The Roman Colosseum

 Ancient Rome is a spectacle that tourists from all around the world visit for its ancient history. It was an arena bound with blood with the corpses of animals and gladiators and criminals that used to litter the arena. In this report we will delve into more facts about the history of the Colosseum , the gladiators themselves and the structure of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum of Rome is the largest amphitheatre in the world. It was originally called Flavian Amphitheatre. The construction started in 72 AD under the direction of emperor Vespassian. It was built by thousands of slaves and when it was complete it could fit up to 50000 people. In this Colosseum the first games held there lasted 100 days. Registering to participate was free and it made the emperor become more popular with the Roman people. It took about 8 years to finish, however Vespassian couldn’t live to see the final product. His son however emperor Titus opened the Colosseum. The history of the Colosseum has a lot of rich history now we shall delve into the fights themselves who competed in the Colosseum called Gladiators.

Gladiators were fighters that participated in the Colosseum. They were fighters that fought to the death for the entertainment of the people. They used knives , swords , shields as well as helmets. The use of these weapons were taught at a professional school called Ludas.  If you were successful at being a Gladiator you could grow quite popular with the people and if you were really successful you could earn riches so that you could retire comfortably. However the probability of surviving being a professional gladiator was close to none. Not only did you fight against other people, you fought against animals. Most of the gladiators were slaves as well who were put on rigorous training and on a healthy diet to fight for the entertainment of the people. The gladiators were hard warriors that fought for a shallow reason. Now we’re going to delve into more facts about the overall structure of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum was made of 3 different materials. Brick , stone and concrete.  The Colosseum was 620 feet or 189 meters long and stood 158 feet tall. It was as tall as a twelve story building. There was also something hidden under the Colosseum called the Hypogeum. The hypogeum was a maze of underground tunnels with elevators that had trap doors so gladiators could appear out of nowhere as well as animals. The Colosseum at its prime was an arena built for fighting however over the years the structure has been wiliting away. The Colosseum was damaged by fires and earthquakes and in the 6th century was no longer used for fighting. In 1349 there was a major earthquake that comprised the outer wall. The wall was used for later structures built and the Colosseum just was in ruin for the last years. The restoration started in the 1800s and is still being restored today.

In conclusion the Roman Colosseum had an interesting ancient history bound by the noises of the Gladiators fighting for their lives with the structure making the fights ever more interesting. It is now a tourist attraction and as it’s still being restored and as the tourists stand in the Colosseum they shall remember the many gladiators who split their blood in the massive amphitheatre.