Coliseum, Catacombs and Persecution

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

We started the day at the Coliseum, a truly colossal structure which held 60,000 for the entertainment of the aristocracy and the masses.  Gladiators fought animals (exotic one—lions and tigers) as well as each other.  The floor is missing now and the rooms below where the animals and the gladiators were kept are in view:

There were stalls behind the stadium grandstands which sold food and drink, much like our current football stadiums, and we had a study session in one.  We studied the clash of values between the Jews and the Romans, reading from a Tosefta, the parallel writings alongside the Talmud.  One reading:

 One who goes up into the theaters of the nations, and cries out for the needs of the state — it is permitted. If he conspires with them (mit'hashev) — behold it is prohibited. One who sits in the stadium (itstarton) — behold he is guilty of bloodshed.

So for the Jews, participation as a spectator in the bloody and brutal contests was prohibited.

It was not until the days of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, that the terribly brutal contests in the Coliseum were halted.

From the Coliseum we traveled just outside the city to the Jewish catacombs.  These date from 200-300 C.E. and were used in a parallel fashion to the burial catacombs for the Romans.  Here’s the entrance:

The catacombs used by the Jews had originally been pagan burial grounds, and there were many pagan decorations there.  Here are some decorated burial niches:

A Pegasus:

And the goddess Tieche, the Goddess of Prosperity:

There were far fewer Jewish grave markings, but here is one of the more remarkable, with a menorah, a lulav and etrog, and a shofar.

We returned to Rome center, and after lunch, we had a study session on Hadrian and his conflict with the Jews.  From one of the readings (Eicha Rabba 3:60):

 A Jew passed in front of Hadrian and greeted him. The king asked, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am a Jew." Hadrian exclaimed, "How dare a Jew pass in front of Hadrian and greet him?" and ordered, "Off with his head!" Another Jew passed and, seeing what happened to the first man, did not greet him. Hadrian asked, "Who are you?" He answered, "A Jew." He exclaimed, "How dare a Jew pass in front of Hadrian without giving a greeting?" and again ordered, "Off with his head!" His senators said, "We cannot understand your actions. He who greeted you was put to death, and he who did not greet you was put to death!" Hadrian replied, "Do you dare advise me how I am to execute those I hate?" And the holy spirit kept crying out, "0 Lord, Thou hast seen my wrong. . . . Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me" (Lam. 3:59-60)

We next walked a street filled with shops where you might buy all the garments and appurtenances you would use if you were a priest.  Window shopping here was fascinating, but we didn’t see things we might use.  Here’s one window:

Our next visit was to the most remarkable building we’ve seen yet, the Pantheon.  Built by Hadrian between 118 and 125 CE, it is rectangular on the outside and perfectly round on the inside.  Of course it had been converted to a church, the Basilica Santa Maria ad Martyres, but the incredible architecture and engineering are still easy to see:

Exhausted, we stopped at a lovely café for coffee and gelato, and in the café we read some poetry of Immanuel of Rome (c. 1261-1332).  Here’s a sample in translation:

THE WIFE'S COMPLAINT 

Two years have already passed since I took a husband, but he is still alive, and I can have no pleasure. If only he would die of lightning's dart or thunder's roar, I would be queen among the charming ladies. 

Day after day I call for Death to come, for my soul longs for a change of fare. 

I do not know how this outrage will end. Oh, perish the day when I came into his house! 

I see that my neighbour, within the span of thirty months, has three times buried a husband. All the neighbourhood wives exclaim: 'How happy she must be!' 

She spurned heroes and princes [for the sake of lovers]. Like a lioness, she made her lair among young lions, and she lay in their midst, bearing her cubs.

Our next-to-last stop of the day was in the Piazza Navona, which has in the center of it a giant Bernini sculpture incorporating an Egyptian pyramid with a cross on top.  What amazing imagery of the power of the church:

Finally we went to the Piazza Navona, a large busy plaza, in the center of which is a small plaque:

The plaque was placed in 2011 to commemorate the events of 1553 when wagonloads of copies of the Talmud were burned here.  Haim also traced the history of the intolerance of the Church to science, as in this square also, Giovanni Bruno was burned at the stake for persisting in the belief of his scientific discoveries during the Inquisition.  We read aloud the words spoken at the dedication of the plaque, some of which I’ll use to close this post:

In Rome, the Inquisition raged while in the Benedictine monastery at Camaldoli near Arezzo, sat the Florentine humanists who studied the Talmud and Kabbalah together with rabbis. Giordano Bruno's own martyrdom, some 20 years after that of the Talmud here, was in large part owing to his having been influenced by those humanists and their interest in Jewish holy books. The placing of this plaque today thus closes the circle and indicates to us that it is not the Inquisition that has won the day, but the spirit of Camaldoli. Today in Rome, Jews and Christians study the Talmud and others of our shared holy books, not only with each other but with Muslims as well. Bruno might have dreamed that this would happen.