The Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum, is one of the most spectacular architectural monuments of the ancient world. Built in the first century AD, it is widely known as the site of blood sports entertainment involving gladiators, wild animals and more. But as one of the best preserved and most iconic structures of ancient Rome, it remains an enduring monument to one of the Roman Empire’s most influential dynasties and a marvel of architecture and engineering. .
After Vespasian became Roman Emperor in AD 69, his Flavian dynasty – which included his sons, Titus and Domitian – began a massive building program to restore Rome, which had been ravaged by fire, plague and civil war. . During the 27-year reign of the Flavian dynasty, he renovated buildings, statues and monuments throughout the city. In AD 70, Vespasian ordered the construction of the new amphitheater in the city center, financed with spoils from the Roman siege of Jerusalem during the First Jewish-Roman War. The Colosseum, dedicated 10 years later, served as a dramatic political symbol of the city’s resurgence.
It was also a marvel of innovative architecture and engineering, the largest and most complex permanent amphitheater in the ancient world. Composed mostly of concrete, 3.5 million cubic feet of travertine, and similar amounts of marble, stone, and wood, the Colosseum stood 157 feet (about the height of a 15-story building), with an estimated capacity of 50,000 to 80,000 people.
“The Colosseum…was part of a complex of buildings that Vespasian and his sons were constructing across Rome as part of a larger program to erase [their predecessor] Nero’s stamp on the city and to defend his own achievements,” says Nathan Elkins, associate director of the American Numismatic Society and author of Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome’s Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It. At his consecration, Titus presided over over 100 days of games, which included gladiatorial combat and animal entertainment.
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The Colosseum reinforced Rome’s social hierarchy
The builders sited the Colosseum on the site of Nero’s domain, Domus Aurea, which featured an artificial lake and a 98-foot bronze statue of himself, the Colossus of Nero. They filled in the lake to build the Colosseum, which takes its name from its proximity to the statue. When Nero committed suicide in AD 68, Vespasian, one of his generals, rose to power after a civil war.
Building the Colosseum offered the Flavian dynasty a clever way to satisfy the tenets of the rigid social hierarchy of Roman society, Elkins explains. Nero had made his domain accessible to all, but the senators did not like the access he allowed common people to the center of the city. “But in building this massive amphitheater, [Vespasian and his sons] make this area a place of public entertainment with games and also use it to reinforce the Roman social order with hierarchical seats,” says Elkins.
In the Colosseum, social status, wealth and gender determined where people sat. The best seats, closest to the arena, were reserved for the Emperor and the senatorial nobility. Above them was the equestrian order, former members of the cavalry who had become established merchants, craftsmen and bureaucrats. Above them, in the nosebleed seats, sat the remaining 95 percent of Rome’s population: women, foreigners, and impoverished and enslaved Romans.
To facilitate the orderly flow of people throughout the structure, the builders gave the Colosseum four entrances for political and religious leaders and 76 for ordinary citizens. Corridors separated the social groups from each other, preventing spectators from moving freely inside the structure. But while seating was not equal for all Roman citizens, the Colosseum’s elliptical architecture gave everyone a view of the action on the arena floor.
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The architectural significance of the Colosseum
Gladiators, animals and soldiers, who engaged in all types of combat inside the Colosseum, were transported from the arena’s substructure via a complex system of elevators, trapdoors and pulleys. The amphitheater could even be flooded to allow naval reenactments.
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Throughout ancient Rome, most amphitheaters were built as temporary wooden structures for gladiatorial games and other amusements. The earliest known permanent amphitheater – a stone structure built for some 20,000 spectators – dates from 80 BCE in Pompeii.
The architect of the Colosseum remains unknown. “The shape of the Colosseum is deeply linked to earlier structures used to entertain crowds, such as Greek theaters,” art historian Peter Louis Bonfitto wrote in his book. World Architecture and Society: From Stonehenge to One World Trade Center. Its grand design employs an impressive series of columns, arches and barrel vaults.
The Colosseum’s greatest innovation, Elkins says, was its use of concrete. “The concrete construction is really what allows the Colosseum to be built,” he said. “It was probably the most widespread use of engineering and construction with concrete at that time.”
According to contemporary engineers, the Colosseum remains standing after 2,000 years due to its solid concrete foundation. Building in a wetland near the Tiber, with poor soil conditions, required builders to dig a deep, solid foundation to stabilize the structure, according to Engineering Rome, a University of Washington program that explores Roman engineering. and Italian.
It also featured other innovations, including a sophisticated drainage system used to siphon water used to stage mock naval battles in the arena. Sailors were employed to operate a retractable overhead awning, which could be rolled down to protect spectators from rain or the scorching heat of Rome. The intricate network of chambers and tunnels under the arena floor, called the hypogeum, housed props, scenery, and participants when not in action. And the amphitheater’s ingenious system of trapdoors, pulleys and elevators facilitated spectacular entrances for sets and fighters, even allowing elephants to appear as if they came from nowhere.
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Who actually built the Colosseum and how was it funded?
Although it is not known how much it cost to build the Colosseum in ancient times, many scholars believe that the Colosseum was partly funded by the spoils taken by Roman soldiers during the empire’s raid on the temple. of Jerusalem during the First Roman-Jewish War which ended in AD 70 An inscription at the Colosseum reads: Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus ordered the new amphitheater to be built from (proceeds from the sale of) booty.
For generations, the conventional wisdom has been that the work to build the Colosseum was done by 100,000 Jewish slaves captured during the siege of Jerusalem, but Elkins isn’t entirely convinced. “That’s the kind of thing the Romans could do to add insult to injury,” Elkins said. “Not only do you sell them as slaves, but you make them build something that is funded by the destruction of their temple.”
But the claim, he says, is not supported by an ancient source. “It’s from a 20earchaeologist of the last century, and this has been repeated over and over again. A significant amount of slaves would have been used, but we are not 100% sure where those slaves came from.
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The legacy of the Colosseum
Besides functioning as a window to ancient Rome and its social structure, the Colosseum is also the father of all modern outdoor sports stadiums. The Colosseum’s use of arches to support the structure, the elliptical shape, and the organizational system used to control the entry and exit of supporters based on their seating locations are basic elements of the most modern stadiums.
