After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
Episode: Dark Side of Ancient Rome's Colosseum
Hosts: Maddy Pelling & Anthony Delaney
Guest: Historian & Travel Writer Alex Meddings
Release Date: September 4, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode dives into the Colosseum not as a celebrated ruin but as the epicenter of Ancient Rome's most sinister, bloody, and manipulative spectacles. With special guest Alex Meddings, Maddy and Anthony uncover the layers—political, social, mythological, and technological—that made the Colosseum both a monument to imperial dominance and a stage for some of history’s darkest entertainments. Forget romanticized visions: this is an unflinching look at what Romans were willing to sacrifice for entertainment, power, and control.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Origins and Political Purpose of the Colosseum
[05:47]
- The Colosseum was constructed after Nero’s fall, on land previously occupied by his extravagant Domus Aurea palace, following the great fire of 64 AD.
- The Flavian dynasty, eager to restore public trust after a year of civil war, built the Colosseum to return land to the people and distract from political instability.
- Alex Meddings: “They settle on an amphitheater, a venue where they can have lots of games and spectacles, and... promote their own dynasty and family.”
2. Spectacle as Politics
[09:08]
- The Colosseum functioned as propaganda: emperors could be seen by the populace, projecting both power and benevolence.
- Audiences experienced “the illusion... that they have a voice... in this forum” while remaining under imperial control.
- Exotic animals from across the empire reinforced the emperor’s reach and Rome’s safety under imperial protection.
3. Physical Experience and Social Order
[13:20]
- Contrary to the modern idea of monochrome ruins, the Colosseum was colorful, elaborate, and socially stratified.
- Seating reflected the rigid hierarchies of Rome: the elite were close to the action (but without shade), women and slaves sat high above.
- Maddy Pelling: “Everyone is involved in this performance... a kind of collective consent.”
4. Mechanics of the Arena & Reality Versus Myth
[15:17]
- Popular myths, like naval battles with sharks, are debunked (“They certainly didn’t have sharks, no... they couldn’t get any salt water in,” Alex at [15:17]).
- The arena’s engineering—trapdoors, elaborate sets, and a retractable awning (“velarium”)—provided relentless spectacle and revealed surprising technological prowess.
- Gladiator 1’s depiction of animals rising from below is surprisingly accurate.
5. Gladiators: Lives, Deaths, and Society’s Lowest
[21:29]
- Gladiators were mostly enslaved people, prisoners of war, or condemned criminals, belonging to the social class of “infamys”—akin to prostitutes and actors.
- Despite their grim fate, gladiators could achieve celebrity status and sexual appeal, attracting both noble fans and emperors who occasionally participated in the games themselves.
- Alex Meddings: "You’re essentially condemned to die unless you’re incredibly lucky and very, very good at fighting." [22:04]
6. Sexuality, Exploitation, and Social Death
[27:34]
- Gladiators, stripped of rights, could even be sexually exploited or “pimped out” by their owners (“ludus” keepers).
- Emperors reputedly kept private gladiator collections for personal entertainment and pleasure.
- The line between spectacle, punishment, and sexual consumption was intentionally blurred.
7. Religious Roots and Ritual Violence
[29:19]
- Gladiatorial combat likely evolved from older human sacrifice practices—killing as a form of appeasing angry gods, especially after city-wide disasters.
- The inaugural games under Titus (80 AD) featured the slaughter of thousands of animals as both spectacle and sacrificial ritual.
- Alex Meddings: “There is... a kind of human sacrifice element that goes right back... it’s a bit boring to just tie them up and cut their throat, but if you make them dress up and go at each other with swords… at least it adds a little bit of spectacle.”
8. Performative Executions & Myth-Making
[33:31]
- Executions were staged as mythological reenactments—punishment as performance, satisfying both justice and narrative hunger.
- Women and men were forced to “play” mythic roles (Pasiphae, bandits, etc.), culminating in deaths by wild beasts or grisly tableaux.
