The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-02-15
THE COLOSSEUM AT ROME.
DR.. Talmage Discourses Eloquently
on the Wonderful Ruin.
Graphic Description OF the Scenes Of Cruel
~ and Bloodshed Enacted Within Its
walls-The Same Spirit OF fRuinous
Amusements and Moral Sac
rihce Abroad To-day.


tabernacle Dr. Talmage preached from
the text Romans, l., Is: II am ready to
preach the gospel to you that are at
Rome, also" The preacher said:
Romel What city twas when Paul
visited it! What city it is now! Rome!
The place where Virgil sang and
Horace satirized and Torrance laughed
and Cntaline conspired and Ovid drama
tized and Nero fddled and Vespasian
prosecuted and Sulla legislated and
Cicero thundered and Aurelius and De-
cius and Caligula and Julian and Ha-
drian and Constantine and Augustus
reigned, and Paul. the Apostle,
preached the gospel.
lam not much of craftsman, but l
have in my memorandum book asketch
which made in the winter OF 1889,
when went out to the gate through
which Paul entered Rome, and walked
up the very street he walked up to see
somewhat how the city must have
looked to him as he came in on the
gospel errand proposed in the text
Palaces on either side Of the street
through which the little missionary ad-
vanced. Piled up wickedness En-
throned accursedness Tempted cruel
ties Affairs to sham deities. Glorihed
delusiona Pillared, arched, domed,
turreted denominations Wickedness OF
all sorts at high premium and right
eousness 99X per cent off And now
he passes by the foundations Of build
ing which is TO be almost unparalleled
for vastness. You can see by the walls,
which have begun to rise, that here is
to be something enough stupendous to
astound the centuries Aye, 1t is the
Colosseum started. VI
OF the theater at Ephesus where Paul
fought with wild beasts, Of the temple
of Diana, of the Parthenon, OF Phara-
obs palace at Memphis, and Of other
great buildings, the ruins Of which have
been seen, 1t has been my privilege to
address you, Tut member Of my fami-
ly asked me recently why l had not
spoken to you Of the Colosseum, at
Rome, since its moral and religious les
sons are so impressive.
! Perhaps while in Rome the law OF
contrast wrought upon me- had Wis
tied the Mamertine dungeon where
Paul was incarcerated. Ihad measured
the opening at the top of the dungeon
through which Paul had been letdown,
and it was twenty-three inches by
twenty-six. The ceiling, at its highest
point, was seven feet from the floor,
but 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 two and half feet
high. There was ashelf four feet high.
The only furniture was spiders web
suspended from the roof, which saw
by the torchlight carried. There was
the subterranean passage from the dun
Qeon 10 the Roman forum, so that the
prisoner could be taken directly from
prison To trial. The dungeon was built
out Of volcanic stone from the Albano
mountains o, II was dismal and ter
rife place. You never saw coal hole so
dark or 80 forbidding. The place was
TO me nervous shock, for remembered
that was the best thing that the world
would afford the most illustrious being,
except One, that IL ever saw, and that
from that place Paul went out TO die.
From that spot visited the Colosseum,
one OF the most astounding miracles OF
architecture that the world ever saw.
Indeed / saw II morning, noon and
night, for IL threw spell on me from
which could not break away. AL.
though now a vast ruin, the Colosseum
Is SO we'll preserved that we can stand
in the center and recall all that II once
was. II is In shape ellipsoidal, oval
oblong. It is, at its greatest length
8l2 feet After II had furnished seats
for eighty-seven thousand people II had
room for fifteen thousand more tC
stand, SO that one hundred thou
sand people could sit and stand
transHxed by It's scenes Of cour
age and martyrdom and brutality
and horror. Instead Of our mod
ern tickets Of admission, they entered
by ivory check, and check dug up neal
Rome within few years, was marked
"Bection 9, Lowest Tier, Seat No 49,
You understand that the building wal
not constructed for an audience 10 b,
addressed by human voice, although
tested II with some friends and could b'
heard across IT, but IL was made only
for seeing and was circular and at any
point allowed full view Of the spectacle
The arena In the center In olden timei
was strewn with pounded stone or sand
SO as not 10 be too slippery with human
blood, for II II were too slippery 4
would spoil the fun. The sand flashed
hero and there with sparlSles Of silvei
and gold, and Nero added cinnabar ant
Caligula added chrysocolla- Tho side
Of the arena were composed OF smooth
marble, eleven feet high, so that th,
wild beasts Of the arena could not climl
up into the audience. On the top O
these sides Of smooth marble was I
metal railing, having wooden rollers
which easily revolved, so that II q pan
ther should leap high enough to scal'
the wall and with his paw touch AM
one Of those rollers, IL would revolv'
and drop him back again into the arena
Back Of this marble wall surrounding
the arena was level platform Of fstone
adorned with statues Of gods and god
desses and the artistic efgies Of mon
urchs and oonquerora Here ,wore NOV
able seats for the emperor and the i'm
psrial swine and witnesses with whicl
he surrounded himself Before th'
place where the emperor sat tho gladi
ators would walk Immediately after on