By Jim Hagarty
Here is a photo of the Roman Colosseum, taken by my son, Chris. The building is about 2,000 years old and still in remarkable shape after all this time. In its early life, it would have been a stunning sight to see. There were large poles erected above the walls and a white canvas could be extended over the entire place, for shelter during rainy days. The emperor’s special area was all covered in inlaid marble and some of that can still be seen today. Below the floor, which is gone now, is revealed the various cells where gladiators, hapless Christians, and lions prepared for battle. It was also possible to seal the floor and flood it and sea battles would be staged. When people see the wreck the arena is now, we assume it has just fallen away with time. But actually the Roman Catholic Church used the Colosseum as a quarry when it was building its own magnificent structures in Vatican City in the 1400s and beyond. There is concern about what effect pollution in Rome is having on the structure as well as the rumbling of hundreds of thousands of passing cars and trucks.
