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What's most fascinating to me about the Colosseum is how it is a reminder of the post-apocalyptic city Rome was until recently. Parts of it were used for buildi

What's most fascinating to me about the Colosseum is how it is a reminder of the post-apocalyptic city Rome was until recently. Parts of it were used for building material, such as in the Vatican, but it survived while the buildings nearby were completely destroyed over time. Even as recently as 250 years ago, parts of Rome had been reclaimed by nature. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Giovanni_Paolo_Panini_-_View_of_the_Colosseum_-_Walters_372367.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Giovanni...

spideymans 6y ago
Interesting. Why did people return to Rome?
- _petronius 6y ago
  People never really left Rome: describing it as "post-apocalyptic" is IMO a bit misleading (a real post-apocalyptic cultural transition looks a lot more like what happened to the north American native cultures in the aftermath of European contact than what happened on the Italian peninsula during the collapse of the western empire). That said, as things like coastlines and rivers changed, settlement patterns evolved, and the post-Imperial city of Rome changed size and political importance, parts of the city that had been inhabited in ancient times did empty out and came to be dominated by abandoned ruins, some of which were quarried for their marble, others left to be buried by sediment and detritus. I think a more apt comparison here is something like what happened to Detroit, but more so and over a longer period. A good overview using the example of the Forum can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum#Medieval https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum#Medieval
  - shadowofneptune 6y ago
    Yeah, post-apocalyptic was misleading. Better said that after the chaos that Italy fell into in the 500s, the cities were depopulated.
    - mr_toad 6y ago
      The population of Rome dropped by more than 95 percent, mostly due to war. It ceased to be a city and became a sparsely inhabited ruin. That’s pretty apocalyptic.
  - Archelaos 6y ago
    I highly recommend Ferdinand Gregorovius: 'Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter' (1859–1872). It is a fascinating read. Translations into English under the title: 'History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages' are available here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=History+of+the+city+of+Rome+in+the+middle+ages https://archive.org/search.php?query=History+of+the+city+of+...

spideymans 6y ago

Interesting. Why did people return to Rome?

_petronius 6y ago
People never really left Rome: describing it as "post-apocalyptic" is IMO a bit misleading (a real post-apocalyptic cultural transition looks a lot more like what happened to the north American native cultures in the aftermath of European contact than what happened on the Italian peninsula during the collapse of the western empire). That said, as things like coastlines and rivers changed, settlement patterns evolved, and the post-Imperial city of Rome changed size and political importance, parts of the city that had been inhabited in ancient times did empty out and came to be dominated by abandoned ruins, some of which were quarried for their marble, others left to be buried by sediment and detritus. I think a more apt comparison here is something like what happened to Detroit, but more so and over a longer period. A good overview using the example of the Forum can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum#Medieval https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum#Medieval
- shadowofneptune 6y ago
  Yeah, post-apocalyptic was misleading. Better said that after the chaos that Italy fell into in the 500s, the cities were depopulated.
  - mr_toad 6y ago
    The population of Rome dropped by more than 95 percent, mostly due to war. It ceased to be a city and became a sparsely inhabited ruin. That’s pretty apocalyptic.
- Archelaos 6y ago
  I highly recommend Ferdinand Gregorovius: 'Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter' (1859–1872). It is a fascinating read. Translations into English under the title: 'History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages' are available here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=History+of+the+city+of+Rome+in+the+middle+ages https://archive.org/search.php?query=History+of+the+city+of+...