Coliseum essays

Coliseum essays The Coliseum was first called the Flavian Ampitheatre, after the men who built it. The builders were emperors Vespasian and Titus. The building of the Coliseum began around 70 A.D. The ampitheartre probably got the name Coliseum because a colossal statue of Nero which stood near it. The Coliseum was finally finished in 80 A.D. It seated over 50,000 people. The opening of the Coliseum was marked by 100 days of games, in which thousands of animals and gladiators were killed. Sometimes, the floors were taken out and were flooded in order to stage naval battles, even though these battles were mostly held in large basins. There were eighty entrances to the Coliseum, and the emperor had his own special one which lead to his box seat. From his seat, he was able to decide the fate of the gladiators who fought in the arena. The floor of the arena was wooden and covered with sand. Beneath the wooden boards and sand was a maze of passageways, and spaces to hold animals while they werent being used. There was an elevator used to carry the animals from the basement to the arena floor. The passageways underneath the floors can still be seen today. They had a special way of seating all 50,000 people in about 15 minutes. What they did was that each person picked a ticket before the game. Each ticket corresponded with one of the eighty entrances, which were all marked. Each ticket also had a row and seat number on it. There were upper class seats, which were made of marble, which was where the senators and rich people sat. There was also a lower class seats, which were made up of wooden benches. This seating arrangement is still used today from bullfights in Spain to baseball games in America. ...