Colosseum Research Paper

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The Colosseum, located just east of the Roman Forum, commissioned in A.D. 72-80 by Emperor Vespasian. Vespasian was a part of the Flavian dynasty and had the massive amphitheater constructed as a gift to the Roman people. The structure is made of concrete, travertine, tufa, brick, and marble and is approximately 615 x 510 ft. Titus Vespasian’s son opened the Colosseum in A.D. 80 and it was officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater. Similar to our modern day sports arena, the Colosseum was built mainly for public entertainment and when it opened Titus gave his people the biggest show they had ever seen. The event lasted one hundred days and was filled with gladiatorial combats, wild animal fights, and hunts.
The Colosseum was the largest amphitheater ever built in Rome. Many of the early amphitheaters had been dug into hillsides to provide suitable support, but unlike theses past amphitheaters the Colosseum was a detached structure that was strong enough to hold its own weight up. The theatres …show more content…

Though in all reality they were most likely packed into their seats like sardines in a can and had to make the best of the conditions. Canopies were unfolded from the top story in order to shield the audience from the hot sun as they watched the day’s events. On special occasions there would be some type of nautical show put on, in which the arena needed to be flooded for. This meant the theatre had some sort of drainage system underneath the theatre in order to get rid of the water used for the day’s events. This can very well be true because the theatre is located on a pond formerly on the previous emperor’s Nero’s property. The Colosseum was put to good use for four centuries until ongoing change in community tastes and the struggles of the Roman Empire put an end to public entertainment by the 6th century

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