​THE COLOSSEUM

The Colosseum, also known as Amphitheatrum Flavium is an ancient Roman structure found in the city of Rome in Italy. It was built by the 10th Emperor of the Roman Empire, Vespasian, in between the years 70 AD to 80 AD and was opened by his son Titus. He wanted to create something that had never been done before and so he built the Colosseum, an all purpose amphitheatre made of stone that would serve as the greatest entertainment venue in the world.

 

The way the Colosseum was designed was that the Colosseum was shaped like an oval. The Colosseum is 188 metres long, 156 metres wide and is 48 metres tall. The Colosseum is the size of a modern day international sports stadium. The Colosseum's floor was made of wooden planks. The floor was covered in sand so that it could soak up the blood of people and animals. Beneath this floor, animals and gladiators were kept in rooms that were connected by corridors. Over time the timber floor has rotted away and exposed the rooms and corridors beneath. The Colosseum had tunnels that led to other buildings, like the Gladiator school and the Emperor's Palace which was a secret passage. This was so the Emperor was able to enter the Colosseum directly and without having to mix with the public.

 

The Colosseum had 80 large entrance arches which supported the outer walls of the Colosseum. Large crowds of up to 50,000 people could move into and out of the Colosseum in about 15 minutes. Just outside and all around the Colosseum were large blocks of stone. These were made to hold strong, long ropes that ran up the outside of the Colosseum to the top of the outer wall. These ropes were used to hold a large awning called a velarium. The velarium was used to keep the sun off the people in the spectators in the Colosseum. About 1,000 sailors from the Roman fleet were needed to setup and operate these ropes for the velarium. There were also stone blocks just below the top of the outer wall. The masts were tied to these blocks and held up the velarium. It is thought that over 290,000 cartloads of heavy stone sourced from quarries near Rome were used to construct the Colosseum. Closer to the top of the Colosseum bricks and lighter stones were used to minimize the amount of weight that was being carried up. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in 410 AD people still tried to operate the Colosseum. A stone that has been found has recorded how a wealthy woman named Decius Marius Venantius paid the bill for the Colosseum to be rebuilt as an earthquake had destroyed the Colosseum in 484 AD. 

 

The Colosseum is an amphitheatre which was used to entertain the Emperor and the people of Rome with theatrical shows as well as battles between gladiators and animals. The games were a symbol of prestige and power. The Emperor used the Colosseum to please the people of Rome and in doing so made himself look more popular. It was also a way for the Emperor to control the people. The happier the people were the less chance they would revolt and cause an uprising against the Emperor. Games were held for a whole day or would continue over a few days. Most of the time games started with a humorous act or presentations of exotic animals and then ended with battles to death between either animals and gladiators or just gladiators. The people who were used as gladiators were usually either criminals, prisoners or slaves. Sometimes free Romans and the emperor would enter and play in the games. The people who were forbidden from going to the Colosseum and watching the games were slaves, prisoners and criminals. 

 

Before dawn, animals would have arrived for the day's events. Trained people who were called 'Bestiarii' got the animals into cages ready for the day. At 9 am, the same people hunted these animals to the death in animal hunts in the Colosseum. In the middle of the morning, animals killed criminals tied to stakes. At noon, armed men hacked down crowds of unarmed people sentenced to death. At 2pm, the gladiators came on and either fought each other to the death or played in animal hunts. Servants would come into the arena and drag bodies out of the arena. Then they would spread more sand over all of the blood. There were smooth marble walls that were built to stop people and animals from climbing out of the arena. Historians believe that sea battles sometimes took place in the Colosseum as well because Roman writers say the arena was sometimes flooded for sea battles. There are triangular drains in the Colosseum which were thought to show how water from 'sea battles' would have been removed from the Colosseum. However historians now think the 'sea battles' took place elsewhere and that these drains just kept the arena dry.

