?
Posted on 06/15/2005 6:32:44 AM PDT by wildbill
JERASH, Jordan (AFP) - The sun bears down and dust swirls as Roman centurions, followed by armour-clad legionnaires and bruised gladiators, tramp out of the ancient hippodrome to the trailing sounds of a military march.
[Blocked Ads]In the seats all around, 21st century spectators in modern-day Jordan cheer and applaud the spectacle before them -- a one-hour show held in honour of Julius Caesar, and part of Jordan's newest tourist attraction.
Starting mid-July, visitors to Jordan can plunge into the past, reliving in a unique location just north of the capital Amman some of the high moments that made the Roman empire.
The setting is Jerash, the ancient Roman city and one of Jordan's better preserved archaeological sites and one of the 10 great cities during the Roman golden age.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Just one thing missing, Christian Romans and their culture...
?
Maybe they could feed a few to lions...
Yeee haaaaa!
Probably weren't very many Christians around in Jerash's hey-day (120 AD).
And they certainly wouldn't have been part of the spectacle at the Hippodrome.
Thanks for the pic. One of the great all-time movie action scenes.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
I'm not sure if he ever visited Jordan although he traveled the Near East in his youth and was friends with Herod.
So it might be that the people of Jerash would have honored him with some games, even in absentia.
But really, I'm sure the reason for the 'honoring' of Julius Caesar is that the tourists probably don't have any clue about any other Roman rulers.
Yeah, that last is probably dead-on. The Romans had to conquer the region.
King Herod the Great
http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_the_great01.html
I found another posting of this story despite the search I ran before I posted (surprise, surprise). It had a neat picture of an actual participant at the Jerash hippodrome but I don't know how to copy and transfer it.
Ooh, well, that'll happen. If you email the link to me, I'll add that to GGG as well, and no one will be the wiser. ;')
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