Roman Colosseum Research Paper

The Colosseum in Rome

I chose the colosseum in Rome, originally known as Flavian Amphitheater. It was built in the valley between the Palatine, Caelian and Esquiline hills. When they built the colosseum they did it over the site of Nero's man-made lake, which Roman engineers drained. The colosseum stood around 160 feet high and on about six acres. Its long axis is 188m and it’s short, 156m. During the construction they used close to 100,000 cu. meters of travertine and just at 300 tons of iron for clamp. In spite of this, it is not a strikingly novel building when measured against the standards of the “new architecture.” Rather it should be considered as a monument to sheer Roman organizational ability. Despite its enormous size, it was actually inaugurated five years after it was begun. Rome's new Emperor, Vespasian built the amphitheater for him and his son Titus.

It could accommodate anywhere between 50,000 to 80,000 spectators, who came to watch the games. The history of this structure gives a different sense of beauty than one could imagine since so many countless lives of man and beast were lost in its arena. I think about all the men that attended the events rather it was a criminal being put to death or a gladiator fight. Roman citizens admitted free, but places were divided according to social status, the common people sat up top, the men and women had their own sections, the closer you got to the arena the higher your social status; in the very front row were senators, vestals, priests and - naturally - the emperor. To me art (architecture) just is not about the piece itself, it’s about what went on inside or even the way it was built. For instance, the amphitheater was constructed with the tens of thousands of Jews. They were brought to Rome as prisoners just after the destruction of