Flavian Amphitheatre. Photo: Andreas Tille. Wikipedia.
A widespread myth is that the disappearance of the monuments of ancient Rome was caused because they were destroyed by barbarians. Generally, however, they did not. The Romans themselves had more responsibility than anyone in the destruction of their own city.
Imperial Rome had a population of over a million and half people. The first to promote the decline of the city was Constantine the Great, who founded the city of Constantinople, that became the new capital of the empire. This led, in the first half of the 4th century, the exodus of much of the population of Rome, including nobles, military commanders and officials.
The emperor himself, to embellish his new town, moved artworks from other cities, especially from Rome. For years, the Romans themselves took from the Eternal City all they could carry to Constantinople.
Rome, after being abandoned by the court and major military commands, became an unsafe city. Many abandoned it in anticipation of barbarian invasions, that in fact, happened. However, contrary to the belief more widespread, the damage caused by barbarians were not what destroyed the ancient city. The invaders used to carry things such as furniture, silverware, jewelry or tissues, but did not stay long enough to destroy buildings or artworks. The most famous assault was led by Alaric in 410, but Visigoths sacked the city for three days and then they left. Worst destruction than barbarians was caused by the political struggles between the Romans themselves.
Circus Maximus (Atlas van Loon, 1649). Photo: Wikimedia
Arches of Constantine and Septimius Severus, Canaletto (1742). Photo: Wikimedia
There was also damage caused by natural phenomena. In 589, the overflow of the Tiber caused a disastrous flood, and the next year, an epidemic decimated the population. Also several strong earthquakes have occurred over the centuries.
During the 8th and 9th centuries, Rome was taken over by the Church. With successive popes, the ancient pagan temples became Christians, and they ordered the construction of new ones, in particular large basilicas that were built with materials from old buildings. Since 1084, when Pope Gregory VII was expelled from the city, many monuments fell into the hands of Roman noble families, who used them as strongholds.
The Pantheon today. Photo: Wikimedia
The Pantheon transformations over the centuries: original appearance (year 125), late 16th, early 17th and late 19th century
In the 14th century, a thousand years after Constantine, the Roman population had been reduced to 17,000 inhabitants, settled around the Vatican. The rest of the city was deserted and, as often happens in these cases, the lack of use and maintenance of roads and buildings ruined them.
The Renaissance was a very destructive age. Rome was growing its population again and regaining its former glory, but at the cost of destroying what remained standing of the old city. The nobles did not scruple to plunder and demolish old buildings to build their own palaces. The Temple of Jupiter Capitoline, the Temple of Concorde and the Arches of Theodosius and Gratian were demolished. And the Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla and the Circus Maximus were damaged.
Flavian Amphitheatre (Colisseum), 1891. Photo: Wikimedia
The history of Rome’s most famous monument, the Flavian Amphitheatre, universally known as the Colosseum, is a good example of what happened there. It was in operation until 523, although the latter gladiatorial combat was in 435. In the late 6th century a small church was built within the amphitheatre and the arena was transformed into a cemetery. Factories were installed in the grandstands.
In the early 13th century, a noble family took over the Colosseum and fortified it, turning it into a kind of castle. Since that time it changed owners until 1312, when the Church recovered it. In 1349 there was a great earthquake, which damaged its structure and the south side outer wall collapsed. Many of the loose stones were then reused to build palaces and churches, including the Vatican, as well as hospitals and other buildings.
A religious order settled into a part of the Coliseum and continued there until the early 19th century. Over the 15th and 16th centuries, travertine stone (like marble) that covered it was ripped for reuse. Among other buildings, it was used in the Palazzo Barberini, which gave rise to the Latin Quod non fecerunt Barbari, fecerunt Barberini, “What the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did.” The spoliation of stones continued until 1749, when Benedict XIV consecrated the monument to the memory of Christian martyrs.
During the Second World War a bomb fell and part of the building collapsed. In 1980, UNESCO included Colosseum in the World Heritage List.