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Gladiator facts and fictions
Roman colosseum architecture and engineering
Gladiator facts and fictions
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What actually happened at the Roman Colosseum? It was a beautiful and terrible place full of death, glory, and victory. But the Colosseum was also the center and heart of Roman culture. It was the place where gladiators could win big or lose it all evidently their lives. What is the Roman Colosseum? The Roman Colosseum wa a place of death and entertainment, thousands of gladiators lost their lives fighting. But they also sent slaves, prisoners, animals and even woman into battle, to fight for their lives. The Colosseum was built around 2,000 years ago in the heart of Rome. It hosted the gruesome murderous games of gladiator fighting. The people who fought could get glory, fame and riches but if they lost they most likely wouldn’t just lose the game but also their life. Many famous battles were fought. Many animals also lost their lives, over 1,000,000 animals died fighting for their lives as well as the large amount of warriors. When the spectators came to the Colosseum the nobles always sat in the front rows while the rest are full of the common man. Sometimes the judges would add water to the arena to make the fights more sea like. The Colosseum was named by a monk who was reading a prophecy. It sad; ‘When the Colosseum falls so will Rome’ and ‘When Rome falls so will the world’. How was the Colosseum Built? Construction for the colosseum began in 70 A.D and ended 10 years later in 80 A.D. It’s 175 ft high with a perimeter of 1788 ft wide. It was built in the heart of ancient Rome with lots of tunnels and pulley systems to get who or what in the fighting area. It also had 80 arched entrances. The Colosseum is so big it could easily fit a football field. It’s 513 ft wide and 620 ft long outside and 180 ft wide and ... ... middle of paper ... ...ore gladiators.Sometimes it would be animal vs. animal like bulls against bears, although it was more common for predator vs. prey. All though Colosseum was a place for slaves or warriors to gain fame and riches it was also a place where they could lose their lives. It was as beautiful as it was a grave for lost gladiators, the sand constantly replaced over the stained red ones. At the heart of Roman culture and the center of entertainment the Roman Colosseum is the most remembered thing from Rome’s past. Works Cited BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. "Colosseum Video." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. "The History of the Colosseum." By Rachel Gargan. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013 "- The Roman Coliseum -." Roman Colosseum or Coliseum: Rome Italy. N.p., n.d. Web. "Web Page Template." Web Page Template. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
The Colosseum is a large ellipsoid arena built in the first century B.C. under the emperors of the Flavian dynasty. This arena was used to watch entertaining shows like gladiator fights or wild animal hunts. The Colosseum had three levels of different columns. The first level contained Doric columns, the second Ionic, and the third level carried Corinthian columns. The construction had no fewer than eighty entrances; one of them was for the dead people who lost the battle, another for the ones who carried victory; and one was reserved for the Emperor's use. The total capacity for the Colosseum was approximately 45,000 seated and there was space for 5,000 standing
...slaves. No matter which social class one descended from, the Roman amphitheater was a tradition that brought people together and reinforced a sense of community.
Though in all reality they were most likely packed into their seats like sardines in a can and had to make the best of the conditions. Canopies were unfolded from the top story in order to shield the audience from the hot sun as they watched the day’s events. On special occasions there would be some type of nautical show put on, in which the arena needed to be flooded for. This meant the theatre had some sort of drainage system underneath the theatre in order to get rid of the water used for the day’s events. This can very well be true because the theatre is located on a pond formerly on the previous emperor’s Nero’s property. The Colosseum was put to good use for four centuries until ongoing change in community tastes and the struggles of the Roman Empire put an end to public entertainment by the 6th century
The Colosseum is the mammoth amphitheater worked in Rome under the Flavian rulers. Improvement of the Colosseum was begun eventually between AD 70 and 72 in the midst of the control of Vespasian. It is discovered just east of the Palatine Hill, on the grounds of what was Nero's Golden House. The domain underneath the Colosseum was known as the Hypogeum (which implies underground). The hypogeum involved the two-level underground arrangement of entries and 32 animal pens. It had 80 vertical shafts which gave minute access to the field for animals and view.
The entertainment that took place in the were gladiator fights, wild animal hunts, and mock sea battles. The most popular fights were the fights to the death by the gladiators. Gladiators would use swords, lances, tridents, and nets to fight each other in battle. The next was the animal hunts in which the animal almost never won because they would usually be killed from a distance by an arrow or spear. Sometimes during the animal hunts slaves and criminals were thrown into the ring unarmed. The theatre could be flooded to stage sea battles or for amphibious animal fights. The games that took place were payed for by the Roman ruling class by
Ancient Rome existed from 753 BC to 476 AD. Many people were a part of making Rome what it was, including gladiators, slaves, plebeians, patricians and many more. The gladiators were mainly slaves and plebeians who were forced to entertain crowds, including the rich society, so they would not rebel against their empire (this once happened when gladiators rebelled under the leadership of a Thracian from the nomadic tribes, Spartacus). These sources generally show the life of a gladiator because it gives an insight on how they would have lived their life in ancient Roman times.
