Introduction to the Colosseum - (2022)

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Perhaps the singlehandedly most famous remain of imperial glory in the western world; the colosseum.

It’s more than being “big and awesome”. It represents something incredibly complex about the Roman imperial psyche.

It’s tempting to imagine the ancient Romans as some version of ourselves. They launched disastrous military expeditions to those parts of the world where we too have failed. Iraq was as much a graveyard for the Romans as it has been for us.

Back in Italy too, Roman life had a familiar side. Urban living in a capital city with a million inhabitants, the biggest conurbation in the west before the 19th century, raised all the usual questions: from traffic congestion (one law tried to keep heavy vehicles out of the city during the day, with the knock-on effect of appalling noise at night) to rudimentary planning problems (exactly how high were high-rise blocks allowed to be, and in what materials to make them safe from fire?).

But it is not so simple. To study ancient Rome from the 21st century is rather like walking on a tightrope – a careful balancing act, which demands a very particular sort of imagination. If you look down on one side, everything does look reassuringly familiar, or can be made to seem so.

Cicero’s disappointment in the first century BC with his son Marcus, who, at university in Athens, preferred clubbing and drinking to attending lectures on philosophy, is one that many of us can relate to.

On the other side of the tightrope, however, is completely alien territory. Some of that strangeness is well recognised. The institution of slavery disrupted any clear idea of what it was to be a human being (neither Greeks nor Romans ever worked out whether slaves were things or people). The filth of the place was, in our terms, shocking. There was hardly any reliable system of refuse collection in ancient Rome, or in any ancient city, and there were revealing stories about stray dogs walking into posh dinner parties clutching in their mouths human body parts they had picked up in the street.

We idolize romans, why is that so you think?
Book a tour with me and let's discuss!
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Now that’s a colossal amount of information packed into one video! Great job. Teared up with the elephant part.

karendvernichuk
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Thank you, Mitra! This was very informative and entertaining. Love the way you explain things. I toured the Colosseum in Oct of 2021 and plan to go back and explore it some more.

imagemaker
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Mitra, I am very grateful for your YouTube channel! Have been to Rome in Sept. 2019. Regret that we didn't connect.

Beckkerable
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Mitra amazing! I took a tour of the colosseum and it was good but I learned so much more with you tonight! I love how animated you tell the tale. I was so enthralled that for a mo ent I felt like I was right there with you. I love following your stories on Instagram and now I have this great new channel to continue to learn more. I can’t wait till I can travel back to Rome and book with you.

virginiafeliciano
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Thank you Mitra!!! I have always been visiting the Colosseum by myself when I was younger, but now I want to go back and visit it with you!

chiarafranz
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This was absolutely fantastic! I’ve seen the colosseum, but now you really opened my eyes.

kloparen
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Loved this video. Very informative and can’t wait to see your content going forward

kristena
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This is amazing! I just know a tour with you would include so many more stories and lessons. This is a bucket list item, for sure.

bethgoodman
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I thought, on several occasions to write you with suggestions for content you could do for a youtube channel, given your expertise, experience, maturity, etc...but I hesitated because I didn't want to come across as "telling you what you should do."
With videos like this and this new is similiar to what I was thinking.
Excited for you in this new venture and I am hoping success and happiness for you. You lead the way and I will follow.

BonafideShaunDent
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Wow, you had me from the first line. I did a tour of the Colosseum but learnt none of what you have shared. Clearly we are so influenced by the Hollywood version of Roman history🤦‍♀️ thank you for sharing the correct version, leaving this video much better informed😊

joyyoung
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This was so informative. For anyone physically unable to walk/climb up to your appropriate section, was there an area for them to view the festivities at a lower level?

Kelli.Hicks.
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At 7:09 you’re saying “they were dipped in a tomato paste…”. But tomatoes were not on European continent until later in med Eve, when Cortes brought them (1521).

ibv