Colosseum nibbled away

[Pertinax]

Souvenir hunters are eroding the Colosseum

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle2457310.ece

but at least "fake centurions" are being tackled.

[Gaius Octavius]

Vast fortunes are are given to themselves, in perquisites and pensions, by the members of parliament. The president and prime minister have grand palaces. Easy to understand why there aren't enough lira for the Colosseum.

[DecimusCaesar]

First Pompeii and Herculaneum...now this. It's just another sad chapter of how lack of funds is destroying Rome's past.

[The Augusta]

It is indeed a sad state of affairs. Although I must confess to having a small chunk of marble from my Gus's mausoleum, I did actually find it strewn on the ground under tufts of grass and other rubbish. But the thought of scribbling graffiti over these monuments is anathema to me, even though - and let's be honest - the Romans themselves often engraved their little gems on their public buildings, historical or otherwise. Vandals have always existed; there will always be those in society who behave in an anarchic and disrespectful fashion. If they have little respect for themselves and their families, how can we expect them to care for treasures such as the Colosseum?

[M. Porcius Cato]

Vandals have always existed; there will always be those in society who behave in an anarchic and disrespectful fashion.

 

But the worst vandals weren't anarchists; they were the Christians who took over the whole empire. As just one example of many, look closely at this portrait of the beautiful courtesan Phryne, and you'll see the sign of the cross carved into her forehead and down her visage. This kind of religious vandalism occurred over the whole empire, and it was far more destructive than the petty vandalism committed by teenagers.

 

Edited September 17, 2007 by M. Porcius Cato

[The Augusta]

But the worst vandals weren't anarchists; they were the Christians who took over the whole empire. As just one example of many, look closely at this portrait of the beautiful courtesan Phryne, and you'll see the sign of the cross carved into her forehead and down her visage. This kind of religious vandalism occurred over the whole empire, and it was far more destructive than the petty vandalism committed by teenagers.

 

Good point, MPC. After all, graffiti can be scrubbed off!

[Gaius Octavius]

In addition to the Christians, didn't the Romans build the Colosseum over Nero's lake? Didn't the Romans destroy edifices for their purposes? The gutting of monuments was in part done for private purposes. A great deal of the Forum and a good bit of the Colosseum were "mined" during the Middle Ages and Renaissance to provide building materials and the stones were burnt to be used as a basis for concrete. Then there are the pyramids and Greece (Turks). The Aswan High Dam and the river the Turks are damming today and flooding Roman monuments. What I am trying to say is that the destruction of our history is not only a Christian crime.

Edited September 18, 2007 by Gaius Octavius

[ASCLEPIADES]

London, Sept 17 : Rome's Colosseum is at the risk from vandalism and graffiti, the city's civic authorities have said.

 

Visitors to the 1st-century amphitheatre are taking away "chunks of stone" as souvenirs despite the presence of guards and surveillance cameras, Angelo Bottini, the Superintendent of Archaeology for Rome, has said.

 

He said, though most of the five million tourists who visited the Colosseum annually behaved responsibly, some covered it in graffiti, left their rubbish behind, and even picked up bits of the ancient structure.

"Nothing surprises me any more," said Prof Bottini.

 

Presently, Prof. Bottini has started an inquiry and has asked the police to reinforce patrols and closed-circuit television surveillance at the site and the adjoining Roman Forum, where tourists also pocketed souvenirs.

He said even worse was the fact that tramps used the historic site as shelter at night.

 

Prof Bottini said funds allotted by the central government for the restoration of the Colosseum had dried up two years ago and had not yet been renewed.

He said the authorities are now drawing up plans to improve security measures at the entrance to the site. There are also plans to clamp-down on unlicensed "fake centurions" who charged tourists for posing with them for photographs with the Colosseum as a backdrop, The Times quoted him as saying.

 

Sequitur

[M. Porcius Cato]

Every generation has to remake the world, but chiseling religious symbols into the faces of the great women of antiquity--that's just rotten.

[Gaius Octavius]

Every generation has to remake the world, but chiseling religious symbols into the faces of the great women of antiquity--that's just rotten.

 

Agreed!

 

The Temple of Dendur in the Metropolitan Museum (NYC) has graffitti, ancient and not so ancient, chiseled into its' walls.

[Leguleius]

There are also plans to clamp-down on unlicensed "fake centurions" who charged tourists for posing with them for photographs with the Colosseum as a backdrop, The Times quoted him as saying.

 

About time too. They're just taking bread from the mouths of all those real Centurians...

 

What? How is this hurting anyone?