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Travelling with Stabilo #18: Coliseum, Rome

经纬游踪 #18: 罗马斗兽场

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Coliseum is one of the most famous landmark in the world. As a major attraction in Rome, it is an essential stop for all travellers. The best way to experience the Coliseum, believe it or not, is by guided tours. That's because a guided tour would be able to take you through to areas that are normally inaccessible for visitors.

罗马斗兽场是世界有名的地标。作为罗马的重要景点，斗兽场是去罗马的旅客必去之地。游览斗兽场的最好方法是参加斗兽场的官方参观团，因为这些官方团会带你去一些斗兽场里不对外开放的部份，非常超值。

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We spent only half a day at the Coliseum, and that was enough. While large, it is not as expansive as the Roman Forums. After spending the morning at the Roman Forums next door, we headed to the Coliseum entrance around lunch time. We have pre-booked a comprehensive guided tour online through the Coliseum’s official website. Pre-booking is highly recommended as people who have a printed ticket could skip the main queue and head to the much smaller queue for pre-booked tours. Once we got our stickers to our tour we were directed to gate 4，where we waited for our guide. We booked an English tour, but there are other languages available.

我们报了一个下午的团。上午去完旁边的古罗马广场过来大概中午时分，斗兽场入口已经排满了人。跟官方团的好处就是不用排大队，直接进去领票。领票的队通常会小很多，减少排队浪费的时间。领了票后售票员让我们在第四号门等我们的领队。我们报的是个英文团，他们也有其他语言的团给游客选择。

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The tour guides appeared after a short while, and led us through some big gates, down some stairs to the underground area of the Coliseum where the tour began. The underground area is a recently opened area of the Coliseum, after extensive efforts in excavation and reconstruction. With the original name Flavian Amphitheatre, Coliseum was the largest outdoor theatre ever built, and in the Roman times provided a range of shows on offer for the Roman Public. These include gladiator fights with exotic beasts, gruesome executions, and theatrical shows that acts out heroic mythical stories. The underground level, or the hypogeum, is then like the backstage of this enormous theatre, where gladiators practiced, beasts held and fed, and artists preparing props for the upcoming shows. There are lots of cages and rooms, separated by the large number of columns and walls, where the animals and criminals were kept before starting the show. To allow for these gladiators, beasts and props to instantly get the stage, the Roman's built one of the earliest forms of elevators using hydraulics. These elevators are manually turned to lift the person or object onto the stage.

过了不久后，我们的领队来了，带我们经过一个高高的拱门，走下黑暗的楼梯，来到了斗兽场的底部。斗兽场的地底部分是最近才发掘和还原的，只对官六团的游客开放。在古罗马时期，罗马斗兽场是帝国里最大的露天剧院，为罗马群众提供各式各样的娱乐节目。例如勇士斗猛兽，死囚的处决，还有以神话为背景的戏剧。而斗兽场地层就是这个剧院的后台，一个个勇士，猛兽，很有不同的道具，在一间间黑暗的地底房间里等待出场。为了这些演员和道具可以毫无瑕疵地在台上出现，这里建了很多运用液压系统的手动升降机，把人或道具升到台上。

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After our underground tour, we were taken to the mid-level, where part of the Coliseum platform stage was reconstructed. Only a small part of the original stage is left. Walking onto the stage and looking across to the opposite side of the Coliseum, we could almost get an idea of how it feels to try and kill a lion running at you while a large crowd around you watch on.

游览完斗兽场的底层，我们的导游带了我们去位于斗兽场中层的表演台。这个差不多两千年历史的表演台只剩下一小部分。站在这里看着绕着表演台高高而立的围墙，可以想像到勇士们要在成千上万的观众的目光下与猛兽决一死战，所受的压力有多大！

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The tour guide then took us to the top level of the Coliseum, which is another restricted area. Just like going to a concert now, the closest seat to the stage at the Coliseum were reserved for the senators, and as you go higher, the seats were for the people who are less and less elite. The top tier, being further to the stage, was a standing only area for the women, the poor, and the slaves. Nowadays, this area become a great vintage point to see the Coliseum from up high. We can clearly the entire Coliseum: the many arcs along the wall surrounding the stage, the stone columns and walls of the hypogeum, and original seatings that resembled a stone staircase. All these had been standing here since it was built almost 2000 years ago.

官方团的最后一站是斗兽场的最顶层。像现代的演唱会一样，越近表演台的座位越矜贵。第一排的座位都是留给罗马官员的，而离表演台最远的顶层位置，则是给当时社会最底层的人:女眷，穷人和奴隶的站位。而现在，我们在这里可以饱览斗兽场的全景: 围绕着表演台的无数拱门，纵横地下层的石墙和石枉，还有看上去像台阶的观众席。很难想像这些貌不惊人的石头都已在这里屹立两千年。

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After the tour, we were free to explore the rest of the Coliseum. We were able to enjoy more of the small details of the architecture. Ancient Inscriptions of words and drawings is a common sight here. There is a cross, erected the Pope John Paul II, in memories of all the early martyrs who were executed here because of their new religious beliefs.

官方团完结以后，我们在斗兽场里闲逛了一会，继续寻找之前没有看到的细节。在这里我们看见了很多刻有古字画的石刻和牌匾。在斗兽场中央可以看见一个大型十字架，是教宗若望保禄二世用来纪念早期基督教徒在这里以异教徒的身份在这里被处决。

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By the time we left the Coliseum, the sun was setting, and a golden hue is reflected on the imposing walls of the Coliseum. It is not hard to imagine back to the glory days, where these now empty arcs were decorated with statues of great emperors and generals, and the Coliseum seats will be filled with excited crowds young and old ready for a day’s entertainment. The Roman glory days have since long gone, but the stories and legend lives on, still inspiring us now thousands of years on and thousands of years to come.

我们从斗兽场出来已经是黄昏。夕阳的余光把斗兽场的墙壁照得一片金黄。看着这雄伟的建筑，可以想像出二千年前的罗马盛世。这在已清空的拱门曾几何时摆放过伟大将军们的铜像，而现在颇为冷清的广场也曾经是人头涌涌，充斥着兴奋的男女老少来到斗兽场看表演。虽然罗马盛世早已完结，但关于罗马的事迹则永世长存，继续启发着后世的人们。

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