According to a reconstructed inscription found on the site, "the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheatre to be erected from his general's share of the booty.

The Colosseum was constructed with several different materials: wood, limestone, tuff , tiles, cement, and mortar. Construction of the Colosseum began under the rule of Vespasian [3] in around 70—72 AD 73—75 AD according to some sources.

The Colosseum had been completed up to the third story by the time of Vespasian's death in The top level was finished by his son, Titus , in 80, [3] and the inaugural games were held in 80 or 81 AD.

Commemorative coinage was issued celebrating the inauguration. He also added a gallery to the top of the Colosseum to increase its seating capacity.

In , the Colosseum was badly damaged by a major fire caused by lightning, according to Dio Cassius [24] which destroyed the wooden upper levels of the amphitheatre's interior.

It was not fully repaired until about and underwent further repairs in or and again in Honorius banned the practice of gladiator fights in and again in Gladiatorial fights are last mentioned around The arena continued to be used for contests well into the 6th century.

Animal hunts continued until at least , when Anicius Maximus celebrated his consulship with some venationes , criticised by King Theodoric the Great for their high cost.

The Colosseum underwent several radical changes of use. By the late 6th century a small chapel had been built into the structure of the amphitheater, though this apparently did not confer any particular religious significance on the building as a whole.

The arena was converted into a cemetery. The numerous vaulted spaces in the arcades under the seating were converted into housing and workshops, and are recorded as still being rented out as late as the 12th century.

Around the Frangipani family took over the Colosseum and fortified it, apparently using it as a castle. Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in , causing the outer south side, lying on a less stable alluvial terrain, to collapse.

Much of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome.

A religious order moved into the northern third of the Colosseum in the midth century [26] and continued to inhabit it until as late as the early 19th century.

During the 16th and 17th century, Church officials sought a productive role for the Colosseum. Pope Sixtus V — planned to turn the building into a wool factory to provide employment for Rome's prostitutes, though this proposal fell through with his premature death.

He forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross , declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who perished there see Significance in Christianity.

However, there is no historical evidence to support Benedict's claim, nor is there even any evidence that anyone before the 16th century suggested this might be the case; the Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that there are no historical grounds for the supposition, other than the reasonably plausible conjecture that some of the many martyrs may well have been.

Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects, removing the extensive vegetation which had overgrown the structure and threatened to damage it further.

The arena substructure was partly excavated in — and and was fully exposed under Benito Mussolini in the s. The Colosseum is today one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions, receiving millions of visitors annually.

In recent years, the Colosseum has become a symbol of the international campaign against capital punishment, which was abolished in Italy in Several anti—death penalty demonstrations took place in front of the Colosseum in Since that time, as a gesture against the death penalty, the local authorities of Rome change the color of the Colosseum's night time illumination from white to gold whenever a person condemned to the death penalty anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released, [29] or if a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty.

Most recently, the Colosseum was illuminated in gold in November following the abolishment of capital punishment in the American state of Connecticut in April Because of the ruined state of the interior, it is impractical to use the Colosseum to host large events; only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated in temporary seating.

However, much larger concerts have been held just outside, using the Colosseum as a backdrop. Unlike earlier Greek theatres that were built into hillsides, the Colosseum is an entirely free-standing structure.

It derives its basic exterior and interior architecture from that of two Roman theatres back to back. The outer wall is estimated to have required over , cubic metres 3,, cubic feet of travertine stone which were set without mortar; they were held together by tons of iron clamps.

The north side of the perimeter wall is still standing; the distinctive triangular brick wedges at each end are modern additions, having been constructed in the early 19th century to shore up the wall.

The remainder of the present-day exterior of the Colosseum is in fact the original interior wall. The arcades are framed by half-columns of the Doric , Ionic , and Corinthian orders, while the attic is decorated with Corinthian pilasters.

Two hundred and forty mast corbels were positioned around the top of the attic. They originally supported a retractable awning , known as the velarium , that kept the sun and rain off spectators.

This consisted of a canvas-covered, net-like structure made of ropes, with a hole in the center.

Sailors, specially enlisted from the Roman naval headquarters at Misenum and housed in the nearby Castra Misenatium , were used to work the velarium.

The Colosseum's huge crowd capacity made it essential that the venue could be filled or evacuated quickly. Its architects adopted solutions very similar to those used in modern stadiums to deal with the same problem.

The amphitheatre was ringed by eighty entrances at ground level, 76 of which were used by ordinary spectators. The northern main entrance was reserved for the Roman Emperor and his aides, whilst the other three axial entrances were most likely used by the elite.

All four axial entrances were richly decorated with painted stucco reliefs, of which fragments survive. Spectators were given tickets in the form of numbered pottery shards, which directed them to the appropriate section and row.

They accessed their seats via vomitoria singular vomitorium , passageways that opened into a tier of seats from below or behind.

These quickly dispersed people into their seats and, upon conclusion of the event or in an emergency evacuation, could permit their exit within only a few minutes.

The name vomitoria derived from the Latin word for a rapid discharge, from which English derives the word vomit. According to the Codex-Calendar of , the Colosseum could accommodate 87, people, although modern estimates put the figure at around 50, They were seated in a tiered arrangement that reflected the rigidly stratified nature of Roman society.

Special boxes were provided at the north and south ends respectively for the Emperor and the Vestal Virgins , providing the best views of the arena.

Flanking them at the same level was a broad platform or podium for the senatorial class, who were allowed to bring their own chairs.

The names of some 5th century senators can still be seen carved into the stonework, presumably reserving areas for their use.

The tier above the senators, known as the maenianum primum , was occupied by the non-senatorial noble class or knights equites.

The next level up, the maenianum secundum , was originally reserved for ordinary Roman citizens plebeians and was divided into two sections.

The lower part the immum was for wealthy citizens, while the upper part the summum was for poor citizens. Specific sectors were provided for other social groups: for instance, boys with their tutors, soldiers on leave, foreign dignitaries, scribes, heralds, priests and so on.

Stone and later marble seating was provided for the citizens and nobles, who presumably would have brought their own cushions with them.

Inscriptions identified the areas reserved for specific groups. Another level, the maenianum secundum in legneis , was added at the very top of the building during the reign of Domitian.

This comprised a gallery for the common poor, slaves and women. It would have been either standing room only, or would have had very steep wooden benches.

Emperors traditionally attended the games. The emperor Commodus is known to have performed in the arena on hundreds of occasions. Aside from the games, the Colosseum also hosted dramas, reenactments, and even public executions.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Colosseum began to deteriorate. A series of earthquakes during the fifth century A.

By the 20th century, nearly two-thirds of the original building had been destroyed. Nevertheless, a restoration project began in the s to repair the Colosseum.

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. National Geographic Society. You can buy the Rome Colosseum tickets from the official Colosseum tours website.

Why Was The Colosseum Built? How Old Is The Colosseum? Why Is The Colosseum Broken? Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus built the Roman Colosseum.

The Colosseum is elliptical in shape and covers an area of 24,meter square, which covers a land of 6 acres.

There are 80 entrances to this structure. It can accommodate an audience of 50, people. During the times when the Colosseum has used , people and thousands of wild animals lost their lives during the hunting and gladiator games.

It took 10 years to build the Colosseum. Stones and materials from the Colosseum were used to build St.

The Flavian amphitheater was the original name of the Colosseum. The set also comes with six minifigures and a pink convertible.

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