Today, the Colosseum. Incredible that so much has survived from so long ago.
A couple of selfies when we arrived.
Then, in we went, with our tour guide, Rosie.
If I remember correctly, Rosie said the Colosseum was built by the emperor after Nero, whom everyone hated and who they thought started the fire that burned down 80% of Rome. One tour member asked if it was all built by hand since they didn’t have machinery. Rosie said, “They had machinery—it was just powered by slaves.” Amazingly, it was built in just 8 years. You know the Bible story about the destruction of the temple? The treasure stolen from that war was used to fund the Colosseum, and the Jews captured were enslaved and helped build the Colosseum.
Centuries later, much of it became a quarry. Many buildings in Rome were built with marble and other materials taken from the Colosseum.
Click on pictures to see full photo, title, and description. For the 100s of photos we took, see my smugmug: https://moonfamily.smugmug.com/Travel/Italy-2026
It was a 3-hour tour that included ruins, temples, and buildings all around. We walked on the Sacred Street where three emperors built three triumphal arches. I said to Cori, “Soon we’ll have one for Trump.” She blew a raspberry.
The inscription on the triumphal arch of Titus says something like “Made by the people of Rome.” She told us that inscribing that took a lot of time and space, so they would just put the first initials on other things: SPQR. “In a weird connection to our past,” she said, “now you see it everywhere, even on sewer covers. It has become the symbol of the city of Rome."
