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Introduction

The Colosseum is one of the most beautiful buildings of old Rome, but it had a bloodthirsty history. The Colosseum has experienced many earthquakes, but it still stands, not full anymore, in the centrum of Rome as a touristic site.

Buildproject

After the death of Nero, Vespasianus instructed to build the Colosseum for spectacular events in 72 AD. He did this, because he wanted to impress and because he wanted to make the citizens happy. With help of a large army of slaves and removable stagings, he built the Colosseum. The Colosseum was built in 10 years.

Shape

The Colosseum has an oval shape. The name descends of the Latin word colosseus, what means: colossal. It is 49 m height and the outside walls have an outline of all most 537 m. Underground, there was a labyrinth of passages, dressing rooms, cages, cells and storage accommodations. They could stretch sail over the Colosseum, so the sunlight would be subdued. A special group of sailors, who used to do the work with cables and pully's, were apointed to pull and to veer out the whole system of ropes.

Events

In the Colosseum regular events were hold . Gladiators fought each other on live and death, sometimes they had to fight agains animals. In the Colosseum, you could look at boxing-matches, archery-matches, chariot races and feminine fighters. There were also sea battles in which case the whole Colosseum was flooded. The last bloodthirsty event was in 523 A.D.

Arena

The events took place in the arena. The floor was made of wood. There was sand on the that floor, so the blood could easiely be taken away. The word arena is descended of the Latin word for sand or beach.

Gladiators

The gladiators were often slaves or criminals, who were trained to fight to each other on life and death. They also fought agains lions and tigers. These animals were imported from North-Afrika. There were different sorts of gladiators: - The Samniets fought with a long, rectangular, shield and a sword of a lance. - The Thraciërs fought with a little, round, shield and a dagger. - The Retiarii fought with a net and a three-pronged. 'Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutand' 'Salute, Imperator, they who will die salute you' When a gladiator surrendered, the public might say that he must die or might live. If they put their thump up, he might live. If they put their thump down, he had to die.