Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-02-20
to Christianity and afterward suffered

martyrdom i'll the arena. The legends
say that he made very eloquent ap-
peal to Emperor vespasian. who en-
ployed him to design the Coliseum
and was a witness of his death. Part
of his speech is inscribed upon his
tomb in the catacombs of st. Agnes.
in such complicated Latin that there
is difference in opinion as to the pro-
translation. The purport of it. how
ever, is that he had contributed to
the glory of Vespasian by building
the Coliseum. and that he should
hereafter contribute to the glory of
Christ by building theaters in heaven.
Others translate it mansions" al
though the words are .theatru in
cello"
The material for the Coliseum came
chiefly from Nero's famous golden
house, which covered an area of near
ly square mile, including the courts,
and portion of it occupied the place
where the Coliseum stands. Much of
the material in Nero's house came
from palaces and temples erected by
his predecessors, and hence it was
perfectly natural for the pope and
the princes OF Rome to use the mater
ial in the Coliseum to build their
their churches and palaces. The
records show that four of the most
famous of the Roman palaces, the Far
nese, Barberini. Venezia and Cancel
leria, were built entirely from mater.
ial taken from it's walls, and each one
of them was erected by cardinal
who afterward became pope. Pope
Paul III. gave his nephew, Cardinal
Farnese. permission to take as much
material as he could haul away from
sunset to sunrise. The cardinal asked
a little time, which was granted. and
as the sun set upon the night appoint.
ed he appeared with 1000 men and
500 OK teams. and is said to have cart
ed off 2.522 loads of marble, stone and
brick before morning.
At one time Pope Sixtus V. estab.
lished a wooden factory in the arcades
of the Coliseum. Clement Xl., in the
early part of the eighteenth century,
turned it into a saltpeter factory. A
Carmelite monk named Angelo Paoli
is entitled to the credit OF having
stopped that sort OF business. as he
convinced Clement XI. that spot con
secrated by the blood of the martyrs
and so many holy memories should
not be desecrate in that manner.
The pope placed the ruins in charge
of the Carmelite monks, and they in
troduced the religious services to
which | have referred.
During the middle ages the Colise-
um was used as fortress, and was
made the castle of the Frangipanni.
one of the three most powerful fami-
lies in Rome who were always fighting
with the Orsinis and the Colonnas.
The later used the mausoleum of Au-
gustus for. their fortress. and the 9th
ers the tomb of Hadrian, now known
as the Castle of Saint Angelo, the
headquarters of the military garrison
OF Rome. Both the Coliseum and the
Castle of SAINT Angelo have been used
as asylums for popes. In the latter
suite of rooms was fitted up for the
occupancy of the pope in case he
should be chased out of the Vatican,
and there used to be covered secret
passage between the fortress and the
Vatican which several popes were
glad to utilize during times of peril.
In 1927 Pope Clement VII. was be-
seged there by the troops of Charles
w. Nobody knows what became of
the remains of Hadrian and other oc-
cupants of this imposing tomb. They
are supposed to have been lost dur
ing the time that Rome was sacked
, lyt% l
the emperors from Hadrian, in III, to
Caracalla, in 212. including Marcus
Aurelius, and their families, were bur-
led there. The tomb was converted
into fortress by Belisarius, the COM
manding general of the eastern en-
perors. after he occupied Rome.
The sarcophagus in which Hadri
ans body was inclosed somehow found
it's way over to St Paul's cathedral
and for seven or eight centuries has
been used as a baptismal font. Sew
eral kings and many princes have
been baptized before 1.-THE casket Of
pagan emperor.
We know that, without counting the
material taken from NerO's house, the
Coliseum cost the Emperor Vespasian
SO, 500 900, and it was only about half
done when he died. The decorations
had not yet begun. They were done
under the direction of Emperor Titus,
and must have cost as much more, be-
cause there were acres of richly sculp-
tured marble, acres of mosaics and
acres of gilded bronze. The iron
work of the Coliseum was all pulled
out during the middle ages. to be
made over into arms. because metal
was scarce in those days.
Contemporary writer's have given US
vivid account of the ceremonies at
tending the dedication of the Coliseum
| by the Emperor Titus, which afforded
an opportunity for a display of mag
nificence and extravaganza which re-
mains unrivaled to the present day.
One of the features was battle be-
tween women gladiators, to the eter-
nal disgrace of the morals of imperial