1
00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:05,010
[Intro piano music]

2
00:00:05,010 --> 00:00:07,803
Imagine how beautiful it must have been, this square

3
00:00:07,803 --> 00:00:10,799
with all these monumental arches covered in travertine

4
00:00:10,799 --> 00:00:15,610
and all these statues and beautiful fountains spilling out water

5
00:00:15,610 --> 00:00:17,315
reflecting the light on the travertine.

6
00:00:17,315 --> 00:00:19,465
That we might think about this more like the way

7
00:00:19,465 --> 00:00:22,199
we think today about Lincoln Center(exactly) --

8
00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:25,734
with fountains in the middle and gleaming stone.

9
00:00:25,734 --> 00:00:27,291
Should we start off by talking a little bit

10
00:00:27,291 --> 00:00:29,441
about the structure and how it was built?

11
00:00:29,441 --> 00:00:31,853
We have to imagine the Colosseum as a gigantic donut.

12
00:00:31,853 --> 00:00:34,009
You have the inside as the arena.

13
00:00:34,009 --> 00:00:36,365
Arena originally in Latin meant "sand".

14
00:00:36,365 --> 00:00:39,176
On the floor where gladiators were fighting,

15
00:00:39,176 --> 00:00:42,848
they used sand to absorb blood and body fluids.

16
00:00:42,848 --> 00:00:45,421
You know, like a gigantic cat litter if you think about it.

17
00:00:45,421 --> 00:00:47,840
So between different fight[s],

18
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,542
they could simply clean off very easily.

19
00:00:50,542 --> 00:00:53,921
The original name of this building was not Colosseum.

20
00:00:53,921 --> 00:00:56,316
Colosseum is a nickname given later.

21
00:00:56,316 --> 00:00:58,111
Not because it was a colossal monument ,

22
00:00:58,111 --> 00:01:00,639
but because it was located in the proximity of

23
00:01:00,639 --> 00:01:03,429
a colossal statue -- originally of Nero--

24
00:01:03,429 --> 00:01:05,556
that was part of the decoration of his house.

25
00:01:05,556 --> 00:01:10,548
And so with time the nickname was given by this proximity.

26
00:01:10,548 --> 00:01:14,049
The original name was actually Flavian Amphitheater.

27
00:01:14,049 --> 00:01:15,616
And this is something very typical

28
00:01:15,616 --> 00:01:17,714
even if you think about American monuments.

29
00:01:17,714 --> 00:01:19,044
You have the Lincoln Center,

30
00:01:19,044 --> 00:01:20,531
you have the Rockefeller Center.

31
00:01:20,531 --> 00:01:24,341
They are connected with the name of the family that paid for the building.

32
00:01:24,341 --> 00:01:27,503
The Flavian family paid for the building of the Colosseum.

33
00:01:27,503 --> 00:01:32,028
Flavian Amphitheater is just a technical name for the shape.

34
00:01:32,028 --> 00:01:34,240
It simply means in Greek "a double theater".

35
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,853
The original Greek theaters were actually semi-circles

36
00:01:36,853 --> 00:01:38,637
with a flat end by the stage,

37
00:01:38,637 --> 00:01:40,668
and so this is really just fitting those two together.

38
00:01:40,668 --> 00:01:42,830
By using arches and concrete,

39
00:01:42,830 --> 00:01:45,823
Romans were able to build an amphitheater

40
00:01:45,823 --> 00:01:49,555
even a double theater with seats on a flat surface.

41
00:01:49,555 --> 00:01:53,396
The engineering behind it is absolutely astonishing

42
00:01:53,396 --> 00:01:56,032
considering that it was only built in ten years.

43
00:01:56,032 --> 00:02:00,237
The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 people.

44
00:02:00,237 --> 00:02:04,616
And if you look at the actual top part of each of the ground floor arches,

45
00:02:04,616 --> 00:02:06,130
you see a roman number.

46
00:02:06,130 --> 00:02:08,806
They are very dark and dilapidated. (Ah! I see!)

47
00:02:08,806 --> 00:02:10,402
You can see a 23 (XXIII).

