The Colosseum Essay

Blood sports were the most popular form of entertainment in Pompeii. They were held in the Amphitheatre. The Amphitheatre was the largest building in Pompeii. It held between 13000 and 20000 people. The Pompeian Amphitheatre was an oval shaped building with approximately 35 rows of seats. It was well used, as there were numerous public holidays during the Roman calendar. There are many mosaics, inscription and paintings that depict the type of things that occurred within the Amphitheatre. The many types of events included, gladiator’s vs gladiators, gladiator’s vs. wild exotic animals, animals against animals, and execution of criminals by animals. During excavation of the Amphitheatre 60 bodies where found in the barracks of the amphitheaters. Many victorious gladiators had sponsors. An inscription found near the Amphitheatre says:

Ancient Rome is one of the greatest and most influential societies in the history of the world. From the basic rules of how the Roman Empire is set up to the infrastructures in the city, the strict hierarchy of Roman social structure can be reflected clearly all over the whole ancient Rome. In fact that “public architecture presents people with the official view of a society and provides the background against which its individual markers live their lives.”1 With the great desire of Roman for entertainment and their special taste for blood, the amphitheatre is considered as the most popular and most representative type of the entertainment building in the ancient Roman culture. And

Early gladiator fights took place in funerals of wealthy Romans, but their main purpose was to give the people a good show. As the gladiator games grew in popularity, the funeral ritual tradition was eventually dropped and the games were staged for what they were—a display of wealth and entertainment for the masses. By approximately 90 B.C., gladiator games began taking place in circuses and forums. Circuses were elongated arenas with a spine down the middle, designed for chariot racing. In a circus, the audience had good seats but a poor view of the event. Since circuses were built for chariot races, their long and narrow shape made it difficult for someone sitting on one end to see an event going on at the other end. A good example of a circus is the Circus Maximus. This structure was the first and largest circus built by the Romans and it could hold up to 250,000 people. Forums were open gathering places in the center of a town, often with a monument in the middle. Audiences watching a gladiator event in a forum still experienced problems because the ground was flat, so only the people in the first few rows could see anything. Over the years, the gladiator games became even more elaborate to the point where some fights included fights with wild animals. So the Romans now had a problem on their hands: how to fit a large number of people in a way that let them see everything that was

The Flavian amphitheater has gone through a substantial amount of transformation in the last two thousand years. This is because its function has changed through the years, affecting its structural composition and soundness. In its earliest years, it has served as a location for entertainment to the ancient Roman civilization and had fell into drastic neglect when Rome’s culture changed. People’s demand for bloody gladiatorial combats as well as wild animal fights grew less (History, 2009). Later, it transitioned into becoming widely used as a source of building materials and been scavenged to the point where two-thirds of the original

Roman architecture has influenced our modern-day society in many ways. One of the ways is by the construction of the Roman Colosseum in 72 A.D. The Roman Colosseum was the first major stadium or amphitheater to ever be built. Without the planning, construction, and techniques used for Roman Colosseum, we would not have some of the famous stadiums and amphitheaters that exist today.

Thanks to the various sources and the multiple mediums through which they are presented we have learnt much about this aspect of Roman entertainment. Frescoes, mosaics, writings, graffiti, buildings, artefacts (gladiator's helmet, weapons, etc), inscriptions, reliefs and even bodies all reveal details of the many different facets and experiences of this ancient entertainment. We now know who went, what and who the entertainment was, and even the stories of the ancient Pompeians and reconstruct a variety of experiences. This source is a archaeological treasure as unlike others it did not deteriorate from non-use or knocked down, it was frozen on a typical roman day and has thus remained. It is also significant as we can compare this evidence to similar items of evidence from all over Rome and deepen our understanding of the life of the ancient Romans.

