Imperial Rome:Imperial Rome:Bread & CircusesBread & Circuses

The Culture of CitiesThe Culture of Cities

Wednesday, January 4/2006Wednesday, January 4/2006

SOSC 2730SOSC 2730

Selected CivilizationsSelected Civilizations

Rome ‘Rome ‘BorrowedBorrowed’’

• built on the achievements of built on the achievements of Greek/Hellenistic Greek/Hellenistic urbanizationurbanization

Agora ––> ForumAgora ––> Forum

• function & structure remained function & structure remained more-or-less the samemore-or-less the same–market place, meeting place, market place, meeting place,

place of ritual celebration, etc.place of ritual celebration, etc.

Other Hellenistic FeaturesOther Hellenistic Features

• theatretheatre

• gymnasium ––> Roman bathgymnasium ––> Roman bath

• religious districtsreligious districts

Architecture Built on Greek Architecture Built on Greek ExperienceExperience

• engineeringengineering–scale, relative wealth, scale, relative wealth,

population sizepopulation size

PantheonPantheon

built by the emperor Hadrian (126)built by the emperor Hadrian (126)

Problems of EmpireProblems of Empire

• administrative problems with administrative problems with large empirelarge empire• republic ––> imperial political republic ––> imperial political

structure (by 50 structure (by 50 BCEBCE))

Bread & CircusesBread & Circuses

• the emperor’s hold on power the emperor’s hold on power often tenuous at bestoften tenuous at best–reliance on the army & on keeping reliance on the army & on keeping

the populace of Rome quiet & the populace of Rome quiet & under controlunder control

––––>> policy of social welfare & policy of social welfare & public entertainmentpublic entertainment

Bread & CircusesBread & Circuses

Circus MaximusCircus Maximus

• 500s 500s BCE BCE (last race 549)(last race 549)

• capacity: 320,000capacity: 320,000

• dimensions: 200 x 600 metresdimensions: 200 x 600 metres

• purpose: horse racingpurpose: horse racing

“Bread Not Circuses”A coalition of groups concerned about Toronto's 2008 Olympic Bid

SkyDome Fiascohttp://www.breadnotcircuses.org/skydome.html

SkyDome Fiasco, A Sign of Things to Come?Toronto's now infamous SkyDome, a $600 Million financial disaster, recently filed for creditor protection under Canada's Bankruptcy laws. The same people that pushed for its construction in the 1980s, and then served on its board of directors until very recently, are now the main players on Toronto's team to bid for the 2008 Summer Olympic games. The parallels between the SkyDome stadium's fate and the greed and corruption that plagued the financially troubled Montreal Olympics are stunning.

The newspaper articles listed here will give you a detailed look at the problems that face the SkyDome and the probable financial folly that hosting a Summer Olympics will cause in Toronto. For more information on Mega-projects and their affects on cities check out Dr. Kris Olds' essay Urban Mega-Events, Evictions and Housing Rights: The Canadian Case, or read Noll and Zimbalist's Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?

For pictures and other building related information, check out the SkyDome's official website.

Sold . . .. . . for the bargain-basement price of $25-million, Toronto's SkyDome, after it cost taxpayers $600-million 15 years ago

The Globe and MailBy MICHAEL GRANGE

With reports from Elizabeth Church and Paul WaldieTuesday, November 30, 2004 - Page S1

TORONTO -- The place where Toronto goes to hear Take Me Out to the Ball Game has been sold for a song.

The SkyDome, the taxpayer-financed, multipurpose stadium that has been home to the Toronto Blue Jays since it opened in 1989, was sold to the Blue Jays for $25-million yesterday. The Jays are owned by Rogers Communications.

"It was a very fair price," said Paul Godfrey, the Blue Jays' president and chief executive officer.

He should know. Godfrey, the onetime chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, helped champion the cause for a world-class stadium in downtown Toronto in the early 1980s.

"I've worn many hats and stood in front of many microphones over the years talking about this building," Godfrey said. "Back 20 years ago when Metro Toronto put in the first $30-million, if someone had told me then that the price for the total building would have been less than the first down payment at the time, one would have been a little amazed."

By the time construction of the retractable-roofed building was finished, it had cost taxpayers about $600-million. But its slide in value began officially when the publicly owned property was sold in 1994 by the Ontario government for $151-million to a private consortium that included Toronto Sun Publishing Corp., where Godfrey was the publisher before taking over the Blue Jays.

New AchievementsNew Achievements

• engineersengineers

• sewers, water supplysewers, water supply–Cloaca Maxima (500s Cloaca Maxima (500s BCEBCE))• some parts still in use todaysome parts still in use today

–aqueducts (11 in total)aqueducts (11 in total)• fresh water from mountains to fresh water from mountains to

the citythe city

Other Engineering AchievementsOther Engineering Achievements

• road networkroad network– long-distance tradelong-distance trade

Long-Distance TradeLong-Distance Trade

• Pax RomanumPax Romanum (30 (30 BCEBCE-250)-250)–military controlmilitary control– highways & sea lanes relatively highways & sea lanes relatively

safe from bandits & piratessafe from bandits & pirates

• trade flourishedtrade flourished–wealth creationwealth creation– spread of urbanizationspread of urbanization