This huge amphitheatre was built by the Jewish prisoners on the spot among three hills – Palatino, Celio and Esquilino, exactly where some years earlier there had been a pond adjacent to the famous Domus Aurea belonging to Nero.
After his death all the Emperors wanted to erase signs of his rules so many wonderful masterpieces had been destroyed – that happened to Domus Aurea and the pond as well.
In 72 A.D. Vespasian from the Flavian family began the construction of the amphitheatre on the place where the pond had been, its inauguration that lasted 100 days took place in the 80 A.D. under his son Titus, even if some remodeling were done later under Domitian.
The name: Colosseum comes from a colossal statue of 35 meters high representing Nero that could have been admired first near the pond, in the place where the Venus and Rome Temple was built in 135 A.D.
The dimensions of the amphitheatre are: 50 m high (that means a highest of a modern 18 stores building), 188 meters long and 156 wide. For the construction there were used 100 000 squared meters of travertine (a kind of marble from the outskirts of Rome) and 300 tones of iron that linked the block of marble.
It is said that the amphitheatre was designed to accommodate 70 000 spectators (even if some people were supposed to stand and not to be sitting comfortably on the benches) who could assist so called venationes (haunting wild beasts coming from different parts of the world), gladiators fights and death sentences – people condemned to death were thrown on the arena and were supposed to fight against wild animals without ha and jump upon the people. There were also archers ready to shoot if it had been necessary.
80 arches leaded to the interior of the Colosseum and one – entrance of honour – was reserved for the Emperor.
The Emperor had his special seat in the center of the podium that was called suggestum. The rest of the podium was dedicated for the senators and members of the court.
Later the section for the cavaliers and tribunes was. There were also special places reserved for the married couples, for young men who were coming with their tutors, for families and for servants, for women and for servants. As it easy to notice the position of a woman was’t very high in the Roman society.
Under the arena (that measured 76 meters long and 46 meters wide) the very innovating system of underground passages is still conserved quite well. The system however was much more sophisticated since it permitted animals or people appear on the arena in right moment or time. There were cages with animals there and also many lifts and ramps. We know that once with the use of this system 100 lions appeared on the arena which with their roams made all the people who were sitting in the amphitheatre silent from fear.
As far as the gladiators are concerned they were coming on the arena directly from their gladiator school adjacent to the Colosseum whose remains we can still admire southward from the amphitheatre.
The Emperor Constanine an his successors tried to put end to the use of the Colosseum but we know that the last venationes spectacle there took place in 523 A.D, under Theodoric who was king of the Gothes. In 430 the gladiators fights were abolished.
At the end of the Roman Empire the Colosseum was damaged seriously by two earthquakes (in 442 and 508) and after 523 it was used as a cemetery, fortress of Frangipani family with churches and streets inside, and a huge quarry, especially after the earthquake of 1349 that destroyed a huge part of the walls. Palazzo Venezia was built only from the materials coming from the Colosseum. Only the Pope Benedict XIV who lived in the XVIII century prohibited taking away materials from the Roman areba making it the symbol of the martyrdom of the first Christians and setting up a Way of the Cross. Up till now the Via Crucis is celebrated by Popes on the Good Fridays.
[ photo : courtesy of jdiggans]
