The Roman Colosseum : Architectural Designs And Architecture

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

For as long as humans have existed, they have always found some way to entertain themselves. Even the earliest societies have left evidence of some sort of activity or hobby that they used as a form of entertainment. Perhaps the most famous building that was used as a form of entertainment is the Roman Colosseum, also known as the Flavian amphitheater. In ancient Rome, the most popular form of entertainment was the gladiator fights. These fights, usually among animals and trained public fighters, were staged in open arenas in a city's forum. There is evidence

The famous historical structure known as the Colosseum is a remarkable piece of architecture that has survived for over nearly two millenniums. It was commissioned by the Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to the people of Rome and completed by his son, Titus in the year 70 A.D. (History, 2009). Since then, the Flavian Amphitheater has gone through lifetimes of changes with chronicles of events. It is one of the most impressive ancient structures that still stand today and is extraordinary because of a multitude of reasons. The Colosseum’s advanced function, structural soundness, as well as its impeccable design contributes to its grandeur. Its initial opening performance did not fail to commemorate its existence, lasting

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.

The Roman Colosseum was built throughout 70-80 A.D. It was a large, circular stone arena and was a very popular attraction in Rome. The Colosseum was used as a place of entertainment for the Romans (Doc 5). The Colosseum was the entertainment center of Rome and it was used as an amphitheater, arena, held gladiatorial events and people socialized there. The Colosseum influenced the U.S because in the U.S we have entertainment centers including movie theaters, wrestling matches, and sports games where people socialize and are entertained.

Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the city of Rome grew, prospered, and developed into a thriving Republic. As in most cultures, Rome's buildings became more elaborate and impressive. They developed fantastic building technologies and ideas. The feats of Roman engineers were groundbreaking, and many structures built by this culture still stand today. With knowledge borrowed from the Greeks, Rome made impressive architectural achievements, these were namely major attributes of buildings, colossal structures, and a legacy that would influence later buildings (Cornell and Matthews 11).

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 Colosseum has been standing for over 1900 years but before discussing the Colosseum’s achievements, it is important to understand the historical context and background of the building. How can a place go from being a symbol of extreme tyranny and private wealth to a symbol of one of the greatest entertainment venues and architectural feats? The Roman Colosseum did just that. It completely changed the public attitude and activity since it was built upon the grounds of what was once the part of Golden House of Nero (Domus Aurea). Although both Nero’s Domus Aurea and the Colosseum are architecturally supreme and complex, the area holds rich history of private decadent excess to a public attraction making them supreme and complex in two different ways.

The laborers had to remove approximately 33,000 tons of soil to allow for this massive structure to be built. The reason for removing that much soil was so that the supports of the structure would be dug forty feet deep in the soil to keep it stable. As the stonemasons got closer to ground level the clay wasn’t as strong, in response to this, the stonemasons added bricks to the clay and then poured concrete around them to provide a stable foundation. This completed the basement of the Colosseum, which was where the slaves and performers would reside before and after the shows. One of the first floors of the Colosseum was the podium which was reserved for high government officials, emperors and dignitaries. As the podium was for influential people it needed to be bold and so was built on three layers of travertine stone. For the stone to stay in its place it was bonded with melted bronze. When the bronze hardened it acted as cement. The Colosseum also consisted of four upper layers along with the podium which were designated for people with respect to their hierarchy in society and they were much more complicated to build because each floor was higher than the other which meant that the architects had to figure out a way how the workers would lay tons of stone in the air. The Romans used a crane that helped them lay the stones on the upper layers. The engineers wanted the upper layers to be as light as possible so that the Colosseum would not collapse under its own weight and so they used concrete and brick. Concrete and brick are much lighter than other types of rock such as tufa. Concrete and brick were the main materials used in the upper levels of the Flavian Amphitheatre. The following is an image of a Roman crane operating on an elevated

The building of the Roman Colosseum will begin between 73-75 A.D. and will almost be completed in 80 AD. We will be using a number of different materials and ideas. The colosseum will have to be as big as possible and capable enough to hold lots of people. We must measure everything very closely or else there is a risk of the structure collapsing on its self. I believe that the materials we have chosen to create this big amphitheatre, which will be used to execute slaves and criminals.

Historians have always used great structures from the ancient world to find out information about the kind of lives they used to live. The Colosseum in Ancient Rome, Italy was one of the most famous structures. The Colosseum in Rome gives historians a number of insights to the type of civilization that existed during the time of the ancient empire, through the gory battles and violent games that took place. This can be proven by the purpose of the Colosseum and the context surrounding its construction, the political and economic benefit of the Colosseum to the empire, the types of games which were held in the arena and the values which the structure suggests were important to the civilization at the

‘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 reflect in their society because this is who the Romans were. The seats were arrange where the wealthy would seat in the front, and the further back you got the lower class you were. This was also an opportunity for the gladiator to showcase what they were all about. The Romans liked to be entertained and what better way to do it than to watch a show in the Colosseum. The structure of it was amazing even today the Colosseum is a must see if you are touring Rome.  I personally like how it was built for an event. Just like today that people gather around the television, or some make there way to a stadium. The Roman capture what we like to consider today an event like Football or any sport. Just like today the structure matters just like it did back then. The Colosseum was massive a spectacle. I love the work because it it hard to imagine something like that can be created in the 80 CE. What I especially like and wish that I could of seen are the battles that took place inside the

“I found Rome a city of bricks and turned it into a marble” Augustus Caesar. The same could have been said about the Colosseum but looking at it now he would be disappointed. Well we looked at the creation, the neglects that led to it’s fall, and what it looks like now in the 21st century. Well at least now you looked at the creation of the Roman Colosseum and the completion in 80 A.D, and the neglect that led to the fall of the Roman Colosseum.

When one thinks of Roman architecture, many things come to mind, such as arches, columns, statues, and richly covered surfaces in marbles. One must stop to think that this empire, which gained power and influence in the first century BC, must have been influenced from the thousands of years of cultures preceding them in order to create their masterpieces of ingenuity. This phenomenon can be seen in our borrowing of ideas of ancient Greece and Rome for the construction of our capitol buildings in the United States. The Romans surely considered design principles of other cultures when developing their buildings, since daily conquests of new lands opened Roman soldiers’ eyes to innovations from the great vastness of their empire. This