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One of the great iconic building of the world is the colosseum in Rome. Even by to days standards the Colosseum is a vast arena and is one of the great symbols of Roman culture, excess and cruelty.
In AD 68 Nero had reached the lowest point in his polarity. His extravagances had brought the Roman Empire to the edge of bankruptcy. The Roman military had had enough and in the face of successful military uprisings across the Empire Nero committed suicide rather than face defeat.
The Roman Empire was thrown into civil war made worse by a Jewish rebellion in Palestine. Eventually in AD 69 Vespasian won the civil war and quelled the rebellion in Palestine to become Emperor. As a political gesture he announced his plan to build a great pleasure palace for the inhabitants of Rome to be paid for from the money gained from winning the Jewish war.
It was to be built on the site of a lake in Nero's garden and would be the largest amphitheater in the Roman world with a capacity of 50,000 - 75,000 spectators.
The scale of the building project was vast. Firstly drain had to be built 8m below the structures foundations to take water away from the springs that had flowed into Nero's Lake. The concrete foundation under the outer wall and seating were 12-13m deep. The soil from the foundations hole was used to raise the land further around the Colosseum so raising it above the valley floor. These vast foundations may have been over engineered but they have stood the test of time.
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The architect of the Colosseum is unknown but he and his team came up with a design that was both harmonious and functional. The ideal shape of the period was considered to be an oval with a ratio of 5:3. to achieve this each arch was designed to 20 Roman feet (about 19.6cm), with 3 extra feet for the columns between the arches. There are 80 arches in the perimeter wall giving a perimeter of 80 x 23 which equals 1840 Roman feet. Each arch has an horizontal opening of 15 Roman feet which equals the vertical height to the centre of each arch. There are 3 storey of these square shaped arches and each storey has semicircular columns from a different order, Tuscan at the bottom then Ionic and finally Corinthian columns on the top storey. This gives the facade of the colosseum a harmonious and ordered design.
The structure is built using brick and cement vaulting which was then faced with travertine stone. The brick arch vaulting allowed the Romans to build wide entrances and a honeycomb of passages and stairways to get the spectators in and out of the amphitheater with ease and speed.
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The arena was 76x44 meters surrounded by tiered marble seating for the spectators. The arena floor was made of stone and wood covered with sand. The wooden sections could be opened to allow animals and people to enter the arena from the maize of tunnels, lifts and holding pens below. Around the arena was a 3.6 m high raised terrace known as the podium . The best seats were around the Podium From here tiers of marble seating ran up to the base of a 16m high wall at the top of which tiered seating ran to the top of the arena. Different classes of Roman society had their own sectors. The lower sector up to the wall was reserved for nobility and men. The area at the top of the arena was reserved for the poor and women. Spectators at the very top were 100m away from the centre of the arena. Spectators were packed into the Colosseum which made good access to the seating crucial. Spectators entered by one of 76 numbered entrances. From here they were separated class and a network tunnels and stairways led them to their designated seats. Each spectator had a pottery tickets with numbers on them which directed them to their tie, row and seat. The access was so good that in emergency evacuations the spectators could leave the Colosseum could be emptied in minutes.
The building was completed in only 11 years, one year after Emperor Vepasian's death. The inaugural games were held by Vespasian's son, Titus, in 80. It is recounted by Dio Cassius that over 9,000 animals were killed in the inaugural games. The Colosseum is famous for its gladiatorial shows as well as other more theatrical but no less bloody events. These were paid for by individuals and not the state. The shows known as " Muera " were a way for individuals and families to gain popularity and prestige from their fellow Romans.
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Shows ranged from animal hunts with exotic animals from Africa and the Middle East. Elaborate sets would be built and filled with rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. each new patron of a games wanted to better the previous games. The games reached a huge scale and Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia (Romania) with 123 days of games involving 11.000 animals and 10,000 gladiators.
The Colosseum has gained fame for it brutal and gruesome gladiatorial battles and executions of convicts and Christians. Condemned prisoners would be put into the arena with wild animals to be mauled to death. Others condemned slaves were made to play out the death of famous story heros and could be burnt or executed. The heros of the arena were undoubtedly the gladiators. Gladiators were slaves who were condemned to arena fighting. They were bought and trained by Gladiators schools who made a lot of money supplying gladiators for the games. Most of the slaves came from soldiers who had surrendered during battles. They were given the chance to regain their honour by fighting in the ring. Their training in the Gladiator schools was brutal and their lives could be short. If they won though they could keep any prize money or gifts bestowed upon them. This meant that a successful gladiator gained fame and riches and was admired by Roman society. The lure of the arena led many Romans to become slaves so they could join Gladiator schools. Hardened ex soldiers these gladiators usually became the best gladiators and made vast fortunes. The last recorded gladiator games in Colosseum were around 443
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During the Christian persecution by the Romans many Christians were put to death and were martyred for their faith in the colosseum. This did not stop the games though even when the Roman Emperors converted to Christianity. The Games in the Colosseum continued into the 6th century and even though successive Emperors tried to limit the size of the game to stop the crippling costs to Rome none succeeded. It was not until 1749 that Pope Benedict XIV pronounced that the Colosseum was a sacred site. He forbade the removal of stones from the site declaring it sanctified by the blood of Christian Martyrs.
The fall of Rome put a stop to the games and the Colosseum fell into disrepair. Earthquake damage and the removal of stones for other buildings mean that today only 1/3rd of the original structure remains. In Medieval times it was used as workshops and even fortified as a castle but the building was gradually looted. The pock marks that scar the building today are a result of bronze clamps that held the stone block together being removed. Originally 300 tons of Brass clamps were used on the building.
Today the Colosseum is a major world tourist detonation. Millions have been spent renovating it and the arena has been partially covered with a stage for occasional concerts from stars like Paul McCartney. The Colosseum is a spectacular monument to the Romans and a terrible reminder of how far man is willing to go to get thrills and spills of a gruesome nature. Today our gladiators fight it out in the movies. Brutal death is common and essentially these types of films, including ironically "Gladiator", give the public the same thrills the Romans experienced in the Colosseum. The major difference obviously is our film gladiators never really die or actually kill anyone. Like successful Roman gladiators our film gladiators gain wealth and fame and some even go on to become governors of states like California.
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