He had seen the movies and shows and he had also played video games, but it all paled to what he was feeling and seeing now. This place was absolutely immense and from what he read on the internet, most of the action was actually below the surface. He could see the way down into the catacombs of the place. There were numerous passages that he could see from his vantage point. He had read that people, gladiators, prisoners, slaves and animals were held below, waiting to come up to the surface to die and die a horrible death.
He rubbed at his arms and tried to rub the dark feelings away. Rome and Greece had been the beginnings of democracy but during those awful times, it was the violence that held sway. The all-powerful emperors who gave and took life. Here in the Colosseum, the emperor had absolute power over his people. And like so many, those men were drunk and corrupt with that power. He just couldn’t imagine what it would be like, to live out your life as a slave, until the day you were either stabbed to death or fed to a lion. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the images. He turned when he felt someone smack him on the back.
“Hey Giangreco, look around,” Dean said.
“What?” Thad asked, looking around.
“Dude, most everyone is gone, there are only a few tourists across the way,” Dean said, a wide smile on his face.
“So?”
“So, man, look, over there,” Dean said and pointed downward. Greg and Marco came up and stood beside Thad, both looking down to where Dean pointed.
“Okay. What am I seeing?” Thad asked and laughed.
“Look, no one is around. I say we bail and go down, while no one is looking and take a look around down in those tunnels. You know, go where no tourist has gone before,” Dean said, his eyes darting around.
“Y’all, I don’t think that’s a good idea, for real,” Greg said nervously, looking around as well.
“That does sound pretty cool, man. I got my phone; we can use it like a flashlight. We can just go really quickly, you know, see what’s down there. We don’t have to stay long,” Marco said excitedly.
“Yeah, that would be so freaking cool. We could be like the only Americans to go down there,” Dean added, now bouncing from one foot to the other.
Thad looked around him and Dean was right. There was no one around them and he looked over at Greg, who was starting to warm up to the idea. The rain was now coming down in a misty blanket. It would be nice to get out of the rain, if for a few minutes and the idea of checking out the tunnels did seem pretty cool. Marco could also take pictures and Thad’s folks would get a kick out of seeing it.
“Okay, but we gotta be quick, so no one sees us,” Thad said.
“Sure, over there is a low railing. We can hop over it easily and go down to the next level and then the next. There’s an opening just below that and we’ll be out of sight in just a few seconds,” Dean said. He turned and hurried over to the railing. Before any of them could think about the consequences of jumping over, each man followed. It was as easy as Dean had indicated and the four Marines made their way down to the lower opening of the tunnels.
The first thing that hit Thad was that it smelled of earth and dampness. He thought that it was because of the rain that was dripping off the edge of the tunnel’s opening. Marco held up his phone as they moved farther in and the light began to dissipate behind them and the darkness loomed in front of them. The four young men moved, slowing into the muffled silence of the tunnel. There was enough light that he could still see around him and the walls were smooth with stone that had been there for two thousand years. Thad reached a hand out and touched the cold stone.
“I’m touching a wall that others touched two millennia ago, people long since dead,” he said in a soft reverent whisper.
“Much respect. When I tell my grandmother, she’s gonna freak,” Greg said softly and he too had a hand extended out, gently touching the wall. The high ceiling was curved over them. Marco was in the lead and Thad moved up closer since it was now pitch black around them. Their shoes made soft noises on the stone flooring. Marco stopped and held his phone up high, the light brightly illuminating the wall. The men gathered around and they saw an etching into the stone.
“What is it?” Dean asked, his voice bouncing off the wall and then absorbed.
“It looks like an elephant. Oh, shit man, look. It’s an elephant with his foot on a man’s head. What the freak!” Marco said. Theo swallowed. Marco moved on and they turned down another tunnel and Theo noticed that it was heading in a downhill slope.
“This is hella cool,” Dean said and moved ahead. The light was sparking off his blond head and the light wavered around him, casting his shadow. He stopped and squatted, picking up something and held it up.
“What is it?” Marco asked, coming up beside him.
“Looks like a piece of pottery. Just a shard, but I’m gonna keep it,” Dean said and pocketed the small
