The Colosseum, inaugurated in 80 AD, was the largest amphitheater situated in the center of the city of Rome, Italy. The construction work started in AD 72 and was accomplished in AD 80. The site is situated the east of the Roman Forum. The building is also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. Titus, the son of Vespasian, officially opened the Colosseum. The building was intended to make a difference in the relationship between the supremacy and people. It was primarily used for fights of gladiators, hunts, and wild animals’ battles. The overall capacity of the building is supposed to be around 60,000 people.
The structure was made of concrete and stone. The exterior of the building had four stories with curved entry-points, which were 80 altogether supported by crescent columns. In the first three stories, each had a total of 80 eighty arches, which were decorated orderly with engaged Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns.The spectators can easily find their assigned seats by looking at the Seventy-six arches that are respectively numbered in suitable order.An attic, the fourth story, an attic, has Corinthian columns outlining coves that alternate between windows and large decorative shields of gold-plated bronze, which were additionally placed by Domitian, the brother of Titus.
The Colosseum offers to seat for more than 50,000 viewers particularly watching sports. Thus, the building was regarded as the stadium where bloody battles take place. It was entertaining for the Romans to watch these fights and witness killing of someone. The site was popular for gladiator combats, in which men used to fight with other men or with wild animals. The gladiators were generally prisoners of battles, or criminals and slaves. The number of male gladiators was higher than the females. The audience used to watch all the fights as an entertaining sport. In a single day, many contests were staged. These games were discontinued by the principles of Christianity that stood against the acts that included the death of humans. The Arch of Constantine, a 25-meter tall memorial built in AD 315 in tribute of Constantine 1’s triumph over Maxentius at Pons Milvius, is located outside the Colosseum.
In the late sixteen century, Pope Sixtus V, the builder of Renaissance Rome, had a plan of transforming the Colosseum into a wool factory. As per his plan, the arena floor was suitable for conducting workshops and the upper stories could be used as living quarters. However, the projects failed after the death of him in 1590.
At present, the Colosseum is one of major tourist destinations. About 6 million tourist from all around the world visit the place in a year. The site was included in “One of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World” as on 7 July, 2007. The building has suffered terribly from earthquakes, lootings, and from world war-2. However, the site still survived for the generations to depict the history of Rome that bring the visitors back to experience the way of life in the Roman Empire.