48
00:02:10,402 --> 00:02:11,554
Then there is a 24 (XXIIII).

49
00:02:11,554 --> 00:02:12,781
And then there is a 25 (XXV).

50
00:02:12,781 --> 00:02:14,000
They are progressive.

51
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,958
And these numbers would have been written on the tickets given to the people.

52
00:02:16,958 --> 00:02:18,072
It‘s like in a modern stadium --

53
00:02:18,072 --> 00:02:20,062
you would have an assigned seat ...

54
00:02:20,062 --> 00:02:21,807
A gate number. Also the seat.

55
00:02:21,807 --> 00:02:23,967
Because it was extremely important for the Romans.

56
00:02:23,967 --> 00:02:26,221
Even the seats were assigned according to their status.

57
00:02:26,221 --> 00:02:29,816
So you had the most important people close to the arena

58
00:02:29,816 --> 00:02:33,944
and the least important - being the women - on the top floor.

59
00:02:33,944 --> 00:02:36,657
Here we actually see the style of the Colosseum.

60
00:02:36,657 --> 00:02:39,778
So you have three stories of arches,

61
00:02:39,778 --> 00:02:43,268
and then another story - a fourth floor with windows,

62
00:02:43,268 --> 00:02:45,798
so it's closed with small windows inside.

63
00:02:45,798 --> 00:02:47,773
And if you look at these arches,

64
00:02:47,773 --> 00:02:50,558
the arches are framed by columns.

65
00:02:50,558 --> 00:02:52,942
At the bottom part you have what is called Tuscan.

66
00:02:52,942 --> 00:02:54,224
It's similar to Doric

67
00:02:54,224 --> 00:02:57,096
but it's more a local - an Italic style.

68
00:02:57,096 --> 00:02:59,260
It's even simpler than Doric it seems.

69
00:02:59,260 --> 00:03:00,328
Yes, it's also the base.

70
00:03:00,328 --> 00:03:02,150
I mean Doric columns do not have a base

71
00:03:02,150 --> 00:03:05,267
while Tuscan columns do have a base.

72
00:03:05,267 --> 00:03:07,569
And they not are fluted as well, right? No.

73
00:03:07,569 --> 00:03:11,512
Then you go to the Ionic columns on the second story.

74
00:03:11,512 --> 00:03:13,381
And the Ionic columns actually are...

75
00:03:13,381 --> 00:03:15,840
they're considered the most feminine of the columns.

76
00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,177
Because their proportions were more slender

77
00:03:18,177 --> 00:03:19,741
and with these volutes on the top.

78
00:03:19,741 --> 00:03:21,904
and the women sat higher as well...exact.

79
00:03:21,904 --> 00:03:24,446
And the top floor you got the Corinthian.

80
00:03:24,446 --> 00:03:26,406
They're based on the Acanthus plant -

81
00:03:26,406 --> 00:03:29,086
it's indigenous in Rome, you can find it in many gardens.

82
00:03:29,086 --> 00:03:31,540
It is very nice with green leaves.

83
00:03:31,540 --> 00:03:34,385
And so it's an imitation of a piece of stone

84
00:03:34,385 --> 00:03:36,653
covered with leaves of grass.

85
00:03:36,653 --> 00:03:39,859
Inside of each of the arches on the second and third floor,

86
00:03:39,859 --> 00:03:41,268
there would be a statue.

87
00:03:41,268 --> 00:03:43,729
And on the top floor there would be

88
00:03:43,729 --> 00:03:48,525
probably bronze shields on top alternating the windows.

89
00:03:48,525 --> 00:03:51,274
Yeah, we imagine the Colosseum as a donut.

90
00:03:51,274 --> 00:03:56,020
The outside circle was done with blocks of travertine.

91
00:03:56,020 --> 00:03:59,905
The inside of the donut was done with a core of concrete.

92
00:03:59,905 --> 00:04:01,668
Ancient Romans had really perfected concrete

93
00:04:01,668 --> 00:04:04,784
and really were the first to use it as this structural material.

