My Science School

    The Great Wall of China was built in the Third Century B.C. to keep out the raiding Tartars of Mongolia. It is 20 to 30 feet high and 15 to 25 feet wide at the top, with towers 60 feet high every few hundred yards.

   The wall stretches from Shamhaikwan on the yellow Sea to the borders of Kansu and Sinkiang in the west, crossing high mountains and deep valleys. Probably over 500,000 workers were employed to build it. Even today, the wall is in a wonderful state of preservation.

    This marvelous structure is constructed of brick and stones. The sides have battlements-parapets with openings or embrasures through which weapons could be discharged.

   All large cities of China were provided with similar walls, and the gates were closed at night to give the citizens protection against surprise attack. For China has been envied by her neighbors throughout history. Many times these neighbors have invaded the country, seized the capital and begun a new dynasty.

Picture credit: google

          The great Flavian Amphitheatre, or Colosseum, was built between A.D. 69 and 81 by the Emperors Vespasian and Titus on the site of an artificial lake in the grounds of Nero’s palace, the Golden House. The name Colosseum was bestowed on it, because of its colossal size, sometime after the 8th century.

         In its full magnificence the Colosseum must have been one of the most imposing buildings in the Roman Empire, a gigantic oval measuring 620 feet by 513 feet with a height of 160 feet. Round the actual arena-287 feet by 180 feet-tiers of marble seats provided accommodation for 50,000 spectators.

          The building was constructed to the house gigantic spectacles organized by the authorities for the entertainment-and distraction-of the public. It became a scene of much bloodshed. Here were staged gladiatorial combats (fights to the death between men) and contests between wild beasts or between men and animals. And here, too, many of the early Christians met martyrdom with a courage that helped greatly to spread their faith.

        The highest tiers of seats and the fourth storey were rebuilt in the 3rd century, and the building was seriously damaged by lightning and earthquakes during Roman times and the middle ages. For hundreds of years this symbol of Roman power was used as a quarry. But even today its ruins form one of the most famous buildings in the world.

Picture credit: google