The great Flavian Amphitheater, or Colosseum, in Rome was erected by the emperors Vespasian and Titus in about AD 70-82 on the site of the Golden House of Nero.
It measured 513 by 620 feet. With seating width at only about 14 inches per person, the Colosseum had a maximum capacity of 50,000 people.
The Colosseum was built to celebrate the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem ten years earlier.
To celebrate its opening there are games lasting one hundred days. Most of the 10,000 men who took part were killed and 5,000 animals were massacred.
The Romans invented concrete and used it for many of their most famous buildings, including the Colosseum.
It measured 513 by 620 feet. With seating width at only about 14 inches per person, the Colosseum had a maximum capacity of 50,000 people.
The Colosseum was built to celebrate the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem ten years earlier.
To celebrate its opening there are games lasting one hundred days. Most of the 10,000 men who took part were killed and 5,000 animals were massacred.
The Romans invented concrete and used it for many of their most famous buildings, including the Colosseum.
The Colosseum had a retractable cloth awning which weighed about 24 tons (21.8 tonnes) and was held up by a large network of ropes and 240 huge pillars. It covered 30% of the entire structure and provided shade for all of the spectators. It was operated by sailors of the Roman Navy known as "velarii".
A million animals and 500,000 people are estimated to have died in total in the Colosseum arena.
The name Colosseum was applied to this structure sometime around 1000AD. The stadium got its name not because of its massive size, but because its proximity to a colossal 'Statue of Liberty' sized bronze statue of the Emperor Nero.
A million animals and 500,000 people are estimated to have died in total in the Colosseum arena.
The name Colosseum was applied to this structure sometime around 1000AD. The stadium got its name not because of its massive size, but because its proximity to a colossal 'Statue of Liberty' sized bronze statue of the Emperor Nero.
The spelling was sometimes altered in Medieval Latin: coloseum and coliseum are attested from the 12th and 14th centuries respectively.
In the late 1990s, Heinz-Jürgen Beste of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome was studying the underground chambers of the Colosseum when he found patterns of holes, notches and grooves in the walls. By connecting the dots of the negative space, he discovered that a system of elevators had been used to transport wild animals and scenery to the main floor.
If the Colosseum was built today, it would cost around 39 million euros - the equivalent of almost 43 million dollars.
Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.
In the late 1990s, Heinz-Jürgen Beste of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome was studying the underground chambers of the Colosseum when he found patterns of holes, notches and grooves in the walls. By connecting the dots of the negative space, he discovered that a system of elevators had been used to transport wild animals and scenery to the main floor.
If the Colosseum was built today, it would cost around 39 million euros - the equivalent of almost 43 million dollars.
Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.
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