94
00:04:04,784 --> 00:04:08,161
And that was critical for their ability to create structures of this size.

95
00:04:08,161 --> 00:04:10,736
Also, something like the Pantheon.

96
00:04:10,736 --> 00:04:14,560
The development of concrete was crucial for two main reasons.

97
00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,508
The first one is if you work with cut stone:

98
00:04:17,508 --> 00:04:19,945
marble, travertine, even tufa stone,

99
00:04:19,945 --> 00:04:22,059
you need specialized workers

100
00:04:22,059 --> 00:04:23,547
becuase you need to know how to cut the stone.

101
00:04:23,547 --> 00:04:24,893
If you get it the wrong way,

102
00:04:24,893 --> 00:04:27,145
the stone will crumble into your hand, right?

103
00:04:27,145 --> 00:04:31,520
With concrete it makes it possible for not specialized workers

104
00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,926
to produce something that's more sturdy.

105
00:04:33,926 --> 00:04:36,256
At the same time it's less expensive. You know.

106
00:04:36,256 --> 00:04:39,276
To quarry blocks of marble is not the cheapest.

107
00:04:39,276 --> 00:04:41,035
Concrete could be assembled everywhere.

108
00:04:41,035 --> 00:04:46,892
You just need a little mortar and a few pieces of stone to make aggregate and water.

109
00:04:46,892 --> 00:04:50,634
So it's very easy but at the same time it's more elastic.

110
00:04:50,634 --> 00:04:55,057
With concrete you get sort of elasticity and you can mold space.

111
00:04:55,057 --> 00:04:59,215
Because it's something liquid and you can simply mold it the way you want.

112
00:04:59,215 --> 00:05:02,577
And so the idea would be to take a wooden framework

113
00:05:02,577 --> 00:05:05,255
that framed out the space that you wanted

114
00:05:05,255 --> 00:05:09,071
and then to pour concrete into that wooden mold.

115
00:05:09,071 --> 00:05:13,122
Exactly, and then it could be covered with decoration.

116
00:05:13,122 --> 00:05:16,523
It could be bricks, stucco, whatever you want.

117
00:05:16,523 --> 00:05:19,709
So it really allowed for far more monumental structures,

118
00:05:19,709 --> 00:05:23,812
and that would be economically and physically feasible.

119
00:05:23,812 --> 00:05:25,774
And less expensive and quick.

120
00:05:25,774 --> 00:05:28,702
You know ten years to build the Colosseum is quite an accomplishment

121
00:05:28,702 --> 00:05:31,350
because they used mostly concrete.

122
00:05:31,350 --> 00:05:34,364
And also kind of thinking about architecture in a new way

123
00:05:34,364 --> 00:05:38,357
in terms of shaping an interior space.

124
00:05:38,357 --> 00:05:39,473
Particularly interiors.

125
00:05:39,473 --> 00:05:41,249
Because if you look at Greek architecture,

126
00:05:41,249 --> 00:05:42,302
you look at the temples,

127
00:05:42,302 --> 00:05:44,953
the inside of the temples is quite narrow.

128
00:05:44,953 --> 00:05:49,696
If you think the Pantheon, you just are in this amazing sphere.

129
00:05:49,696 --> 00:05:51,328
And that's why they really invented it,

130
00:05:51,328 --> 00:05:53,953
the idea of molding not the outside but the inside

131
00:05:53,953 --> 00:05:56,640
to be able to produce a vault

132
00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,661
that could permit to have a space free of standing columns

133
00:06:00,661 --> 00:06:03,107
in the middle to support the roof.

134
00:06:03,107 --> 00:06:07,182
Moving away from post and lintel architecture to an interior space

135
00:06:07,182 --> 00:06:10,558
which really in a sense almost doubled the architecture vocabulary

136
00:06:10,558 --> 00:06:13,305
and created an advancement over a system

137
00:06:13,305 --> 00:06:14,988
that had existed for thousands of years.

138
00:06:14,988 --> 00:06:18,594
Romans they employ concrete on such a scale

139
00:06:18,594 --> 00:06:21,408
that permitted them to build wherever they wanted.

