Colosseum of Rome

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In this essay, I will be writing about the great Colosseum of Rome and what was held inside to give the citizens of Rome some entertainment. The Romans had many choices of what to do during their spare time, such as ball games, board games, and watching gladiatorial fights in the Colosseum; this was the most popular type of entertainment. To many people today, Roman entertainment was classed as cruel. However, not all forms of entertainment involved such violence as within the Colosseum. There was also poetry reading available, although most people enjoyed the fights. The Colosseum was like our football stadiums, to provide entertainment for the citizens. However, their idea of entertainment was very different to our idea of entertainment now-a-days - inside the Colosseum fights to the death took place between gladiators, or between wild beasts and Christian prisoners.

All cities had Emperor's, and Rome's Emperor was Nero. Nero was believed to have gone slightly mad after he found out that some Roman citizens were turning Christian. Back then, if you did not believe in the Roman Gods and Goddesses, you were classed as a criminal. He got his army to hunt them down and kill them. He set the city on fire, in hope of killing all the Christians. The Senate believed he was going mad and extremely murderous as he killed his mother and wife too, so they planned on Nero being executed. He found out about this, and Nero committed suicide himself. Vespasian took over the throne in 69 AD, after Nero's death. Vespasian was the 9th Roman Emperor, and his target was to restore the peace and stability within Rome - which he succeeded in doing. He wanted to show the citizens of Rome how devoted to them he was, so he decided to bu...

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...ule over and manage. The audience could place bets on the outcome of events in the Colosseum and this bought people together. In 1244 the Catholic church took possession and tried several schemes to make use of the building such as a wool factory for prostitutes and a bull ring. In 1749 Pope Benedict declared the site a place where Christians had been martyred and thereby consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed the Stations of the Cross. To this day on Easter Friday the Pope leads the Station of the Cross and a meditation is read at each of the fourteen stages of Christ’s passion situated around the perimeter of the Colosseum. The Colosseum although now nearly 2000 years old still provides entertainment not just for local people but for tourists who visit from all over the world to marvel at its splender and architectural brilliance.

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