by Giuseppe Longo
You cannot argue that the Coliseum is the most famous and impressive monument of Ancient Rome. Its original name is Flavian Amphitheatre. Originally capable of seating 45,000-50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. The site of the Coliseum was built and still sits majestically just east of the Roman Forum. The structure is extremely impressive and stands as a glorious but troubling monument to Roman imperial power and cruelty. Inside it, behind those serried ranks of arches and columns, Romans for centuries cold-bloodedly killed literally thousands of people. Most of whom they saw as criminals, but for excitement they also brought in professional fighters and animals. It was the first permanent amphitheater to be built in Rome. Monumental in size and grandeur it became a practical and efficient organization for producing spectacles and controlling the large crowds. Of course that made it one of the great architectural monuments achieved by the ancient Romans.
Coliseum view from the Roman Forum photo by Marcok/Wikipedia
Construction of the Coliseum began under the rule of the Emperor Vespasian in around 70-72. The site chosen was a flat area on the floor of a low valley between the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills. By the 2nd century BC the area was densely inhabited. The Great Fire of Rome devastated it in AD 64, after Nero seized much of the area and added it to his own personal domain. He built the grandiose Domus Aurea, along with an artificial lake surrounded by beautiful pavillions, gardens and porticoes. The Coliseum got its name, because it was built near to where Nero had erected a huge statue, or colossus of himself. It showed him as the god of the sun. At an unheard of 100 feet high, it was the largest gilded bronze statue in antiquity. Later when they moved the statue it took 24 elephants to move it!
The area was transformed under Vespasian and his successors. Although the Colossus was preserved, much of the Domus Aurea was torn down. The lake was filled in and the land reused as the location for the new Flavian Amphitheatre. Vespasian's decision to build the Coliseum on the site of Nero's lake was seen as a gesture to woo the people of Rome. By returning to the people an area of the city he appropriated for his own use, would bring popularity. In contrast to many other amphitheatres, which were located on the outskirts of a city, the Coliseum was constructed in the city center. In effect, it placed it both literally and symbolically at the heart of Rome.
Inside the Roman Coliseum photo by Alex Wieman/Wikipedia
The Coliseum had been completed up to the third story by the time of Vespasian's death in 79. The top level was finished and his son, Titus, inaugurated the building in 80. Dio Cassius recounts that 11,000 wild animals were killed in the one hundred days of celebration that inaugurated the amphitheatre. The building was remodeled further under Vespasian's younger son, the newly designated Emperor Domitian, who constructed the hypogeum, a series of underground tunnels used to house animals and slaves. He also added a gallery to the top of the Coliseum to increase its seating capacity.
In 217, the Coliseum was badly damaged by a major fire (caused by lightning, according to Dio Cassius) that destroyed the wooden upper levels of the amphitheatre's interior. It was not fully repaired until about 240 and underwent further repairs in 250 or 252 and again in 320. The arena was still used for contests well into the 6th century, with gladiatorial fights last mentioned around 435. Animal hunts continued until at least 523.
Gladiator Waiting for Approval for the Kill
The Coliseum underwent several radical changes of use during the medieval period. By the late 6th century a small church had been built into the structure of the amphitheatre. The arena was converted into a cemetery. The numerous vaulted spaces in the arcades under the seating were converted into housing and workshops, and are recorded as still being rented out as late as the 12th century. Around 1200 the Frangipani family took over the Coliseum and fortified it, apparently using it as a castle.
Severe damage was inflicted on the Coliseum by the great earthquake of 1349, causing the outer south side to collapse. Much of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome. A religious order moved into the northern third of the Coliseum in the mid-14th century and continued to inhabit it until as late as the early 19th century. The interior of the amphitheatre was extensively stripped of stone, which was reused elsewhere, or (in the case of the marble facade) was burned to make quicklime. The bronze clamps that held the stonework together was pried or hacked out of the walls, leaving numerous pockmarks, which still scar the building today.
In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV endorsed as official Church policy the view that the Coliseum was a sacred site where early Christians had been martyred. He forbade the use of the Coliseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross. He declared it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who perished there. Later popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects, removing the extensive vegetation, which had overgrown the structure and threatened to damage it further. The facade was reinforced with triangular brick wedges in 1807 and 1827, and the interior was repaired in 1831, 1846 and in the 1930s. The arena substructure was partly excavated in 1810-1814 and 1874 and was fully exposed under Mussolini in the 1930s.
In recent years it has become a symbol of an international campaign against capital punishment, which was abolished in Italy in 1948. Several anti-death penalty demonstrations took place in front of the Coliseum in 2000. Since that time, as a gesture against the death penalty, the local authorities of Rome change the color of the Coliseum’s nighttime illumination from white to gold. Whenever a person condemned to the death penalty anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released.
Coliseum Night photo by John Pitman
Due to the ruined state of the interior, it is impractical to use the Coliseum to host large events. Only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated in temporary seating. However, much larger concerts have been held just outside, using the Coliseum as a backdrop. Performers who have played at the Coliseum have included Ray Charles (May 2002), Paul McCartney (May 2003) and Elton John (September 2005).
Location Address: Piazza del Colosseo, I-00186 Rome, Italy. Transit: Metro: Colosseo (line B) Bus: 11, 15, 27, 81, 85, 87, 88, 118, 673; Tram: 13, 30, 30b.
Interesting notes while viewing The Coliseum: It measures 48 metres (157 ft / 165 Roman feet) high, 189 metres (615 ft / 640 Roman feet) long, and 156 metres (510 ft / 528 Roman feet) wide, with a base area of 6 acres. The north side of the perimeter wall is still standing; the distinctive triangular brick wedges at each end are modern additions, having been constructed in the early 19th century to shore up the wall. The remainder of the present-day exterior of the Coliseum is in fact the original interior wall.
The structure of the Coliseum is so well preserved that it still creates a powerful impression of its original form. The surviving part of the outer wall's monumental facade comprises three stories of superimposed arcades surmounted by a podium. On it stands a tall attic, both of which are pierced by windows interspersed at regular intervals. The arcades are framed by half-columns of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, while the attic is decorated with Corinthian pilasters. Each of the arches in the second- and third-floor arcades framed statues, probably honoring divinities and other figures from Classical mythology.
Below the wooden arena floor, (little now remains of the original arena floor), there was a complex set of rooms and passageways for wild beasts and other provisions for staging the spectacles. Eighty walls radiate from the arena and support vaults for passageways, stairways and the tiers of seats. At the outer edge circumferential arcades link each level and the stairways between levels. Underneath the arena were changing rooms and training rooms for gladiators. Along with cages for wild beasts and storerooms, the walls of which are now visible since the collapse of the arena floor. Don’t miss the museum dedicated to Eros located in the upper floor of the outer wall of the building, which has intricate and historical artifacts dating back to the period.
Around the perimeter of the Coliseum, at a distance of 18 m (59 ft) from the perimeter, was a series of tall stone posts, with five remaining on the eastern side. Various explanations have been advanced for their presence; they may have been a religious boundary, or an outer boundary for ticket checks, or an anchor for the velarium or awning.
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