Author name: Andrea Pepe

Novavelarium

THE AWNING The following “lecture” can be found on the site http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/colosseum/, but I have copied the text here. The main subject of the conversation regards the experiments made in order to reproduce the system of  rigging up the awning of the Colosseum. It is full of interesting information. Owain Roberts and classicist Norma Goldman answer …

Novavelarium Read More »

Restoration

2025 – The administration of the Parco del Colosseo has greatly improved the communicatio0n of activities and projects regarding the whole area. Here you will find many digital resources available to the public. 2021 – at last the restoration works financed by Diego della Valle, head of the Tod’s Group, are over. Here you can …

Restoration Read More »

Consular list

The Consular ListWho Was Consul Whenby ‘Andraeus Papadopolus Dacicus Maximus’ Note I: the Roman numerals behind the names indicate how many times the specific individual has been in office. Note II: consuls who at times have not been added on the list (example: T. Flavius Vespasianus in AD 51 or Domitian from his 3rd till his …

Consular list Read More »

Passion plays

The University of Sydney News – 24 February 2000Passion plays that inspired violence in Rome – By Anne Sarzin When Associate Professor Nerida Newbigin travels to Rome in September to meet the Pope at the Roman Church’s Jubilee – marking the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Christ – she will also get a chance to …

Passion plays Read More »

Materials

Several materialswere employed for the building of the Colosseum, all of them easily found or produced in the Roman area: first of all there is the travertino, a limestone, then tuff for the other pillars and radial walls, tiles for the floors of the upper storeys and the walls; finally, concrete (a.k.a. cement) for the …

Materials Read More »

The Site

In the valley of the Colosseumthere is a layer of clay under many metres of sand and silt. In prehistoric times the ground level was about 10-15 metres lower than it is today. Rain and water from streams gathered in the valley, and, depending on the season, formed a marsh or a little lake in the depression. From …

The Site Read More »

Lake

Once there was a lake…The site of the Colosseum is in fact a depression among the hills of Rome: the Palatine on its south-western side, the Velia on the western side, the last slopes of the Esquiline hill, also called Colle Oppio (now a park) on the northern side and the Celio on the Eastern side.  The Velia, …

Lake Read More »

Foundations

The original sitewas deeply transformed in order to build the amphitheatre. First of all, some enormous drains were built in order to ensure an adequate drainage towards the Circus Maximus (a part of these drains was lost when the metro line was built). After the area was completely drained, the excavation started, and it lasted until it …

Foundations Read More »

Scroll to Top