We thought the 115 related to the time... 15 minutes past 1 PM. No... it related to the year... 115 years after the birth of Christ... so we were a little late. The 30,000 crowd had gone home... lions and Christians had been shipped onto the next centre of entertainment... the material providing shade cloth had been rolled up. The structure was still there... nearly 2,000 years after the scheduled date... the underground compartments for animals and Christians was still there... all 200 metres of it... the sense of excitement still lingered... just the size of the site provided excitement. The amphitheatre is one of the 6th largest ones remaining... we've mining a golden seam of Roman antiquity and we haven't even reached Italy.
No doubt, the Romans were exacting masters. However, there is enough evidence to show that Pula did well under them. Pula was conquered early in the era of the Roman Empire. It was settled by Romans who established a productive economy based on wine and olive oil growing. In fact, Rome grew dependent on Pula providing these goods and invested heavily in good roads and good defense for the town.
But Rome also brought the future. They brought engineering... we travelled on old Roman roads that went for 30 klms without a curve... we saw aqueducts bringing water from distant springs... and the multi story buildings were undoubtedly the marvel of the age. Romans brought in slaves... not an ethical position by today's standards... but was a basis for organising labour and allowing specialisation of skills... that would have been copied in other employment arrangements. If Pula and similar towns had remained isolated, it is difficult to imagine them developing as quickly.
Pula was given a Temple to Augustus... and this one building has been used in Pula for every important announcement or occasion for the last 3,000 years. Today, it was being used to house a glass art exhibition... perhaps not its finest hour... but it is still being put to practical use.
Our Balkans stage is drawing to an end... just 2 days remaining. If later stages can maintain the same level of interest, we will be well pleased.
Dear joye and don i have been enjoying your blog immensely. Fantastic trip so much to see and do. You have certainly covered a lot of ground already. Very inspiring. I will be in italy from 26/6 to 24/7 and will be down near the amalfi coast about 15/7 to 19/7. No definite plans made as yet. U told me u would probably be down that way some time in july and i was wondering if we could get together some where. I know this is probably a long shot but would love to see if we can work something out. Lots of love , take care and enjoy your fabulous adventure. Helen
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