Depths of arena’s history revealed
The cramped corridors beneath Rome’s Colosseum were a frightening place where gladiators prepared for combat and slaves pushed wild beasts into lifts to propel them into the arena above. Hidden from the 50,000 bloodthirsty fans 2000 years ago, the basement has been opened to visitors for the first time, offering a close-up look at the secret heart of the historic venue.
‘‘This was the backstage of the Colosseum, a monument within a monument which has now been fully restored and reopened,’’ said Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum.
Visitors have long been able to peer down into the exposed labyrinth of rooms and corridors from the seating above, and in 2010 a small section was opened.
Following a two-year restoration programme, a new walkway takes visitors around the 15 corridors in the 1.5-hectare basement, enabling them to see the 60 lift shafts once used to hoist lions, tigers and leopards through the arena trapdoors to face a gory death.
‘‘For the gladiators, it may have been a day in the office, but for anyone else this was a terrifying place to be,’’ said Darius Arya, an archaeologist and director of the website Ancient Rome Live.
‘‘There would have been the yells of lift operators and the protests of beasts being taken from the cages, while blood would have been dripping down from the wooden arena floor, which was reverberating overhead with the screams of the dying.’’
Slaves toiled by flaming torches on two basement floors, each only two metres high, timing the operation of the lifts to launch animals and gladiators into the arena.
After hosting shows from its opening in AD80 to AD523, the Colosseum’s
wooden floor disappeared. Earth filled the basement, and was not dug out until the 19th century. Last month the Italian government announced plans to install a retractable floor.
During the restoration work, which was funded by Italian shoe company Tod’s, experts found signs of repeated refurbishment down the centuries.
‘‘We could read 400 years of history in the walls and counted nine phases, each one reflecting the taste of the emperor at the time,’’ Russo said.
Niches in the stonework helped with the reconstruction of one of the lifts in 2015, recreating a sophisticated system of ropes, pulleys and weights operated by eight slaves who were able to lift an animal weighing up to 300 kilograms.