The Colosseum!

When the Colosseum was built it was known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, the most imposing of all the monuments of ancient Rome. It's gigantic size justifies the Colosseum name that was first given to it in early medieval times and has stuck ever since. Beside the amphitheatre stood the Colossus of Nero, a giant statue of gilt bronze, 30 meters high, work of a Greek sculptor Zenodoros. The outer walls rise to almost 50 meters above the ground. More than 100,000 cubic meters of travertine were used to build it and even the metal cramps that held the blocks together must have weighed more than 300 tons. The construction began shortly after 70 A.D. and the amphitheatre was inaugurated ten years later. The cerimonies and games went on for 100 days and some 5,000 wild animals were put to death during that time. The interior of the Colosseum consisted of the arena, a wooden floor sustaining a bed of sand and covering an area of about 76 meters by 46 meters. The stands were subdivided into three sectors for seating with standing room at the very top. Each sector was reserved for a particular class of citizens, the more important sat closer to the bottom. An enormous awning protected the spectores from the heat of the sun. Everyone enjoyed free entry. The amphitheatre could accomodate about 70,000 people, who came there to watch gladiatorial combats and wild beast hunts. There were other shows, either as curtain raisers, or to fill in during intervals, but not by any means less cruel. During the shows the arena would be surrounded by a metal mesh carried on poles and spiked with elephant tusks, to keep the animals from escaping the arena. At one time the floor was dug deeper and water was pumped. Midgets were put into ships and water battle games were played. Midgets were used to help keep the size perspective correct. The last show was held in 523 A.D. and consisted only of animal hunts, because gladiator fighting had been abolished in 438, about fourty years before the fall of the Empore. The account of the first game was written by a famous Greek writer. The stands were completely full spectators. In the center, 20 elephants were brought in. Surrounding the elephants on the outter circle were 100 lions. No person living in Rome at the time had ever seen an elephant or lion. Archers shot a few arrows into the elephants to get the action going. The lions attacked. The roar of the lions and elephants was so loud that the crowd was stunned into silence. Blood covered the floor with the first few minutes. A red mist started to form above the fighting. At this time the Greek writer had seen enough and exited. He said he climbed onto his chariot and left the city going via the Appian Way. About 3 meters outside of Rome, he said he stopped and turned to look back. He could still hear the roar of the animals and he could see the red mist above the Colosseum. There is no account of which animal was left standing at the end of the game. Animals outnumbered people in those times and many people were killed by wild animals. The games were used as a way to control the wild animals. Also, unlike what most of us have heard about the killing of Christians in the Colosseum, that is not necessarily true. If they were a criminal, they were killed. The killing of people in the Colosseum was also used as a criminal justice system. If you commented a crime, you were punished in the Colosseum. The only people ever killed were criminals.............so they say. Also, one more interesting note I learned, was during the building of St. Peter's Basilica and a shortage of material, the Pope instructed the workers to take what they needed from the outside walls of the Colosseum. The front part of St. Peter's Basilica is actually the wall from the Colosseum!! Wow!! End of the lesson.





In the middle of the picture is a wooden cross. This is the entry used by the emperors.
The arched doorway is called the living arch. If you lived, or were allowed to live you could leave out this doorway. The opposite side had the death doorway. Part of the floor has been reconstructed so you can tell what it would have looked like. The part that is uncovered shows the many tunnels used to bring in the animals and the gladiators. Trap doors were used to bring them to the surface.










One of the reasons some of these ancient buildings are still standing is because the bricks the Romans used where not oblong, like the ones we use today. They were pointed at one end and were stuck together in an interlocking way. Why don't we build like that today??????





Kevin, Lindsay, Alex, and Jeff giving the Thumbs up and down sign used by the people to decide the fate of someone at the end of a "GAME!"