Discover the Colosseum

  Trip date: 2023.05.11  

Rome's most breathtaking monumental and iconic building is the Colosseum, unquestionable.
It is dream of every tourist who goes to Rome to enter and visit the Flavian Amphitheatre, as it was originally called.

            Historical information

The amphitheatre was built under the Flavian emperors (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian), begun between AD 70 and 72 during the reign of Vespasian. It is located just east of the Palatine Hill, on the ground what was Nero's Golden House.
The artificial lake that was a centerpiece of that palace complex was drained, and the Colosseum was sited there, a decision that was as symbolic as it was pratical.
The decision was Vespasian's, whose path to the throne had relatively humble begginings, chose to replace the tyrannical emperor's private lake with a public amphitheatre that could host a tens of thousands of Romans.

The structure officially dedicated in AD 80 by Emperor Titus in a ceremony that included 100 days of games.
Later, in AD 82, Domitian completed the work by adding the uppermost story. Unlike earlier amphitheatres, which were nearly all dug into convenient hillsides for extra support, the Colosseum is a freestanding structure of stone and concrete, using a complex system of barrel vaults and groin vaults.

It seated some 50.000 spectators, who were shielded from the Sun by a massive retractable verarium (awning).
Supporting masts extended from corbels built into the Colossuem's top, or attic, story; hundreds of Roman sailors were required to manipulate the rigging that extended and retracted the velarium.

The Colosseum was the scene of thousands of hand-to-hand combats between gladiators, of contests between men and animals, and of many larger combats, including mock naval engagements.

        Structure

Three of the arena’s stories are encircled by arcades framed on the exterior by engaged columns in the Doric, Ionic and Domichian orders; the structure’s rising arrangement of columns became the basis of the Renessaince codification known as the assemblage of orders. The main structural framework and facade are travertine. the secondary walls are volcanic tufa, and the inner bowl and the arcade vaults are concrete.

        Then and Now comparison, Facts over time

The last gladiatorial games took place in the first half of the 5th century, but the spectacles called "venatio" by the Romans, during which wild animals were hunted, were staged in the Colosseum until the last third of the 6th century.

The Colosseum has gone through a lot of weather and external influences over time, but it was able to survive for prosperity in quite good condition for its age.
According to Dio Cassius, in AD 217 was badly damaged by a major fire (caused by lightning), which destroyed the wooden upper levels of the amphitheatre's interior. It was not fully repaired until AD 240.

In the Middle Age, the arena was neglected, everyday citizens lived in there. It has become really crowded and overused, noone restaurated at that time.

In the 12th century, the former amphitheater was transformed into a giant "apartment house". The living spaces were created from the arcaded parts of the arena below the auditorium; and from the 13th century it functioned as a fortress of an aristocratic family.
Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in 1349, causing the outer south side, lying on a less stable alluvial terrain to collapse.
Munch of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome.

In the 17th century, the building became a garden of Eden for botanists. Domenico Panaroli (1587-1657) liked to visit the institution, where he recorded no less than 337 different types of plants among the ruins.

During the World War II, where along with many other cities, Rome was bombed. In addition to the environment, the Colosseum was also damaged - over the centuries and earthquakes, that was the biggest impact on the integrity of the building.

Nowadays many restaurations were urged by italian environmental protection experts due to the ruin's rapid decline.
The Secretary of State added that in 2020, on the occasion of the Olympic Games, which Rome has applied for, the Colosseum and its surroundings will also be closed to car traffic; the entire ancient center of Rome will be transformed into pedestrial zone (at my point of visit, the tourist busses were able to travel near the monument).
However, there are fears about the earlier traffic system has made serious damages to the Colosseum - their exhaust gas and the vibration caused by the vehicles also endanger the antique stones, stated the Environmental Protection Organization Lagambiente.

            The hierarchy of seats

The New Historians describes who got priority placement: in the top tier was the emperor's box, which provided the best view of the arena. Other members of the Roman political and social elite has also sat in the highest tier.
On the second tier sat the Roman upper class, made up of government officials and business men.

            The arena and hypogeum

The arena itself was 83x43m (280x163 Roman feet) - it comprised a wooden floor covered by sand (latin: harena or arena) covering an elaborate underground structure called the "hypogeum" (literally meaning underground).
This underground system was not originally the part of the structure, was ordered to built by Emperor Domitian.
Little now remains of the original arena floorm but the hypogeum is still clearly visible and can be visited through.
It consisted of a two-level subterranean netwoek of tunnels and cages beneath the arena where gladiators and animals were held before contests began.

Eighty vertical shafts provided instant access to the arena for caged animals and scenery pieces concealed underneath; larger hinged platforms (called hegmata), provided access for elephants and the like.
It was reconstructed on numerous occasions , at least twelve different phases of construction can be seen.

The hypogeum was connected by tunnels to a number of points outside the Colosseum. Animals and performers were brought through the tunnel from nearby stablesm with the gladiators' barracks (in my picture above for example) at the Ludus Magnus to the east also being connected by tunnels.

Several tunnels were provided for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins to permit them to enter and exit the Colosseum without needing to pass through the crowds.

Substanial quantities of machinery also existed in the hypogeum. Elevators and pulleys raised and lowered scenery and props, as well as lifting caged animals to the surface release.
There is evidence for the existence of major hydraulic mechanisms and according to ancient accounts, it was possible to flood the arena rapidly, presumably via a connection to a nearby aqueduct.
They were able to demonstrate water battles, thanks to this mechanism.

The horizontal level where the people stand is the arena's basic ground (originally wooden floow covered by sand), the underground system is also clearly visible from a distance.

            Sightseeing from the height of the Colosseum