The Colosseum – or Amphitreatrum Flavium as it was called in Latin – has attracted millions of people over its history to witness one of the worlds most celebrated ‘arenas of death.’ Our fascination with the gruesome events held at the Colosseum – gladiatorial events and animal combat games to name a few - often encourages us to view this grand amphitheater as being the sole site where barbaric entertainment practices were encouraged and exhibited. But did the Colosseum only serve as a way for the ruling Emperor to entertain and preoccupy his people? The answer to this question lies in the answers of others: Why was the Colosseum built in the first place? Why is it so significant today? In
These civil wars that Rome faced were at large due to a poor job of ruling and following suicide of former Roman emperor Nero. When the amphitheatre was completed in 80 AD during the reign of Vespasian’s son Titus, it was considered as something never seen before in its time, containing four stories and capacity for 50,000 speculators (Mark Cartwright of Ancient History Encyclopedia). This 620 by 513 feet amphitheatre, made of stone and concrete, had a sanded floor of the arena, landscaped with trees and other means of nature to resemble the environment of the animals they used for hunting events. “Hundreds, sometimes even thousands of animals, were butchered in a single day’s event and often brutality was deliberate in order to achieve crudeliter -- the correct amount of cruelty.” states Cartwright. Within the Colosseum’s 80 entrances, two of them were used for the gladiators that were
When the Romans went to the gladiator fights, they wanted to watch a very exciting and entertaining contest. So, the Romans purposefully set up the gladiator fights to be unfair by making the matchups unbalanced. The gladiator’s living conditions affected the fight. Yet, with all the morals and myths that the Roman government promoted as what was expected of the roman citizens, the brutal battles that were in the coliseum wouldn’t be tolerated, but they were. The unpredictable outcome of these matches were what made these so entertaining.
Have you ever wondered why the colosseum was so popular? Well today is the day you are going to find out. You will find why the Romans made the colosseum and “why” it was so entertaining. “Also,” you will see Why the romans did the games. So if you are interested in Rome. Read this essay.
Some of the entertainment in the Colosseum were of theatrical nature, but most were bloody and involved death. For example, slaves or criminals were to fight each other to the death, and when one survived they would live to fight again. (Colosseum in Rome). It is pleasantly surprising that the Colosseum which has been known for battles to the death would also perform shows that did not involve any bloodshed. It’s strange to think that in those times if you were able to survive so many battles that they would let you live even if you were a criminal. According to Mark Cartwright in his article on the Colosseum, “There were also ingenious underground lifting mechanisms which allowed for the sudden introduction of wild animals into the proceedings. On some occasions, notably the opening series of shows, the arena was flooded in order to host mock naval battles.” (Cartwright). It must have been very exciting to be watching a show then have them flood the whole arena and float ships across it like in the Colosseum. A twist is always exciting in any story or show, so the introduction of a wild animal must have been a huge hit while battles took place in the Colosseum. In the Colosseum, there was also hunts of wild animals in which the animals were almost always killed easily via a spear or bow and arrow. Many dangerous animals like bulls, elephants, lions, and tigers were hunted but also vulnerable ones like giraffes, deer, ostriches, and even whales. (Cartwright). The intensity of an animal hunt must have been a thrill to everyone watching, but it is surprising to consider that more harmless animals were still hunted and enjoyed by the people. To a bloodthirsty crowd of people, the hunting of a whale must have been terribly exciting, for the Colosseum would have to be flooded, there would have to be ships along the water, and they would have to move a huge
The last question that I said people might have is, why is the Colosseum a famous building today? The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever built (Chand (np)). It also shows the personalities of the ancient Romans and what they did for fun. According to Heenan (np), it is thought that over 500,000 people and a million wild animals lost their lives in the period when the Colosseum held the human vs. beast theme. That is just one theme that the Colosseum had, there is most likely over 2 million dead
The Circus Maximus was the first and most prevalent stadium in ancient Rome. Latin for “greatest circus”, the Circus Maximus served as a stadium for entertainment, especially chariot racing. Being located amongst the Palatine and Aventine hills, it measured 621 meters by 118 meters, and seated around 150,000 onlookers. The Circus Maximus would become the exemplary venue for entertainment and circuses throughout the entire span of the Roman Empire (Humphrey 216).
The Colosseum doesn’t portray anything like a normal amphitheater. According to Lesley Dutemple “It was built nearly two thousand years ago for the purpose of hosting violent gladiator games.” These games were held during special celebrations with the start of the celebration being a parade through Rome with the gladiators followed by elephants. Once the rowdy crowds of people made their way into the Colosseum the opening act would be either the worst criminals from across the empire against food deprived and tortured beast. If it wasn’t convicts it would be newer gladiators against the savage beast, gather from across the empire. The beast where the most feared and deadliest animals from Africa to England and as far out as present day Turkey. These animals were maddened from starvation and thirst that they would hunt and kill anything that moved. If the beast did not hunt and put on a show, then the Beastmaster was brought out to the center of the arena and was publicly executed. Now the main event consisted of gladiator fights. Those chosen to become gladiators were one of three backgrounds. A gladiator could have been a free man looking for weapon training and fame within the arena. Another could have been an Ex Roman soldier. Lastly the gladiator could have been a slave from the outer reaches of the empire that was bought by the head of a gladiator school. Each gladiator could take up one of
The Roman Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is perhaps the most famous ancient landmark in the world. The Colosseum was the host to thousands of gladiatorial shows, mock naval battles, executions, and animal hunts. Today, the Colosseum still stands in the center of Rome, Italy, however, not quite as it used to be. Still, today, the Roman Colosseum is a large tourist attraction, thousands of tourists from all over the world still come to view this marveled arena. The Roman Colosseum has a rich history, and remains a prized possession of the Roman citizens.