The Colosseum remains to be one of the largest amphitheaters of the ancient world. Located at east of the Roman forum, was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre after the dynastic name of the Emperor (Welch 24). It was commissioned around AD70-72 by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to the Roman people. The Colosseum was officially opened by Titus Vespasian, son and named it the Flavian Amphitheater where games were played in a hundred days including gladiator combat and wild animal fighting (Kuntz 45). This Roman structure remains to be one of the biggest Tourist attractions in the Roman history. However, the structures involved in the construction of the Amphitheater are all in connection with the outside world and the history of Rome in general. This document discusses on the details of the structures in the Colosseum and how they are connected to its users, culture and history of the Roman Empire and also how it is connected to the space around it.
Reason for building the Colosseum
Emperor Vespasian was the person behind the whole idea of building the Colosseum. This idea of building the Colosseum started after the rule of an infamous emperor known as Nero. After the great fire of Rome of 64 AD, many structures had been destroyed and wrecked almost the whole city including the Amphitheater of Statilius Taurus, and another wooden amphitheater is known as Amphitheatrum Neronis. Nero had appropriated a prime land and built himself a Colossal palace with a lake and gardens which were famously known as Domus Aurea, which is a Latin name meaning a Golden house, Since the death of Nero, the morale of Roman citizen and the confidence they had towards the Flavian family was at an all-time low. Vespasian had to assure the firm leadership of the Flavian family by getting back the support of the Roman people. By doing this, he constructed a fabulous and the biggest amphitheater in the Roman world for housing free Gladiator games and other entertainment in order to amuse the people at the same time destroy the palace of Nero (Lancaster 456).
Architecture behind the Colosseum
The Roman Colosseum being an Amphitheater could hold up to 50000 spectators and empty within ten minutes. In the arena, people were separated according to their social class and were divided into three levels which represent the social classes in Rome. The lower level which was the closest to the arena was majorly reserved for the senators and the emperor himself. It was also reserved for the wealthy people who also included the Patricians. The Second level is where the majority of the people sat; it was reserved for the middle class who were also called the Plebeians. Most of these people were farmers and artisans. Slaves and women stood up in the last level of the amphitheater which was the furthest to the arena floor. This level was mainly reserved for the poor people in the society and the weak (Lancaster 457).
Colosseum was a massive structure occupying six acres of land from one end to the other, 620 feet long, 513 feet in terms of width, and over 160 feet in terms of height. Since the structure was so big, it would be difficult to fill in people in the arena. But this challenge was overcome by construction of arches and many staircases and ways leading to the seats. This technology in construction made it even possible to clear the arena for less than ten minutes. Underneath the seats there existed labyrinth of corridors and staircases that extended to the second and the third levels. In total, there were 80 archways, but only 76 could be used by the general public. The remaining four arches were mainly reserved for the emperor and his family. This made the Colosseum be an arena with unique designs.
The Roman amphitheater was recognizably different in nature from other amphitheaters in Rome. This is mainly because of its shape. Most of the amphitheaters in Rome were traditionally circular in nature but for the Colosseum, it was oval or elliptical in shape. This shape was to enable all the spectators in the Amphitheatre to carefully watch and have a good view of the activities that are taking place on the arena floor (Lancaster 456).
In the early life of the Colosseum after construction, there existed no floor, and all the events were happening on the ground and later, a new floor was added in the field. The floor was wooden containing support poles. Each support pole had a hole which enabled the poles to be upright and firm, although the poles could be removed in case of special occasions for example in the case of Sea battles. After some few years, a new floor was constructed made of stone poles and the wooden floor although it had already rotten away. After installation of the new floor the architects saw it better to give an effect of the original floor and by doing this, they covered it all with sand (Kuntz 65).
Beneath the floor, there were individual rooms and passageways where the participants got ready. The slaves would elevate people and animal by use of elevators to trap doors on the floor of the arena. Many people were amazed by this technology since people never saw what was happening beneath the floor and gave them an illusion that people appeared from nowhere.
Construction of the Colosseum
The Colosseum was built right at the Centre of Rome to ensure maximum access to many people around the city. This amphitheater was built on a twenty feet lake-bed. In order to provide a strong foundation and stability of the amphitheater, slaves had to remove up to 30000 tons of soil from the lake-bed. The reason behind this was that the structure was so big, and it needed to be forty feet deep in order to be strong and stable. Right after that new technology of construction had to be introduced by adding concrete. It was a mixture of a blend of high volcanic material (known as pozzolana) with rubble, sand and a mix of lime. Concrete was poured by the construction forepersons into the trenches where the colosseum would later be. Bricks retaining walls were added in order to maintain the weight of the Colosseum after the clay was dry.Afterwards, stonemasons started getting challenges during construction since as they approached the first level, the clay was not strong enough to support the colosseum (Kuntz 135). In response to this, they had to, and stone bricks into the clay and pour concrete around them in order to make it stronger and create a stable foundation. After all these activities had been done, the basement of the Colosseum was fully completed. This is where the participants used to get ready to any events (Welch 68).
The next step after the podium was the construction of the rostrum. The podium was a special spot in the amphitheater which was preserved purpose for the Government officials and the most prominent people in Rome such us the dignitaries, senators and the emperor himself. The podium contained three layers of travertine stone which were attached together by bronze. When the bronze dried up, it acted as cement. The colosseum contained seven layers in it which were also known as piers. The outermost layer was known as the pier one was the tallest column in the colosseum. The Façade, which is an ornate wall on the front of the building, was significantly supported by these columns. The seventh pier which was the shortest was the closest to the arena. Pier one, two, three, six and seven were made of arches which would allow people to leave the amphitheatre in about ten minutes. Second, sixth and seventh tier were made of travertine stone. Third, fourth and fifth tier were made of tufa which was also used in the construction of the radial wall. The radial wall was able to support the weight of its spectators and also the weight of the Colosseum
With no doubt, the Colosseum was a state of the art structure of its time. This is because it contained toilets and fountains which were connected to a system popularly known as aqueducts. There was also need to support the weight of the amphitheater. The principal method used by the Romans to support this weight is by applying the technology of arches where it was applied in many parts of the Colosseum including the corridors.The arches are one of the best technologies used in building the Colosseum, which has now been implemented in many buildings and construction in our modern world.
Effects of the Colosseum to the culture and well-being of the people of Rome.
Being one of the best and most praised structure to the population of Rome, the Colosseum remains to be one of the best gifts that the emperor could have given to his people.The colosseum served to change people's life in Rome in the following ways.
Games were imperative activities in the culture of the Roman people. By constructing the Colosseum, the emperor was able to satisfy and maximise the cultural activities of the Roman people. The games included gladiator fights, animal shows and events in which condemned prisoners were put to death. As many people would think, games held in the arena were inhuman, wicked and cruel. But according to the Romans, this was part and person of their entertainment. In connection with the games, Romans viewed the gladiatorial facilities as gifts from the emperor. This scenario is evident when praises were sung to the emperor on the good job he had done while other Romans described that the God and Goddess of mar and Venus serve the emperor.
According to the Roman culture, the gladiator fight proved to be a means of good offering to the people. Through the gladiator fights, people were even held as a tribute in funerals. It acted as a missed pleasure whenever the beasts never arrived at the Colosseum. They believed whenever the beast came late, they died because of the epidemic and never blamed anyone
Wild beats were also involved in the amphitheatre games. According to the Romans, wild beast games were essential for the eradication of wildebeest population. Wild beast acted as a threat to the community since they had harmed many people. Through the introduction of wild beast games in the amphitheatre, served as a source of pride to the emperor since even at times, the emperor had to kill the wild beast himself in order to show his service to the people (Lancaster 456).
The joy of an individual in any given society is to have a feeling of safety and security. This was also met through the construction of the Colosseum. Many prisoner, criminals and wrong doers met their fate in the Colosseum. The punishment meted out in the amphitheatre was meted out to be appropriate by the Romans. Criminals were punished in front of everyone in the crowd, and this ensured that law and order were maintained in Rome and also acted as an assurance to the people that criminal was punished for their crimes. However, the criminals had the an option to free themselves by fighting with a lot of courage and bravery. Also, the people had the freedom to declare a condemned prisoner free even if the privilege has not been granted by the emperor. This brought a sense of democracy among the people and satisfaction in their lives. Although, not all gladiators fighting were prisoners. Some of them were professional fighters. Most of the people became professional fighters in order to attract fame and had more women in their lives.
Actions inside the arena ensured excitement among the people. Although many people detested the actions and events that were happening on the floor of the arena and terming them as wicked, people still got engaged by the mob and found themselves enjoying the games. This is evident from the story of ST Augustine, who was narrating a story of a man who was against the games in the amphitheatre. But due to mob tendency, he got to engage and found himself enjoying the games. This was the kind of the same feeling that many people had while watching the events in the Colosseum.
In conclusion, the Colosseum hosts million of visitors around the globe annually, many visitors with a limited time in visiting Rome, capture all information by visiting this monument. The Colosseum is not just a monument that the Romans take pride in but also its physical presence. The colosseum has always remained to be constant in representing the aspect of the city and its image despite the ever changing conditions of the structure(Lancaster 456).
Works Cited
Kuntz, Lynn. The Roman Colosseum. [San Diego, Calif.]: KidHaven Press, 2005. Print.
Lancaster, Lynne C. "The Colosseum for the General Public". Journal of Roman Archaeology 20 (2007): 454-459. Print.
Lancaster, Lynne C. "The Process of Building the Colosseum: The Site, Materials, and Construction Techniques". Journal of Roman Archaeology 18 (2005): 57-82. Print.
Pearson, John. Arena. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973. Print.
Welch, Katherine E. The Roman Amphitheatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.
