Introduction
As quoted by Lord Byron, when the Colosseum stands, Rome stands, and when the Colosseum falls, Rome falls and when Rome falls the world falls. This shows how the Colosseum was of great importance and iconic in nature of the people in Rome. It has remained to be the largest and the best-preserved amphitheaters in the history of Rome. Though other amphitheaters are well preserved, are currently used for purposes of modern entertainment, for example art galleries, sports and holding concerts. Games and entertainment activities were of great importance to the people and were used as a way of uniting people together which brought about the need for construction of amphitheaters. According to the history of Rome, Kings and Emperors used these activities as a means of gaining power and popularity among the people which saw the Flavian dynasty getting into power through the construction of the current day Colosseum. As compared to other amphitheaters the Colosseum has remained to be the only amphitheater with spectacular features and of great importance to the people of Rome. Throughout this paper, the discussion will be based on the striking aspects of the Colosseum that makes it stand out as compared to the other amphitheaters that existed before the Colosseum.
History of Amphitheaters in the Roman world
After a research done by a famous Historian by the name Livy, show that theatrical activities began with forms of dances accompanied by musical activities which were introduced in the city by Etruscans in 364 B.C. The earliest form of literary records that existed in Rome was Atellanae and Phylakes.
Livius Andronicus introduced the first scripted plays in 240 B.C. Though this Genus was highly appreciated in the city of Rome, most of the people were more interested with famous spectacles that occurred in the history of Rome. Major dramatic spectacles were mainly occasioned during religious festivals and were elected by law officers and financed from the government coffers. Since plays and performances were performed in impermanent timber erections envisioned to last for a limited time. This created a need for a perpetual theater which could serve more people and stand for a very long time. This led to the construction of the foist theater in Rome that was known as Theatre of Pompey constructed by one of Caesar’s biggest opponent, Pompey the great ("Theater and Amphitheater in the Roman World | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art").
Aspects of the Colosseum that make it different and most important from the other Amphitheaters
Colosseum as a symbol of power
As compared to other amphitheaters, the Colosseum acted as a symbol of power to the Roman state. This is evident through the games that were played in the Colosseum, which included gladiator fights and bloodshed. They perceived that there was a need for violence in order to gain power and popularity. Many amphitheaters that existed in Rome were mainly constructed for purposes of political activities which was quite different from the Colosseum since it acted as more of social ground for the people. Due to this, it was popularly termed as ‘Emperor -Worship’. According to John Pearson, compared to any other building that existed in Rome, Colosseum remains to be a symbol of power and sense of order in the regime that existed in the Roman Empire (Pearson)
Colosseum and Religion
Although it is believed that Christians were at the forefront in the destruction of the Colosseum, they believed the Colosseum to be one of their holiest places due to the martyrs who died in the Arena. Though there is no viable evidence to support it, it is found out that some of the martyrs died in other amphitheaters. It is also believed that those Christians killed in the Colosseum was mainly due to other reasons but not because of their belief and faith in Christian religion. Due to the numerous executions of Christians, many people were troubled and viewed it as brutal and immoral while those convicted encouraged some individuals to join Christianity. As Christian religion became a big influence among the people in Rome, their attention was diverted from martyrdom to religious center. Due to this fact, they began construction of churches inside the Colosseum. For example, in the 16th century, Carlo Fontana was hired to build a church by Pope Innocent IX inside the Colosseum. Although a plan was formulated, the church was not built due to lack of financial resources. Also, in the 17th century pope, Clement XI wanted to transform the Colosseum into a religious site. Due to this fact, he began planning for construction of a church but failed due to the constraints of war. Therefore, many Romans considered the Colosseum to be a religious site.
The Colosseum and its structural design
As compared to other amphitheaters the Colosseum had a larger sitting capacity of 50000 spectators. However, in the previous amphitheaters, for example, Amphitheater of El Djem, Verona Arena, Pula Arena, Pompeii Spectacular and others could not hold more than 30000 spectators. As far as crowd management was concerned, the Colosseum was designed in such a way there will be no any form of overcrowding as people entered or exited the amphitheater. This was enabled through the construction of many entrances and exits that used a minimum of ten minutes to handle the whole crowd as thy entered or went out of the stadium ("Colosseum / Architecture")
The technology used in the Colosseum was way much better as compared to other amphitheaters. This is evident through the technology used in lifting animals and gladiators from the basement to the floor of the arena. People could not understand where the animals originated from at the beginning of the fights, and this fascinated them a lot.
Considering the shape of amphitheaters that previously existed in Rome, the shape of the Colosseum stood out to be different from the rest. The Colosseum was elliptical in shape in order to give the audience a better view of the activities taking place in the arena. This was not the case in other amphitheaters which were mostly circular in shape.
Conclusion
Works cited
Colosseum / Architecture. Colosseum.pbworks.com. 2016. Web. http://colosseum.pbworks.com/w/page/16155807/Architecture
Pearson, J. Arena. 1973. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Theater and Amphitheater in the Roman World | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2016). The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Web. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tham/hd_tham.htm
