Roman Colosseum Research Paper

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The Roman Colosseum was a spectacularly built amphitheater, with monumental architecture and size. Even though the Colosseum was created more than 1500 years ago, it is still the largest amphitheater in the world. The height of it measures almost 150 feet, with four different stories (www.ancient.eu). The building, also, has some of the most unique and ancient architecture in the entire world. Rectangular windows line each floor of the Colosseum, which used to hold statues or vegetation. Pillars and arches were built between each window to provide better support. Since the Roman Colosseum is an amphitheater, it contained over 87,000 seats, circling around it (www.the-colosseum.net). Over time the Roman Colosseum has evolved throughout history. …show more content…

The Roman Colosseum was built around the year of 70 AD, so a large force of labor was hard to come by, and Romans had no modern machinery. The Colosseum, in fact, was built by the force of 27,000 men (www.history.com). Historians, today, have concluded from records that the Roman Colosseum took only 6-8 years to construct. Even today, this would be considered a great endeavor, considering the amphitheater's large mass and architectural detail (Cartwright). Also, nothing like the Colosseum had ever been successfully constructed before. Many theaters and amphitheaters before had been built into the side of cliffs or mountains for support. The Colosseum was free-standing, so the architect and designers had to build in several supports or weather resistors (www.ancient.eu). Not only was the Roman Colosseum difficult to build, but it was also expensive. The exact price of the Colosseum is unknown, but historians estimate that it would cost over $1 billion today (this does not include the cost of the marble and other …show more content…

During the era of the Roman Empire the Roman leader: Vespasian wanted to create a gift for the people of Rome to enjoy. The Colosseum was created by him so that the public could enjoy gladiator battles and other spectacles. When it was first opened, it was celebrated with 100 days of gladiator battles (www.history.com). It is estimated that about 80,000 could be seated in the Colosseum, to watch the hosted entertainment. Both the rich and poor could attend the shows at the Colosseum (www.history.com). Besides gladiator battles, the Roman Colosseum also hosted entertainment using animals and animal battles. To make battles more exotic, Romans would gather unique animals from all corners of Rome’s territory. Some of these animals included wild boar, male deer, and even lions; usually gladiators would fight or train the animals, but sometimes the animals would perform (www.tributesandtriumphs.org). The Colosseum was used to entertain the public for almost 400 years after it was constructed. When the Roman Empire fell, the Colosseum was no longer used to entertain the public; instead, it was used for constructing small projects. After many centuries of neglect, Italy put into action of preserving it. Today, it is a very popular tourist site for people all over the world

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