So for this discussion, we're supposed to discuss something that has confused us. After a bit of discussion with some of my fellow RomeKids, we're mostly in agreement: this trip has been really clarifying, not confusing. So many of my questions and concerns have been answered through physically walking around the city. I've realized so many things being here that I wouldn't have learned through a textbook or a class. Experience is what is really important.
I guess there is something that I've been pondering, but I'm not sure I'll get an answer. I'm pretty sure there just isn't one yet.
When you think of Rome, you think of the ruins (eventually, after food, sites, parties, etc). That's exactly what they are: ruined. Once upon a time, there stood magnificent buildings. Scattered around were phenomenal statues. Amazing columns were erected with extraordinary detail. Walking around the Roman Forum yesterday really made me realize that these are indeed ruins.
My question is, where did all the material go?
Take the Colosseum for example. I cannot even begin to fathom how many tons of marble it took to create it originally. What's left now is still grand of course, but much of it is missing. We know from our tour today and our history books that the Colosseum essentially became a quarry for material during the Middle Ages; that is, people came in and took the marble and other materials (like the metal brackets), and used them for to make something else (bullets, coins, etc.)
But we know what happened to the Colosseum. What about all the statues that stood in the arches? According to our tour, we've found fragments of three, but where did the rest go?
Similarly with the Colossus. We have many pieces of him left: his head, the foot, and elbow. But there's not enough to put him back together. Pieces are missing. Where did they go? The same goes for statues and buildings all over the place that are ruined.
There are a few theories I can make, but I think that's all they can be until we have decided that there are no more excavations to ever be done (which I doubt will ever happen). The remains simply could just be rubble and dust now. Italy has experienced many earthquakes; it's not unfathomable that whatever is missing is just rubble now. Archaeologists are also discovering new sites all the time, we just saw one on the Palatine hill today! Who's to say we'll never find the Colossus' missing knee, or the missing heads to all the Vestal Virgins in the garden?
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