Colosseum
The Ancients
00:00
The Colosseum and Nero
The Colosseum is designed to obliterate Nero's memory and yet the thing we most associate with this building which is the name today actually derives from this monumental statue of Nero constructed in the years before building began. When a maligned emperor died or was killed they would smash his portraits or deface his portraits or they'd recurve them if they were stole and make them look like the new emperor. You can tell that these are recut or the heads too small or something like that but you know this also emphasizes the contrast by this having this living memory of the bad guy around.
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