Allow me to be pedantic...

Welcome to the Circus Maximus.

Allow me to be annoyingly pedantic. And, I fear, some of what I'm about to say may be incorrect, so I apologize for any amount of authority in the tone, if, that is, it detectable at all. The truth is, one can never be too sure about these things.

The Circus Maximus is one of, I believe, the more interesting historical sites of Rome. Many of the early scholars on ancient Rome misread certain key historical texts, and erroneously assumed that where these texts said most of the early Christians were killed in the "Arena", what they meant was "Colosseum." Though there is still much scholarly debate about this, from what I gather as an amateur historian is that the argument is tilting more and more towards the Circus Maximus. The Colosseum was for more professional sports; killing Christians was no sport at all. For mass killings they needed larger areas. Using their line of reason, it was probably much more fun to watch a lion chase a man over the large distance offered by the Circus Maximus, than to watch one go round in tight circles at the Colosseum. This is what my professional historian teachers have told me, at least. What is unfortunate about the Circus Maximus is apparant in the picture: there is nothing left. Nothing. Not even a stone. There aren't even any markers indicating the historical importance of the place; if indeed my teachers' arguments can be trusted, this is a travesty. What can be seen in the distance are the ruins of the Palantine hill, the hill upon which Romulus famously (though mythically) established Rome. It is also where we get the word "Palace." Beyond that is the Capitoline hill, where we get another important word, "Capitol."

In 1749, Pope Benedetto XIV ("Benedetto" literally means "well read"; for all intents and purposes, we shall now refer to him as "Pope Wellread the 14th") declared the Colosseum a religious monument. The Colosseum still stands today because of this assumption that Christians were killed in there, maimed, crucified, burned, fed to lions, and all sorts of other generally unpleasant things. There is a fair chance that they were, especially in the middle years of the Roman Empire (ho-hum estimation: 150-250) but the most revered group of these early martyrs, died in the Circus Maximus, which is not standing. The Circus Maximus was about 2000 feet long and about 400 feet wide. It could seat a quarter of a million spectators: 5 times as many as the Colosseum. I imagine it was pretty spectacular.

When (and if) Nero famously burned Rome to the ground, he did not play the violin, since the violin would not be invented for another 1500 years, but he very well may have played the lyre. One way or the other, some believe his intention was to clear out a section of Rome, where he wanted to build his "Domus Aurea," or, "Golden Palace." The area of Rome burned? Mostly right where the Colosseum stands today. The fire started just a little ways behind where I stood when I took this picture to the right. This is no coincidence. Nero succeeded in building his Golden Palace. A few years later, under the emperor Vespasian, the Golden Palace was largely demolished. On top of it, the Colosseum was constructed. But the Golden Palace, in its day, was one of the most decadent buildings of the ancient world, something sure to be costly and sure to generate a fair amount of unrest in a populace whose homes had just been burned. In order to save himself a little bit from an angry mob, he declared quite simple that it was the Christians who set fire to Rome. It was a brilliant political move, almost as brilliant as when, some 200 odd years later, another emperor, Constantine, would declare Christianity the official state religion. At the time, the Christians were a small, growing religious group who operated in secrecy and who were led by two names I'm sure we all know: Peter and Paul. After Nero used them as a scapegoat, the Christians were rounded up. Here is a passage from the Roman historian Tacitus:

Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired

The place where much of this happened, it would appear, is in the Circus Maximus. The fire was in 64AD; the Colosseum would not be built for another decade, would not be completed for another 2.

Fleeing the city, Peter had his famous "Quo Vadis" vision in which Jesus appeared to him as he walked along the Appian Way (which is what I drive along when coming into the city in my roommate's car), heading towards Rome. Peter asked him "Where are you going?" to which Jesus replied something along the lines of, "To be crucified again." Peter, ashamed of himself, turned and walked back to Rome, to be crucified upside down.

I believe most of the Christians were killed on the other side of the Tiber, near where St. Peter's stands. But the possibility that much of it happened here, in Rome's first and largest circus, cannot be ruled out. Even if these assumptions are incorrect, there must've been a helluva lot of amazing chariot races.

This is where I go to read books in the afternoon.