some friends and could be heard
across 1t, but it was made only for seeing
and was circular, and at any point allowed
Hull view Of the spectacle.
The arena in the centric in olden times was
lsrewn with pounded stone or sand, so as not
to b too slippery with human blood, Tor II
Ht were too slippsry it would spon tne Iun.
The sand flashed here and there with
sparkies Of silver and gold, and Nero added
cannabar and C,ligula added chrysocolla.
THE sides If the arena were composed OF
smooth marble eleven feet high, so that the
wild beasts OF the arena could not climb up
Into the audience On the top OF these sides
!of smooth marble was q metal railing. hav-
ling wooden rollers, which easily reVolved-
no that IL q panther should leap high enough
10 scale the wall and with his paw touch any
one of those rollers 1t would revolve and
drop him back again into the ar,na-
[. Bac OF this marble wall surrounding the
arena was level platform OF stone, adorned
with statues Of gods and godesses and tho
artistic eeigies Of monerchs and conquerers.
Here were movable seats for the emperor
and the imperial swine and swinesses With
(which he surrounded himself. Before ths
lplace where the emperor sat the gladiators
would walk Immediately after entering the
arena. crying: 'Hail, Cesarl Those about
ITO die salute thee"
The different ranks Of spectators were di.
vidsd by partitions stu idsd with mosaics Of
jemeraid and beryl ant ruby and diamond.
Great masts Of wood arose from all sides OF
the building, from which festoons OF fowers
were suspended, crossing tbs building, or in
thine OF rain awnings Of silk were suspended,
the Coliseum having no roof. The outside
wall was incrusted with marble and had
-four ranges, and the three lower ranges had
l60 columns each and arches ate: arches,
iand on each arch an exquisite statue Of q
god or a hero
Into 1870 feet Of altitude SCARED ths Coils
sum. 1t glittered and flashed and shone
with whole sunrises aud sunsets Of dazzle.
ment. After the audience had assembled
aromatic liquids oozsd from tubes distilled
from pipes aud rained gently on the multi
kudes and filled the air with odors Of kya.
Ecinth and heliotrope aud frankincense and
balsam and myrrh and saffron, so that Lu-
tcan, the poet says OF 1t:
\ At once ten thousand saffron curr snts dow
n And rain their odoss on the crowI below.
But where was the sport to CONS from,
We'll, went into the cellars opening of
from the arena and I saw the place where
they kept the hyenas an | lions and panthers
and wild boars and bsastly violencss OF alb
sorts without food or water until made fierce
enough for the arena, and I saw the under
lpround rooms where the gladiatoTs were
Accustomed to wait until the clapping OF the
Ipeople outside demanded that they coma
Forth armed-to murder or be murdered.
tAll the arrangements were complete. as
snough Of the cellars and galleries still re-
main 10 indicate. What fun they must have
had turning lions without food or drink up
ON an unarmed disciple of Jesus Christ!
At the dedication of this Coliseum 5000