I was finally able to pull all of my pictures out of “the cloud” and now I can share the other thing we did at Jerash. Not only were we able to explore the Roman ruins for ourselves, but we also had the opportunity to see a show that was about the Roman army, gladiators, and chariots.
Waiting for the show to start. I wasn’t sure how hokey or boring it would be, but we were all pleasantly surprised at how interesting and well done it was.
The narrator explained how the Roman army units functioned, battle strategies, and other interesting details while the guys on the ground demonstrated. They were so realistic that when they started marching and fighting Camille got scared and started crying.
They trained 7 days a week so they were able to move in unison while in this formation.
Some old sandals
After the demonstration by the Roman “army,” they brought out the gladiators and explained that they would fight, but not always to the death. When one of the men lost it was up to the crowd to decide: thumbs up to let him live, thumbs sideways for him to die. Apparently, they didn’t like killing them too often because they were expensive to maintain and train.
The last part of the show was a chariot “race” with two chariots and two teams of horses racing several laps around the arena.
After the show concluded, they boys got to go down and see the horses up close
and go for a very short (but fast!) chariot ride.
The rest of our time was spent exploring the ruins. These are some of my favorite photos from the newly found set.
An Egyptian in Jordan . . .
They had bagpipers in the coliseum to show off the acoustics
There was a circular depression in the center of the floor to mark where the speakers should stand. From that spot we could whisper and hear it projected back at us.
Caleb scootching down the stairs on his butt so he doesn’t fall . . .
Was this a house? A store? Imagining the possibilities . . .