DIA 319... 18 de Mayo 2011

Second day of class and then a guided tour of Imperial Tarragona. Some were not so excited to walk around Roman ruins for 2 hours but I found it quite fascinating! We started at the highest elevation and she talked about the walls surrounding the city, how they were constructed, etc. Then we went in some tunnels that led to a stadium where people would watch something but I'm not exactly sure what. The poor people and also the women sat at the top in the nose bleeds and the rich people and political people sat at the bottom for the best view. Our last stop was the Ampitheatre and it was the most interesting! Carmen (our fabulous tour guide) pointed out the doors where the gladiators would enter the arena and where the would exit (the winner out one and the loser out the other, dead or alive). She indicated the wall that used to stand on the outer edge to protect spectators from the animals fighting below. Also, where the animals were caged under the arena and where a church was built as a monument to a saint who was executed there. She told us that the head of state of power politicians of the time decided who lived and died in the end by using the hand signals in the picture (I'm the one who has to die) not by using a thumbs up or thumbs down like you see in the movies. The reason directors used those signals in movies was because in silent films they knew people would understand a thumbs down signified death and a thumbs up meant the loser lived. MUY INTERESANTE!