The Flavian Amphitheater, or as it is more popularly known the Colosseum, is one of the most famous monuments of ancient Rome. It bears the name of the family of Vespasian, who began the building, and his sons, Titus and Domitian, who completed it.
The Colosseum was begun by Vespasian between the years 70 and 76 on the site of the lake in the Gardens of Nero. It was Vespasian's intention to give back to the people of Rome some of the lands that Nero had "incorporated" into his palace. It was not finished when he died in 79. His son, Titus, inaugurated the amphitheater, and finally Domitian completed it in 81.
The inaugural festival lasted 100 days, during which coutless gladiators and 5,000 wild beasts were killed. It was restored in 230 by Alexander Severus, and in 248 the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of Rome was celebrated here.
There is no historical evidence that Christians were ever martyred in the arena. The last gladitorial fight took place here in 407, and fights with wild beasts were suppressed in 523. The Colosseum sustained damage from earthquakes in 422, 1231, and 1349. Undoubtedly though, the ediface was most damaged by those who, through the centuries used the monument as a quarry for building material. Travertine stone from the Colosseum can be found all around the city of Rome today.
In Imperial Rome, the Colosseum was an outlet for the populace's blood lust. The emperor could throw festivals, which would endear him to the populace, while the people vented their frustrations in watching the spectacles. Canopy's could be draped over the Colosseum in order to provide relief from the hot sun. In addition, fine perfumed water would be misted into the crowds to provide more relief. Special sand was imported from Egypt because of its absorbency properties; here, it was used to soak up blood from the dead gladiators and animals. The bottom of the Colosseum could even be flooded for mock naval battles.
Two facts about the Colosseum reveal the architectural genius of the monument. First, this huge mass of stone, brick, tuffa, which originally was a third of a mile in circumference, was raised on the marshy ground left after the draining of the lake from Nero's palace. The ingenuity of this engineering feat would tax the abilities of even modern builders. Secondly, it was designed so that a potentially unruly crowd of 50,000 spectators to enter, find their seats, and eventually disperse through its eighty exits. The arches are still display the numbers which corresponded to ticket numbers. It is said that the entire crowd of 50,000 spectators could all exit the Colosseum within twenty minutes. Incredible!
The Colosseum has inspired writers throughout the centuries. Saint Bede the Venerable (673-735) quoted a prophecy of Anglo-Saxon pilgrims when he wrote: "While the Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Coliseum falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, the world shall fall." The Romantics of the nineteenth century greatly admired the Colosseum. Byron in "Childe Harold" wrote:
Arches on arches! As it were that Rome
The Colosseum remains an important part of Rome's legacy.
Collecting the chief trophies of her line,
Would build up all her triumphs in one dome,
Her Colosseum stands...
Charles Dickens considered it "the most impressive, the most stately, the most solemn, grand, majestic, mournful sight conceivable."
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