"The Colosseum was the temple of the sun. It was of marvelous beauty and greatness, disposed with many different vaulted chambers and all covered with a heaven of gilded brass, where thunder and lightning and glittering fire were made, and where rain was shed through slender tubes. Besides this there were the supercelestial signs and the planets Sol and Luna, which were drawn along in their proper chariots. And in the middle dwelled Phoebus, who is the god of the sun. With his feet on the earth he reached to heaven with his head and held in his hand an orb that signified that Rome ruled over the whole world.
After some time the Blessed Silvester ordered that temple destroyed and likewise other palaces so that the orators who came to Rome would not wander through profane buildings but instead pass with devotion through the churches. But he had the head and hands of the aforesaid idol laid before his Palace of the Lateran in remembrance of the temple, and they are now falsely called by the vulgar Samson's Ball. And before the Colosseum was a temple where ceremonies were done to the aforesaid image."
- the medieval guide to Rome Mirabilia Urbis Romae
- from the translation The Marvels of Rome, Mirabilia Urbis Romae, Francis Morgan Nichols, 1889, republished 1986, Italica Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment