The Colosseum (24 page)

The best specialist studies of the Colosseum in late antiquity are not in English: see, for example, G. Ville, ‘Les Jeux de gladiateurs dans l’empire chrétien’,
Mélanges de l’Ecole Française de Rome
, 72 (1960); T. Wiedemann, ‘Das Ende der römischen Gladiatorenspiele’,
Nikephoros,
8 (1995); and S. Orlandi, ‘Il Colosseo nel V secolo’, in W. V. Harris (ed.),
The Transformations of urbs Roma in late antiquity (Journal of Roman Archaeology
, Supplement, 33 (1999)). The inscription from Spello is found (untranslated) in the
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
, Volume 11, 5265. For the late antique city of Rome more generally, see P. Llewellyn,
Rome in the Dark Ages
(London, 1971); B. Ward-Perkins,
From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages: urban public building in northern and central Italy
AD
300–850
(Oxford, 1984); and, taking the story up to the fourteenth century (with lavish illustrations), R. Krautheimer,
Rome: profile of a city 312–1308
(Princeton, 1980).

The Renaissance architectural fascination with the Colosseum is briefly discussed, in the context of a clear discussion of the architectural orders, by J. Summerson,
The Classical Language of Architecture
(revised edition, London, 1980). Note also the detailed Italian study by F. Scoppola, ‘Il Colosseo come modello …’, in
Frondose Arcate: il Colosseo prima dell’archeologia
(Exhibition Catalogue, Palazzo
Altemps, Rome, 2000). Good basic introductions to the architecture of the Renaissance can be found in the Pelican History of Art series: L. H. Heydenreich and P. Davies,
Architecture in Italy, 1400–1500
(New Haven & London, 1996), and W. Lotz and D. Howard,
Architecture in Italy, 1500–1600
(New Haven & London, 1995). The ‘borrowings’ from the Roman amphitheatre in the London Coliseum are described in F. Barker,
The House that Stoll Built: the story of the Coliseum Theatre
(London, 1957). Poggio’s lament is from his
De Varietate Fortunae
(1448; a modern text and edition by O. Merisalo was published in Helsinki, 1993); it was famously quoted in Chapter 71 of Edward Gibbon’s
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
which includes a withering account of the Colosseum’s post-antique history, including such events as the fourteenth-century bullfight.

After more than a century, the definitively sceptical analysis of the evidence for martyrdom in the Colosseum (and one written from within the Catholic church) is still H. Delehaye, ‘L’Amphithéâtre flavien et ses environs dans les textes hagiographiques’,
Analecta Bollandiana
, 16 (1897). William Beckford’s barbs on the lazy abbots are originally from Letter 22 of his
Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incident
, originally published in 1783, suppressed, republished as part of his
Italy: with sketches of Spain and Portugal
(London, 1834) and now available in an edition by R. J. Gemmett (Rutherford, NJ, 1972). The silver gilt image of St Peter is illustrated in Di Macco,
Il Colosseo
.

Lanciani’s reports are conveniently reprinted in A. L. Cubberley (ed.),
Notes from Rome by Rodolfo Lanciani
(London, 1988); the general archaeological atmosphere of Rome in the 1870s and 80s is captured by R. Lanciani,
Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries
(Rome, 1888) – discussed by M. Beard, ‘Archaeology and Collecting in Late Nineteenth-Century Rome’, in
Ancient Art to Post Impressionism: masterpieces from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
(Exhibition Catalogue, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2004). Hitler’s enthusiasm for the Colosseum and the designs for buildings based on it are documented in A. Scobie,
Hitler’s State Architecture: the impact of classical antiquity
(University Park, PA, & London, 1990). The history of Mussolini’s Via del Impero (now, dei Fori Imperiali) is vividly illustrated and documented in L. Barroero et al.,
Via dei Fori Imperiali. La zona archeologica di Roma: urbanistica, beni artistici e politica culturale
(Venice, 1983).

The history of the Colosseum’s role in botany is exhaustively discussed (in Italian) in G. Caneva (ed.),
Amphi – theatrum Naturae. Il Colosseo: storia e ambiente letti attraverso la sua flora
(Milan, 2004).

The Colosseum is cut down to size by M. Saiz in his
A Colossal Blog
, (London, 2010). It tells an engaging story of staying in Rome for almost a year
without
seeing the Colosseum.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF FIGURES BY TOM CROSS

While every effort has been made to contact copyright-holders of illustrations, the author and publishers would be grateful for information about any illustrations where they have been unable to trace them, and would be glad to make amendments in further editions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Collaboration comes in many forms. Keith and I had often dreamed up plans to write a book together. It is a sad irony that this, our only joint venture, is the product of a strange form of collaboration in which one of the parties is no longer around to share the fun – or the blame. When Keith died in March 2004, he had already done a considerable amount of work towards a book on the Colosseum, which I agreed to continue and complete. Despite the circumstances, over the last six months, I have tremendously enjoyed the debates and dialogues I have had with him, through his notes and rough drafts.

In the process, many of our friends have lent a hand: in particular, Nigel Cassidy, Chloe Chard, Robin Cormack, William Harris, Henry Hurst, Christopher Kelly, Martin Millett, Helen Morales, Hilary Perrott, Walter Scheidel, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and Sophia Whitbread. The staff of the British School at Rome expertly arranged permits to visit ‘closed’ areas of the Colosseum, provided a marvellous Roman library and an agreeable base in the city. Peter Foskett of The Daniel Connal Partnership (Colchester office) kindly tackled the provisional cost of the Colosseum’s foundations – despite our unusual and amateur specification. At Profile, Peter Carson, Penny Daniel, Andrew Franklin, Trevor Horwood and Amelia Rowland made light work of the final stages of writing, editing and publication.

MB, November 2004

In bringing
The Colosseum
up to date I have been helped by all the old suspects – as well as by Ruth Killick, Valentina Zanca and, especially, Debbie Whittaker.

MB, December 2010

INDEX

Amphitheatres

history and development
24
–5,
36
–8

Androcles and the lion
99

animal hunters
95
–6

suicide
85
see also
women

animals in the arena
44
–9,
55
,
94
–103

dangers of
100
,
135
–6