BackgroundThe Colosseum is a amphitheater built by the romans and was commissioned back in A.
D 70-72 by Emperor Vespasian’s son Titus of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled Rome from A.D. 69 to A.D.
96. The Flavians rose to power after a civil war in A.D.
69. After around a decade of building the Colosseum it was opened to the public by Titus. After the opening of the colosseum 100 days of games followed. It was located in the middle of Rome just east of the Roman forum.The Colosseum ArchitectureThe Colosseum itself measured 157 feet in height and 1788 feet in perimeter which is equivalent to 47 metres by 546 metres and could easily fit a football pitch in it. It was the largest Roman amphitheater with the central arena measuring 55m by 87m.
Unlike other earlier amphitheaters, which had to be dug into the side of a hill, to help support it the Colosseum was a freestanding structure made mainly of stone and concrete. The main building had 4 stories each with 80 arches on each floor and in total could hold up to 50,000 spectators. At the time it was one of the biggest amphitheaters built in its time. The architecture of the Colosseum was some of the best of the Roman time. With grand statue filled arches, on the top floor small rectangular windows and Corinthian pillars.
In total there were 80 entrances, 63 of those were for the general public to use and were also used for ticketing. Two of them were used for the gladiators to use. One was named Porta Libitina the Roman goddess of death and was used to remove the dead gladiators from the Colosseum. The other one was the door that the victorious gladiators, that were allowed to live, used and finally the last few doors were used by cleaning staff, security, general maintenance and the Emperor’s personal door.