140
00:06:21,408 --> 00:06:24,345
They were not forced by the space.

141
00:06:24,345 --> 00:06:26,261
Greeks could not build a theater wherever they wanted.

142
00:06:26,261 --> 00:06:27,346
They needed a slope.

143
00:06:27,346 --> 00:06:30,556
So what if you were living in a city without slopes?

144
00:06:30,556 --> 00:06:32,381
No theater for you, right?

145
00:06:32,381 --> 00:06:34,848
Romans were able to creat a theater, an amphitheater,

146
00:06:34,848 --> 00:06:38,730
or a circus, or a bath complex wherever they wanted.

147
00:06:38,730 --> 00:06:43,311
It's true that Greeks seemed to use natural features in a more passive way

148
00:06:43,311 --> 00:06:46,858
whereas the Romans seemed to shape the landscape much more aggressively.

149
00:06:46,858 --> 00:06:48,914
You talked about the fact that there had been a lake here.

150
00:06:48,914 --> 00:06:50,749
Let's drain the lake. We are putting a building here.

151
00:06:50,749 --> 00:06:55,361
That is nature becomes in the service of man rather than vice versa.

152
00:06:55,361 --> 00:06:56,871
That's actually a very good point.

153
00:06:56,871 --> 00:06:59,994
The fact is that they wanted to be able to shape their space.

154
00:06:59,994 --> 00:07:02,179
So the idea of urban planning,

155
00:07:02,179 --> 00:07:05,098
you could build a city the way you wanted to

156
00:07:05,098 --> 00:07:08,387
and not just be subject to the landscape that was there.

157
00:07:08,387 --> 00:07:10,953
But I think that there is this really important way

158
00:07:10,953 --> 00:07:13,610
in which the Romans were thinking of themselves --

159
00:07:13,610 --> 00:07:16,313
as powers in the landscape, having that sort of dominance.

160
00:07:16,313 --> 00:07:19,184
It seems to me that the Romans shaped in a way

161
00:07:19,184 --> 00:07:22,853
that speaks of that notion of their own inherent strength.

162
00:07:22,853 --> 00:07:25,552
What was different about the Roman society,

163
00:07:25,552 --> 00:07:27,035
they were not racists in the sense

164
00:07:27,035 --> 00:07:28,778
that they were looking at the color of your skin.

165
00:07:28,778 --> 00:07:30,472
They didn't［could't］care less about that.

166
00:07:30,472 --> 00:07:32,873
It was a multicultural society.

167
00:07:32,873 --> 00:07:34,678
There were Romans from Africa,

168
00:07:34,678 --> 00:07:37,838
Romans from Turkey, Romans from Germany.

169
00:07:37,838 --> 00:07:41,303
What made it different was were you a citizen or not.

170
00:07:41,303 --> 00:07:44,134
If you were not a citizen, you were nobody.

171
00:07:44,134 --> 00:07:48,821
But if you were a citizen, the color of your skin was not important.

172
00:07:48,821 --> 00:07:52,059
But there were fine distinctions even within citizenship.

173
00:07:52,059 --> 00:07:54,336
Of course there were social classes.

174
00:07:54,336 --> 00:07:58,576
One interesting aspect was that you could move along the social scale.

175
00:07:58,576 --> 00:08:02,293
While for Greeks you could not even acquire citizenship.

176
00:08:02,293 --> 00:08:05,740
It was extremely rare to obtain citizenship.

177
00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:09,838
For the Romans even a slave could become first a free man,

178
00:08:09,838 --> 00:08:13,525
and then his children would become full citizens for Rome.

179
00:08:13,525 --> 00:08:15,462
It's like the America. If you think about America,

180
00:08:15,462 --> 00:08:18,725
like the second generation immigrants as the same idea.

181
00:08:18,725 --> 00:08:21,410
They realized that being able to move and

182
00:08:21,410 --> 00:08:24,715
being able to sort of give people a chance in life

183
00:08:24,715 --> 00:08:27,265
could make all the difference in the economy.

184
00:08:27,265 --> 00:08:33,713
[Closing Piano Music]