Saturday 13 April 2013

Walking with Gladiators


The drive towards El Jem seems fairly unassuming. We had rented a car and after a number of harrowing hours on the road (and only one negative encounter between our car and a donkey's head!), we pulled off the modern, four-lane freeway towards El Jem. The view from my passenger's side window was quite typical to the rest of the trip; row upon row of olive trees, reddish/brownish earth speckled with the occasional cactus, and the familiar Tunisian white stone houses sporting bright blue shutters. And then the town of El Jem comes into view. Is this the place where Roman history comes alive??!!! Is this where gladiators would have swung their swords, exotic animals from all over Africa fought, and prisoners would have met their cruel deaths?!? And yet....

As you drive into El Jem, you can't help but marvel at how noooormal, and sleepy, and familiar this place feels to all the other little towns of rural Tunisia. Yup, we pass the many vegetable and fruit hanuts (shops), the cafe full of chatting, coffee-drinking neighbors, the tile shops, the beautiful arched doorways, the recently slaughtered camel head..... and then, suddenly the skyline doesn't seem so familiar. Above the general bustle of the local streets looms the towering arches of the ampitheatre!

We raced through the gates and began to climb the steep steps that took us to the second level. Our littlest one had to climb up with her hands and knees to prevent her from tumbling back down. A blustering wind welcomed us as we stepped out, in full view of the imposing remains of the amphitheatre floor!


(Four thumbs up! We all agree the gladiator should live!)

The benefit of exploring a place like El Jem in Africa is that nothing is roped off; it’s an explorers paradise. Our children had endless pillars to ascend as proud gladiators-to-be, and dark tunnels to disappear within. We tread the path of the fighters, down below in the belly of the amphitheatre. We imagined the snarl of a lion from one cage and perhaps the cries from a prisoner in another. And then, we came upon the spot that would have led each man and woman up towards their fate on the theater floor. What would it have been like to stand there and hear the animals, the thunder of the blood-thirsty crowd, and the thumping of your own heart? It is easy for little boys to naively glamorize the life of a gladiator…. but I found it hard to imagine anything but paralyzing fear in a moment like that.
                                          (Peering up towards the amphitheatre floor above!)





Overall, it is a surreal feeling to walk the tunnels of history dating all the way back to third century, to watch our children happily scurry about among the stones that have witnessed so many violent deaths. Some of those deaths may have been gladiators who chose their path, and even more deaths would have been those who had no choice....

And then we step back outside and back to 'modern life'. My hope is that somehow these experiences will impact us all beyond a good story and pictures. 




2 comments:

  1. Hey guys,
    Love the blog. I just spent some time catching up. It's crazy to visit ancient ruins and imagine what it would've been like in it's heyday.

    later,
    cd

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  2. Love this post Epps! So cool -- would love to hear how life is for you guys over there! Peace!

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