 

Before dawn, the animals that would be used in the day's battles were brought to the Colosseum. Trained people who were referred to as 'bestiarii' got all the animals into cages. These same people would then hunt these animals in the arena to their deaths. These were called animal hunt. At mid morning, animals were used to kill criminals tied to posts. At noon, armed men would hack down crowds of unarmed people who had been sentenced to death. At 2 pm, the gladiators came in to the arena and either fought each other to death or they played in animal hunts. Servants would come and drag dead people out of the arena. Then there would be more sand spread over the arena. In the Colosseum there were smooth marble walls which were made to stop either animals or people from climbing out of the Colosseum. It is also thought that sea battles took place in the Colosseum. They believe this because Roman writers said that the arena sometimes was flooded for sea battles. In the floor of the Colosseum there were triangular drains which were thought to have drained all the water from the Colosseum after a sea battle. However, it is not known how they kept the water inside the arena. Maybe these sea battles happened somewhere else. 

 

A gladiator is a person who fights other people to entertain a crowd in a savage human blood-sport. The first gladiators were slaves who fought to the death at the funerals of wealthy Romans. They were sacrifices meant to please the spirits of the dead. To impress more people some of the fights were held at first in the Forum. Julius Caesar held gladiator games in memory of his dead daughter. This meant that he did not have to wait for a funeral to put on fights to the death. Soon rich Romans were competing for who could put on the biggest number of gladiators to entertain the Roman people and win support. The first Emperor, Augustus put on shows involving a total of 10,000 gladiators during his 40 years as emperor. 

 

The Colosseum had the largest gladiator fights in the entire Roman Empire. In 107 AD, Emperor Trajan had 10,000 gladiators fight in only one set of games which lasted only a few days. Most gladiators were men but some were women. In 200 AD, female gladiators were banned from playing.  Sometimes dwarves had to fight each other to the death and so were the blind. The Romans thought that this was funny. 

 

The Colosseum was a way of showing the world how great the Roman Empire was. They imported animals from all over the world and this also showed that the Romans could get anything they wanted.  The animals that were used in the Colosseum were lions, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, bulls, ostriches, hippopotamus' and deer. When the Colosseum opened in 80AD, 5,000 animals were killed in the first 100 days of the Colosseum. Up until 523 AD, in which the last animal hunt occurred, thousands of animals had died. Like the gladiators, the animals were also kept underneath the floor of the Colosseum, in small rooms that were used as cages. They were guided through narrow corridors so that they could not run off or turn on their trainers. Lifts manually pulled by people were used to lift the animals onto the floor of the arena. There were 32 of these lifts in the Colosseum. Animals also entered the arena via trap doors and ramps. When the animals came into the arena they were scared of the gladiators, so blood was smeared onto the gladiators to make them more appealing and be attacked by the animals. Archers stationed around the arena waiting to kill any animal that was became uncontrollable. Hills were built and trees were planted in the Colosseum to make animal hunts look more natural. Animals were used to kill people who had been sentenced to death. The Romans also fed Christians to the animals as the Christians would not worship the gods of Rome.  

 

From the ruins of the Colosseum there are many ruined arches that still show where rows of seats rose high up above the arena. This was the seating area where all the Romans would sit to watch the games. Everyone entering the arena was issued tickets that showed seating level and number. This made it easier for large number of spectators to enter and sit quickly. The richest people, usually senators and the male members of their families, were allowed to sit closest to the arena. This meant that it would be easier to see the battles in action. The powerful senators even had their names carved into their seats. Behind them sat the wealthier Romans. The poorer Romans sat on higher levels near the back. They sat on wooden benches. There were never any riots in the Colosseum. Most of the Romans enjoyed the games too much to cause any trouble. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the people stopped going to the Colosseum. It eventually stopped being used. The marble in the Colosseum was taken away for use in other buildings. Cows started grazing in the Forum. In the 18th Century, the Pope stopped the destruction of the Colosseum.  What remains are the ruins of a once, great structure that shows us a glimpse of the ancient world. The Colosseum is a very famous tourist attraction that is visited by millions of people every year.