Nîmes Arena- When in Rome...
I hadn't originally planned on visiting Nîmes but there were no hostels available in Montpellier and so I picked the next nearest town. Stepping out of the train station and walking down the tree lined avenue into the town centre I became aware of the sound of loud footsteps.
Lots of synchronised footsteps.
Marching towards me.
As I turned the corner I was confronted by a Roman legion marching right past of me.
For a moment I stood frozen in complete confusion as they march past me. A curious urge makes me follow them and this leads me to the huge Roman Arena of Nîmes. This marching display was to promote a show that was happening that night in the Arena. The promotion worked because as soon as I found this out, I went straight to the box office to buy a ticket. I had to find out what all this was about. Little did I know I was about to witness one of the best pieces of theatre and the best restored historical building I have seen in my life.
With most historic, especially Roman, buildings, the ruins today are in a pretty sorry state. If you visit the Colosseum in Rome it requires a considerable use of your imagination to visualise a gladiator fighting a lion when the arena doesn't even have a floor. Similarly, it is hard to imagine Hadrian's Wall protecting anything these days when it is only a metre tall. This is because the priority for these places has been to preserve the original materials and structures as they were found by archaeologists. A repair is only done if absolutely necessary and it is kept as small as possible and using original materials and techniques. Here in Nîmes, they have had a different approach. Rather than preserving the original structure, they have preserved it's original purpose. That is to put on spectacular shows to entertain the population.
Sunset marked the beginning of the show
I took my seat on the old stone Roman benches and as the sun set it marked the beginning of the show. This show was about the founding of the city of Nîmes during Roman times and began with a narrator talking to the crowd as we were taken back through time to the city's founding. Rather than just sticking to technology that the Romans had, they instead chose to replicate the feeling of wonder a Roman audience member might feel. By housing lights and projections the whole arena was transformed into a Mediterranean beach and a huge ship sailed out across the stage. A concealed speaker system played the sounds of the sea and the oars hitting the water to fully immerse the audience in the scene. I was transfixed, I had not imagined when I arrived that just a few hours later I would be watching something like this.
Time moved forwards to show the Roman conquest of the region in the next scene. Here the Gallic tribal horseman galloped around the arena while the centurions (possibly the ones I saw parading through the town centre earlier) interlocked their shields to fight them off. After the Romans had conquered this town, we were treated to stylised reenactments of different Roman wars, including the conquest of Egypt which featured acrobats dressed as Roman and Egyptian gods battling over our heads, suspended by wires. The battles where very elaborate involving dozens of actors who would be soldiers or pushing battering rams and siege towers. The combination of the cast, costumes, set, projections, the lights, the sound and of course the venue created an awe inspiring show. As I sat I thought this feeling must've been similar to how a Roman citizen might have felt when going to a night at the arena.
To end the spectacle in the most Roman way possible a wall was erected down the middle of the arena to form a racetrack shape and turn the arena into a hippodrome. The audience was split into team red, team white and team blue and six horse riders emerged, two wearing each colour. The crowd burst into loud cheers as the race began. These weren't ordinary horse riders however, to maximise the thrill they were all trained stunt riders. The jockeys would push each other off and leap from horse to horse with incredible displays of gymnastics and the crowd, myself included, roared their support when their own team was ahead or loudly booed and heckled when a rival team knocked one of your teams riders off in just the same way a crowd would have done two thousand years ago.
This amazing experience made me think. What is the point in strictly preserving the bricks and mortar of a building if it loses it soul? The Romans built buildings like Nîmes Arena and the Colosseum to be places of entertainment. For crowds to cheer and roar for gladiators and performers putting on incredible shows. In Nîmes they have kept this legacy alive, with regular performances which incorporate modern theatre technology to enhance the show and add an element of magic. But in so many other locations the focus has been on just purely preserving the ruins that are left and after my visit here I think that is the wrong way of thinking.
In two thousand years if we could see what future civilisations make of Wembley Arena or the Royal Albert Hall what would be the best way for them to understand how we live today? By walking through the ruins and remains of twisted steel and concrete blocks with a bare earth pitch and no stage. Or for them to repair what was broken and continue to play sports on the grounds to the cheers of spectators and to continue to hold shows and orchestra performances on a rebuilt stage.
Personally, I think we should save the soul of these places rather than just the bricks. After all as the saying goes: "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" and not just look at the ruins.
