Day 2 in Rome

We went to the Colisseum today.  When I walked out of the subway station, it was right there!!  I thought 'it is so cool', 'it is amazing'.  It was more than I thought it would be.  We got into a tour group and went inside.  What I found most interesting about what the tour guide told us was the underground stage, or pre-arena.  This was where the animals were kept that were part of the events during gladiator times.  They used pulleys to raise the animals from the lower level up through trap doors in the floor of the main arena.


The emperors would organize the gladiators events.  The emperors friends and family would sit in VIP seats and everyone else would sit on other levels. The tickets were free to anyone that wanted to come.  The tickets were free to people so that the emperor was popular.  Senators would organize the events sometimes too.  It was kind of like our politicians of today having free events to gain votes.

After the Colisseum, we went to Palatine Hill and the Forum.  We learned the legend of Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome on Palatine Hill.  According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were demigods and sons of Mars.  They were taken away right after they were born and put in the river.  A she-wolf found them and raised them.  Romulus had an argument with Remus about where to build the city.  When they couldn't decide, Romulus stabbed and killed Remus.  Crazy!!!

Gelato again this afternoon.  I was promised I would get gelato every day.  Today, chocolate and straccitella, which is basically chocolate chip.  Yum!