Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A grandiose
Caesar
overlooks everything, reminding attendees of who's in charge.
If it seems like you've seen this statue before, you probably have. Countless sculptures
identical to this one were mass-produced in Rome and shipped throughout the empire to
grace buildings like this theater for propaganda purposes. To save money on shipping and
handling,onlytheheadsofthesestatueswerechangedwitheachnewruler.Thepermanent
body wears a breastplate emblazoned with the imperial griffon (body of a lion, head and
wingsofaneagle) thatonlytheemperorcouldwear.Whenanewemperorcame topower,
new heads were made in Rome and shipped off throughout the empire to replace the pop-
off heads on all these statues. (Imagine Barack Obama's head on George W. Bush's body.)
Archaeologists believe that a puny, vanquished Celt was included at the knee of the
emperor,touchinghisruler'sroberespectfully—ashowofhumblesubserviencetotheem-
peror.It'sinterestingtoconsiderhowaneffectivepropagandamachinecanconthemasses
into being impressed by their leader.
The horn has blown. It's time to find your
seat:
row 2, number 30. Sitting down,
you're comforted by the “EQ GIII” carved into the seat (
Equitas Gradus
#3...three rows
for the Equestrian order). You're not comforted by the hard limestone bench (thinking it'll
