The Colosseum has an elliptical shape. The round structure is built from travertine blocks that are used for load-bearing pillars with radial walls, arches and vaults to support the structure. A tattered red awning hovers above the last rows of the stands, providing flaccid protection from the sun. The empty bowl of the sky is brightened by the potency of the sun; its punishing rays glaring down at me as if in disapproval.
I stride out with fraudulent confidence to the center of the arena. And the journey there seems like an endless stretch of ivory stone. The flattened ground is blanketed with a thick layer of ochre dust. My head swivels from left to right. A one hundred and eighty degree vision of the jam-packed stands, inundated with an ocean of colorful faces. My gaze levels to the interior circumference. The other sealed gates are spaced out at extensive intervals.