- Tom Holland’s description: “a mix between a snuff movie and the Cirque du Soleil.” [31:55]
9. Modern Myths: Thumbs Up/Down and the Charon Figure
[36:43]
- The “thumbs up/thumbs down” gesture is historically ambiguous—the real signals are lost, but the audience believed the emperor channeled their will.
- If the vanquished lost, a masked, mythic figure called Charon (after the ferryman of Hades) would ensure death with mallet and branding iron—a chilling, performative finality.
- Alex Meddings: “He’ll hold the branding iron against the flesh... then [smash] his head in with a mallet. That’s a job. That is somebody’s job.” [38:54]
10. Decline and Transformation of the Colosseum
[41:15]
- The rise of Christianity marginalized the games but economic collapse after sackings of Rome was pivotal—funding spectacles no longer tenable.
- The site was repurposed for many uses; much of its later history is about partial destruction, preservation, and ambiguous legacy.
- Alex Meddings: “It just becomes very expensive to put the games on... And after this, yeah, the games at the Colosseum die down and the monument is used for other purposes.”
11. The Colosseum Today: Memory and Interpretation
[44:59]
- For modern Romans and visitors, the Colosseum is “the best surviving... monument” of the empire, but its current form is only a skeleton of its layered history.
- The loss of later modifications and Mussolini-era “restorations” have stripped away much contextual richness, leaving an ambiguous, potent symbol.
- Alex Meddings: “What we show tourists now is the bare bones... bereft, I think, of a lot of explanatory notes... I have a bit of an ambiguous relationship with it.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On spectacle and politics:
“This is architecture for politics... The Emperor is going to use the Colosseum as a place where he can be seen and where he can set out his agenda on the sands of the arena below.”
— Alex Meddings ([09:08]) -
On the reality of the games:
“If there were ship battles, it’s going to be less the spectacle you saw in the second Gladiator film and more kind of like blokes on a lilo in, like, a Benidorm pool, just going at one another with spears.”
— Alex Meddings ([16:47]) -
On sexualization of gladiators:
“Gladiators do hold this kind of sex appeal... We have a text from Juvenal... a senator’s wife runs off with a gladiator... 40 years old, a cauliflower ear, permanently weeping eye... But he’s a gladiator.”
— Alex Meddings ([26:41]) -
On fate and exploitation:
“Once you become a gladiator, you forfeit all your rights... a very kind of Fifty Shades kind of vow... Once you’ve forfeited all your independence, you can then be pimped out by your Lannister.”
— Alex Meddings ([27:34]) -
On executions as mythic performance:
“All the executions... are reenactments of historical or legendary episodes... It would be a bit like if we... got somebody now dressed up as Bambi’s mother and... shoot them with arrows or just like a giant bear comes out.”
— Alex Meddings ([31:55]) -
On the ambiguous legacy of the Colosseum:
“I have a bit of an ambiguous relationship with it... What we show tourists now is the bare bones skeletal structure... bereft of a lot of explanatory notes and stuff that gives it context.”
— Alex Meddings ([44:59])
Timestamps for Significant Segments
- 05:47 – Political backdrop and construction after Nero
- 09:08 – Spectacle as control; colosseum as a propaganda tool
- 13:20 – Sensory immersion and social structure inside the Colosseum
- 15:17 – Engineering, mythbusting about naval battles and sharks
- 21:29 – The grim reality of gladiator demographics
- 27:34 – Sex, exploitation, and the loss of gladiator rights
- 29:19 – Ritual violence and the origins of bloody games
- 31:55 – Executions as theatrical mythmaking
- 36:43 – Thumbs up/thumbs down; the Charon figure
- 41:15 – Decline of the games; economic and religious contexts
- 44:59 – Modern meaning and presentation of the Colosseum
Closing Thoughts
Alex Meddings’ expertise, combined with Anthony and Maddy’s questions and analogies, transforms a familiar monument into a living, troubling symbol of ancient power, violence, and spectacle. The episode is a must for anyone who wants to look beyond romanticized ruins and confront the complex realities of Rome's most infamous arena.
For tours or to follow Alex Meddings:
alexandermeddings.com / Appia With Alex ([47:27])
Contact the show: afterDark@historyhit.com ([48:33])