Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-02-24
REV. DR.. TALMAGB.
TIE Eminent Brooklyn Divine'S Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject: "The Coliseum of Rom-."

l., ID.
Rome What city it was when Pan,
visited it'll What a city it is nowl Romel
The place where Virgil sang and Horac.
satrzed. and Terence laughed and Catilin4
conspired, and Ovid dramatizsd ani Nero
tiddled, and Yes ,asian prosecuted and Sulla
iegis]ated, and Cicero thundered and Aurel:
lqs and Decius and Caligula and Julian and
Hadriad and Constantine and Augustus
relgned, and Paul the Apostle preached the
gospel.
am not much of craftsman, but have
In my memorandum book sketch which
made in the winter of 1884, When went out
to the gate through which Paul entered
Rome AMI 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 advanced, Piled
up wickedness. Enthroned accursedness.
Tempted cruelties, Affairs to sham deities.
Glorified delusions, Pillared, archej,
domej, turreted denominations. Wiekedness
of all sorts at high premium and righteous
ness eeZ per cent, off. And now he passes
by the foundations of a building 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 astouhd tho 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 the
ruins of which have seen. it has been nv
privilege to address you, but a member Of
my family asked me recently why had not
spoken to you of the Coliseum at Rome,
since its moral and religious lessons are SO
impressive,
Perhaps while IA Rome the law Of contrast
wrought upon me- had visited the Nam.
ertine dungeon where Paul was incarcera-
ted. had measured the opening at the top
of the dungeon through which Paul had
been let down, 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 21S feet high. There was shelf four
feet high, The only furniture was spiders
web suspended from the roof, WIN CHI [ saw
by the torchlight | carried. There was the
subterraneous passage from the dungeon to
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. Oh, it
saw coal hole 50 dark or Cd forbidden. The
place was to me nervous shock, for re-
member that was the best thing that the
world would afford thu most illustrious be-
lie, except one. that | ever saw, and that
from that place Paul went out to die From
that spot visited the Coliseum-one of the
most astounding miracles of architecture
that the world ever saw Indeed, saw it
noon AMI night, for it threwa
.iell on me from which l could not break
away,
Although now vast ruin, the Coliseum
IS so well preserved that we can stand in the 7
center and recall all that it once was. It's
in shape ellpsoidal, oval, oblong, 1t is at
It's greatest length el2 fest. After it had
'urnishe seats for 81, 900 people IL had room
or 10, coo moro to stand, so that 100 900 mao
Die coult sit and stand transfxei by its
scenes of courage and martyriom and bru-
ality and horror
Instead of our mo 1ern tickets Of admis.
ion, they entered by ivory check, and
heck dug up near Rome within few years
vas marked Section 6, Lowest Tier Seat
70. 49," You understand that the building
vas not constructed for an audience to be-
ddresSed by human voice, although tested
with some friends and could be heard
cross 1t, but it was made only for seeing
nd Was circular, and at any point allowed
Ill view OF the spectacle
The arena in the centre in olden times was
tfewn with pounded stone or sand, so as not
0 be too slippery with human blood, for if
were too slippery it would spoil the fun.
he sand flashed here and there with
innabar and Caligula added chrysocolla.
he sides of the arena vera composed OF
mooth marble eleven feet high, 80 that thu
lid beasts OF the arena could not climb ID
ito the audience. On the top of these sides
smooth marble was metal railing, hav-
lg wooden rollers, which easily revolved.
} that II panther should leap high enough
} scale the wall and with his paw touch any
ne Of those rollers it would revolve and
rop him back again into the arena.
Bse of this marble wall surrounding the
rena was level platform Of stone, adorned
18th statues of gods and godesses and the
rtist:c eAigies of monarchs and conguerers
ERE were movable seats for the emperor
nd the imperial swine and swinesses with
hich he surrounded himself. Before the
ace where the emperor sat the gladiators
ould walk immediately after entering the
-ena crying. "Hail, CBsarl Those about
die salute thee"
The diff erent ranks Of spectators were d. /
ded by partitions stu 1dei with mosaics of {
herald an beryl AMI ruby and diamond. q
be building, from which festoons of flowers
7ere suspended, crossing thu building, or in /
me OF rain awnings of silk were suspended,
he Coliseu n having no roof. TIE outside
'all was incrusted with marble and had =
our ranges, and the three lower ranges had +
columns each aud arches ate; arches,
nd on each arch an exquisite statue of a y
Cd or a hero. /,
Into 1870 feet of altitude soarei the Coils a
I'M. 1t glittered AMI flashed and shone r
18th whole sunrises and sunsets of dazzle. a
ent. After the audience had assembled a
'omatic liquids oozsd from tubes distilled 4
ON pipes and rained gently on the multi D
des and filed the air with odors of hya. 4
nth and heliotrope and frankincense and Il
llsam and myrrh and saffron, SO that Luz Ii
u, the poet says of it; Of
At once ten thousand saffron currents flow :,
And rain their odofs on the crowd below. ~ ~
But where was the sport to come from?
ell, l went into the cellars opening off I,
)m the arena, and saw the place where sr
by kept the hyenas an lions and panthers a
d Wild boars and beastly violences of all in
IT'S without food or water until made fercs vi
ough for the arena, and / saw the under r.
ound rooms where the gladiators were W
to wait until the clapping of tie o,
ople outside demanded that they come o,
tn armed-to murder or be murdered. 81
the arrangements were complete. as .,
ough of the cellars and galleries still re- r.
i'm to indicate. What fun they must have a,
turning lions without food or drink up 10
an uuarmed disciple of Jesus Christi m
At the dedication of this Coliseum 5000
ID beasts and 10. 900 Immortal men were D..
H. 50 that bloc of men and beast was not ~ ~
rock, but river; not pool, but lake. ~,
- Ill 81 10 |
prissi when tell you that Emperor Pro. 81 81
on one occasion threw into that are ma of 30