The Colosseum
The Colosseum
was commissioned
by Vespasian in the 1st century, opened during
the reign of his son Titus, and was completed by Domitian. Other
emperors augmented the Colosseum, but when the Empire ended, it
suffered from lack of maintenance, damage from earthquakes, and the
use of its materials to construct other monuments.
The arena was
designed to seat over 50,000. The Roman emperors believed that
providing spectacles, even violent ones went a long way in pacifying
the common people and bolstering the reputation of the emperor. The Colosseum served as much for social
control as it did of the love of sport. |
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The Colosseum is an immense oval-shaped building, nearly two
football fields long, over 16 stories high and equipped with 80
entrance/exits, which helped to fill it and flush it very quickly.
We were surprised to learn that the Colosseum was originally equipped with a
moveable awning (Velarium) that provided relief from the sun.
Below are photographs
of the interior of the Colosseum viewed from the east (top) and the
west (bottom). The numerous chambers and passages beneath the floor
of the arena housed gladiators, animals and slaves who accessed the
arena through a series of gated passages that kept them separated
until the "games" began.
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For a detailed, although unofficial website on the Colosseum, follow this
link to the BBC's excellent history of the
Colosseum.
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