Entertainment in Roman society, specifically in Pompeii and Herculaneum, was very significant, which can be seen in the large number of buildings in both of these towns that serve the purpose of entertaining the Roman citizens. One of the most notable of these buildings was the Amphitheatre in Pompeii, as it one of the earliest built Roman amphitheatre and is one of the oldest that still stands today. From paintings, such as source A, a Fresco painting found in the house of Actius Anicetus, it can be made clear that gladiatorial matches were held in the amphitheatre in Pompeii, which was a main source of entertainment for the people of the time. The matches in the amphitheatre were largely popular, as it accommodated the people of all classes, with 35 rows of seating, being able to hold 20,000 people, which can be seen in the remaining structure of the building today, as it was so well preserved, even during the eruption of Vesuvius in

Throughout the history of Ancient Rome, the construction of public buildings was used as a political tool, to manipulate the views of the people and to demonstrate the power of the State. The very first emperor of Rome, Augustus, initiated social reform through the construction of buildings from 27 BC onwards. Emperor Vespasian in 69 AD used a similar initiative, and throughout Rome’s history it can be seen that times of civil unrest are often followed by a flourish in architecture and the arts. An example of this can be seen in one of Vespasian’s major building projects, the Colosseum, officially the Flavian Amphitheatre, which had

The third most important engineering feat was the Coliseum. The coliseum was the biggest amphitheatre built in the Roman Empire. Started by Vespasian in 72 AD, on the very site where Nero built a lake in his palace Domus Aurea. The giant amphitheatre where events like gladiator contests, prisoner executions, mock sea battles and animal huts etc. took place was a gift of the new emperor to the public. In many ways it was the world’s first mega stadium, like the ones of today and could seat about 50,000 spectators. It was also the tallest structure ever built in the Roman Empire. The stadium even features like retractable roof and was full of comforts for the spectators.

Towards the city’s heavily trafficked center the Roman Forum was constructed for convenient easy access of all the citizens. The foreground of the forum was occupied by a paved square with monuments to famous citizens. The temple to the Divine Julius, dedicated in 29 BCE to the deified Caesar, built in a Hellenistic style, is located in the background on the left; to the right is the temple of Vesta and the house of the Vestal Virgins, guardians of the everlasting flame; further to the right is the temple of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux dedicated in 6 CE Here the office of weights and measures was situated. The podiums of the temples of Caesar and the Dioscuri were often used as orators' platforms and it is in this part of the Forum that the meetings of the comitia took place. On the far right is the Basilica Julia built by Caesar. Its long façade occupies the entire south side of the Forum. (Owens, 154) Semi-circular in plan and having consisted of a tall stage building, theaters were a semi-circular orchestra and tiered seating area. Unlike Greek theatres, which were built on natural slopes, they were supported by their own framework of piers and vaults and so could be built anywhere and not where nature dictated. Amphitheatres (literally, ‘double theatres’) were elliptical in plan; with a central areana. (Bowra, 38)

The construction of the Colosseum was a propaganda exercise with the aim of pleasing the citizens which meant that the emperor kept himself in power. The emperors bought their popularity through free entertainment and corn for the spectators which lead to the emperor buying the peoples votes (Hopkins, 2011). The magnificent amphitheatre entertained the roman public becoming an international emblem and propaganda tactic used by emperors to improve their political careers.

‘The Colosseum’ is regarded as one of the best work of the Rome architecture and engineering. It is situated in the centre of the city of Rome in Italy and is also known by the name of ‘Flavian Amphitheatre’ (Origins of the Colosseum, 2015). ‘The Colosseum’ is considered as one of the largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire and also in the world. The building of ‘The Colosseum’ is highly impressive and is an important landmark for signifying the past history of Roman culture. The amphitheatre

The Colosseum was first built in 70-80 CE in Regio IV Templum Pacis, which is in Rome Italy today. Measuring some 620 by 513 feet, the Colosseum was the largest amphitheater in the Roman world. Unlike many earlier amphitheaters, which had been dug into hillsides to provide adequate support, the Colosseum was a freestanding structure made of stone and concrete. The Colosseum could seat up to 80 thousand people. The Colosseum was a gift to the Roman people from Emperor Vespasian.

     The arches of the Coloseum allowed great ventilation, stability, and passageways to keep the crowd comfortable all day. The most amazing construction had nothing to do with the show. The Romans had actually constructed a roof for the Coloseum. The roof was like a retractable sail covering most of the audience during the current event.

The Roman Colosseum, a colossal amphitheater, was built in the first century under Flavian's rule. Many events such as gladiator games, beast fights, naval battles, and much more took place inside the huge elliptical arena. People of all ages and classes attended these well-known spectacles. The Colosseum is a huge Roman architectural achievement and the fact that it is still standing today only amplifies the importance of this structure. Hundred of thousands of people attended the ancient games, and even more continue to visit the arena today.