We all know about the gladiators who fought and died in the Colosseum arena for the amusement of the vast crowds but what about the actual building itself and it's many uses over four and a half centuries.
Located in the heart of Rome the Colosseum was the largest Amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire and one of the greatest works of Roman architecture with the building standing over 160 ft high and covering six acres.
Funded by a vast quantity of treasure seized by the Romans after their victory in the Great Jewish Revolt in 70AD the Colosseum was a monument built to remember past victories and a symbol of the wealth and power of the Roman Empire.
Construction of the Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheatre as it was originally known began in 70-72AD under the emperor Vespasian. He chose the Colosseum site which was previously an artificial lake as a gesture of returning an area of the peoples city which Nero had previously appropriated for his own use when he was in reign a decade before. Sadly Vespasian died just one year before his idea and creation was completed.
Titus, Vespian's son and successor completed the construction in 80AD when it was officially opened having finished the top level. It took 10years to build, a remarkably quick process in those times due to the first use of concrete along with stone and marble.
Modifications were made during Domitian's reign who was Vespasian's youngest son; he had a series of underground tunnels constructed (hypogeum) which were used to house slaves and animals. He also wanted to increase the seating capacity so a gallery was added to the top of the structure. A fire caused by lightening 140 years later would destroy the wooden seating area of the top level.
It is thought that 50,000 spectators could enter and be seated in the Colosseum in just 15 minutes. The Romans invented tickets and assigned seating just like we have today in football stadiums, each person would have a ticket with a number that corresponded with which arch to enter through, the level they were to be seated at and a seat number.
The Colosseum is well known for its sporting gladiatorial contests but other public spectacles and drama shows were also held here including mock sea battles (although this has been the subject of some debate amongst historians How was the arena waterproofed?) , re-enactments of famous battles, executions, dramas based on Classical mythology. Often for the shows, a simulation would be created, such as a forest with real trees and bushes planted in the arena's floor. Animal hunts were also held where wild beasts including giraffes, elephants and zebras were imported from Africa and the Middle East. Trap doors were added as a gimmick which the crowds loved; one would suddenly spring open to release a lion ready to attack whoever was in the arena.
The Colosseum lasted as a sport and drama amphitheatre for 500 years. There are records of the arena being used to hold contests well into the 6th Century with gladiatorial fights last mentioned in 435AD with the fall of Rome happening in 476AD. Animal hunts and dramas continued for another century until at least 523AD.
It was not until the medieval era that the Colosseum was no longer used for entertainment; instead it became home for a variety of places from workshops to a fortress, even a Christian shrine and quarry.
It was at this time that the name Colosseum started to be used instead of Amphitheatre Flavio. It started as a nickname because of a bronze statue of Nero which stood nearby named Colossus. The statue was 38metres high - Gigantic or colossal as was the amphitheatre!
By the late 6th century a small church had been built into the structure of the amphitheatre with the arena used as a cemetery.
The great earthquake of 1349 caused the outer south side to collapse with much of the fallen stone used to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings in Rome.
In the mid-14th century a religious order moved into the northern third of the Colosseum and continued to inhabit it until the 1800s.
During the 16th and 17th centuries church officials wanted to turn the derelict building into something useful. Pope Sixtus V planned to turn the Colosseum into a wool factory but the idea was never followed through after his death in 1590. Some years later in 1671 Cardinal Altieri authorized its use for bullfights but a public outcry caused the idea to be hastily abandoned.
In the mid 18th century, in 1749, Pope Benedict XIV declared the coliseum as a sacred site. He forbade the quarrying and erected Stations of the Cross around the arena which remained until 1874.
Today the Colosseum is a tourist attraction and has become a symbol of the international campaign against capital punishment, the death penalty. It was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
The north side of the outer wall still stands with 31 of the original 80 entrances although the inside is in a state of ruin with the wooden arena floor removed so that visitors can see into the underground area. Amazingly the cobblestones around the Colosseum which millions of tourists walk on every day are the same stones that the ancient Romans walked on over 1,920 years ago.