The Colosseum Research Paper
So long as the Colosseum stands, Rome also stands; when the Colosseum will fall, Rome also will fall; when Rome will fall, the world also will fall" (The Venerable Bede)
The Colosseum is the most striking evidence of the grandeur of ancient Rome-its most massive, impressive and awe-inspiring feat of engineering. Originally known as the Amphitheatrum Flavium, it was the first major all-stone amphitheater in Rome.2 Since the eighth century, it has been known simply as the Colosseum, apparently because of the colossal statue of the hated Emperor Nero (ruled 54 to 68 C.E.) that had once stood nearb~3 The statue was placed there by the Emperor Hadrian (ruled 117 to 138), who had removed it from the court of Nero's Golden House.
Nero's connection …show more content…
Dedicatory inscriptions often contain little triangles that serve as word dividers. Based on his study of the holes, Alföldy sees no hole for the peg of a word divider. (Note the word divider in the first line between "CAES" and "VESPASI.") Thus, the 18 holes of the second line must belong to the letters of a single word. Here Alföldy has reconstructed AMPHITHEATRV[M]; only the M is missing. Alföldy suggests that on the right was probably the word NOVUM, thus designating the building: "New Amphitheater."
In the third and final line, one would expect a closing formula-a reference to parts of the building, to the recipients of the building (i.e., the Roman people) or to the cost or the source of the financing for the building.
The small fragment tells us where each line of the inscription began, but we don't have that part of the small fragment where the third line begins. We do, however, know how far to the left of the larger fragment the third line began, based on the small fragment. Alföldy concludes that only a couple of letters are missing from the beginning of the third line. If Professor Alföldy is right in conjecturing that this line contained information as to the source of the funding for the building, a word such as de or ex might well have been the preposition leading to the source of the funding. Alföldy suggests “EX,”
The Colosseum is the most striking evidence of the grandeur of ancient Rome-its most massive, impressive and awe-inspiring feat of engineering. Originally known as the Amphitheatrum Flavium, it was the first major all-stone amphitheater in Rome.2 Since the eighth century, it has been known simply as the Colosseum, apparently because of the colossal statue of the hated Emperor Nero (ruled 54 to 68 C.E.) that had once stood nearb~3 The statue was placed there by the Emperor Hadrian (ruled 117 to 138), who had removed it from the court of Nero's Golden House.
Nero's connection …show more content…
Dedicatory inscriptions often contain little triangles that serve as word dividers. Based on his study of the holes, Alföldy sees no hole for the peg of a word divider. (Note the word divider in the first line between "CAES" and "VESPASI.") Thus, the 18 holes of the second line must belong to the letters of a single word. Here Alföldy has reconstructed AMPHITHEATRV[M]; only the M is missing. Alföldy suggests that on the right was probably the word NOVUM, thus designating the building: "New Amphitheater."
In the third and final line, one would expect a closing formula-a reference to parts of the building, to the recipients of the building (i.e., the Roman people) or to the cost or the source of the financing for the building.
The small fragment tells us where each line of the inscription began, but we don't have that part of the small fragment where the third line begins. We do, however, know how far to the left of the larger fragment the third line began, based on the small fragment. Alföldy concludes that only a couple of letters are missing from the beginning of the third line. If Professor Alföldy is right in conjecturing that this line contained information as to the source of the funding for the building, a word such as de or ex might well have been the preposition leading to the source of the funding. Alföldy suggests “EX,”