The discovery of the Colosseum Book Reviews

The discovery of the Colosseum by John Henry Parker Book Summary

This book reproduces (for first time after its first publication) the integral text of the seventh volume of the formerly famous The archaeology of Rome, by John Henry Parker, published in ten volumes in the years from 1876 to 1883. Why is this text so important? Why the editor thought it was worthwhile spending so much time in transliterating its text, when we all know that images of the original pages are publicly available online? Because John Henry Parker is a milestone in the modern rediscovery of that majestic monument of ancient Rome named Colosseum. After the Colosseum stopped hosting events, Roman citizens quarried the Colosseum's stones for other building projects, as John Henry Parker wrote. The massive structure served several purposes after the fall of the Roman Empire, including as a fortress in the 12th and 13th centuries. Earthquakes, bad weather and neglect over the centuries caused the ancient structure to deteriorate further. He had been in charge, in the period 1870 to 1876, of the new excavations in the area of the Colosseum and Roman Forum, and «his spirited researches at Rome have done much to uncover the antiquities of the place, though, doubtless, sometimes biased by crotchets and unsound conjectures». His pages explain thoroughly those exciting days when the Colosseum was rediscovered, and Pius IX named him a «benefactor of Rome», «having conferred a permanent benefit on Rome by demonstrating the truth of the early history, preserved in the family traditions, which have been considered as fabulous for the last half-century.» An additional merit of his research lies in the enormous amount of photographs that he commissioned, documenting the excavation and every minutia of antiquity that he contributed to bring to light. The text about the discovery of the Colosseum is accompanied by 26 marvelous albumen photographs taken by Parker and meticulously described by the author, in a way so that the text itself becomes a precious and invaluable guide for an informed visit to the monument.

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