The Roman Colosseum is still considered a masterpiece even by modern designers. The enormous stadium was 679 feet long, 512 feet wide, and 160 feet tall at its highest point. It had four seating levels and 80 entrances, and its seating capacity may have been as many as 80,000 spectators.
The Colosseum had features that were state-of-the-art for the time, and would still be considered useful and up-to-date today. It had retractable sunscreens to protect the spectators from the hot Mediterranean sun, and it had elevators and tunnels under the floor which allowed gladiators and animals to "miraculously" appear where needed on the floor of the amphitheater.
The Colosseum was originally called the Flavian Amphitheater. It began being called the Colosseum centuries later, obtaining the nickname from a huge statue of Nero in front of the building.
Many wooden amphitheaters had been previously built throughout the Empire, but the first stone amphitheater was built in Pompeii in 70 BCE. Almost a million inhabitants in Rome. More than twice as many as Alexandria, next largest city. Vespasian around 70 AD wanted entertainment for the masses. Stadium was designed for traffic flow. Quarries yielded 115,000 Cubic Feet of travertine for the facade. Romans built special road just to get stone from quarry to the site. Iron was also used to clamp blocks in place. Little known about the eqpt actually used. Scene from contractor's gravestone shows a crane driven by wheels manned by slaves. 10 years to build the Stadium. Evidence of 110 drinking fountains and two very large lavatories have been found in the Colosseum. Domitian built the underground of the Colosseum. 32 Elevators ringed the arena. Animals came up in cages, probably using counterweights. Hinged floors in the center used counterweights to lift larger things (elephants, scenery, etc.). Domitian also added the retractable roof. Called the valorium. Made of cloth. Canvas covered about 2/3 of the arena. Archaeologists are still not 100% sure how exactly it worked, although they think it used ropes and pulleys to lift or let down wood beams supporting the canvas. Colosseum opened 80 AD with 100 days of gladiatorial combat. More than 5000 died in one day. Admission was free. Closeness to the arena floor was based on social status. Ticket was a shard of pottery that had a number indicating the door through which you were to enter. Colosseum could be emptied of people in about 12 minutes. Gladiators had another large arena (the Ludus Magnus) where they lived in barracks and practiced. Underground tunnel linked the Ludus Magnus with the Colosseum, so the gladiators could make a dramatic entrance. 12,000 people could watch the gladiators fight and practice at the Ludus Magnus, which made it bigger than the main amphitheater in many of the cities of the empire. Origins of games with Etruscan funerary games. Two different words for gladiatorial combat. One meant honorary funeral sport, one just meant games. Execution of criminals was the first blood of the day. Main event was gladiators, with 20 styles of fighting representing Roman enemies. Wounded gladiator would lay down weapons and ask for mercy. Crowd would voice opinion, but Emperor made actual decision. Thumbs up actually meant kill him (thumb up and in toward the chest), thumbs down meant let him live (throw down the sword). Not all matches resulted in death. After fighter was down, supposedly killed, slaves would come around with branding iron to make sure. Animals came after the gladiators. Some killed criminals sentenced to die, some were slaughtered in recreation of hunting scenes. Some species, including the north African elephant and Caspian tiger, were made extinct. No conclusive evidence that Christians were ever actually put to death in the Colosseum, although they were definitely put to death in some other amphitheaters.
Colosseum was in use for nearly 500 years. Fire in 217 AD. Melted much limestone. Took 20 years to repair. Earthquakes also caused damage. In decline by late 4th century, mainly because Rome simply could not afford to produce the games. Christianity may have had some affect, but it was probably minimal. Games banned in 404 AD. 13 years earlier, Telemachus (a monk) was killed by fans after trying to separate two gladiators. 523 AD last battle of animals.
Private army turned the Colosseum into a fortress later. Earthquake in 1349 put the fortress to an end, when it collapsed the south facade. People then started using the limestone to build other buildings, including many churches. Also scavenged all the iron clamps that held the travertine together. Was used as wool factory, gunpowder plant, and dumping ground for manure. Vatican considered turning the Colosseum into a church, after a shrine was put up in honor of the Christians who were supposed to have died there. Became stop on the European tour of 1700s, supposed to be very romantic although it was in awful shape. 1826 earthquake nearly took down the eastern facade. Several buttresses were put up to try to save the walls.
18th century Colosseum had so many different types of plants and such that botanists came and wrote books about it. 1870 excavation unearthed the underground passages and uprooted most of the plant life. Many inscriptions were found, mostly indicating who had reserved seats in the theater.
Mussolini held rallies in the Colosseum. Excavations resumed after World War II. Found skeletons of the dead and the skull of a bear that had been pierced by the sword of a gladiator. The Colosseum is a very fragile structure in some ways. Another quake could destroy it because it's built to withstand vertical loads, not the horizontal movement that is caused by most seismic events. Tourism, pollution, and even the vibrations and rumblings of traffic and trains cause small cracks which continue to cause problems. Currently building a stage that will cover half of the underground. In 2000, it was used to stage Oedipus Rex.
Created on ... September 24, 2003
Last updated ... March 3, 2006