The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Even though this is a world of so many gigantic buildings and structures, today, covering about 6 acres of land, the Roman Coliseum or Colosseum is still a very impressive building. This gigantic amphitheater was the inspiration for all of the Stadiums that exist now days, so if The Coliseum had never been built, none of the stadiums that exist would be here today. The Roman Coliseum measures around 620 feet long, 512 feet wide, 158 feet high, and has an oval-shaped arena that measures 87 meters long and 55 meters wide. It can hold 50,000 people sitting down and up to 87,000 people standing, which is much more than what the National Stadium of Costa Rica, the largest stadium in the country, can fit in total (TSI, 2013). Construction of The Coliseum/ Origins of The Coliseum The Coliseum, or called by its original name the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome, Italy (Filippo, 2010). The name Flavian Amphitheatre was obtained from the combination of two royal families, Vespasian and Titus, while the name Coliseum is just a nickname (Diamond, 2011). Some historians believe that this nickname was obtained from a 30-foot bronze statue that was placed right next to the amphitheater. That statue was of the emperor called the Colossus of Nero, but later, it was turned into a statue of the sun god Sol Invictus (Diamond, 2011). The Emperor Vespasian, leader of the Flavian Dynasty, between 70 A.D. and 72 A.D. started the construction of this enormous amphitheater as a gift to his people to make them like him. He did it by forcing approximately 60,000 Jews to build it and was finally finished by 80 A.D. (LLC, 2011). The inside walls of The Coliseum were made out of stone, but the outer walls were made of a type of limestone called travertine; it was estimated that about

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

100,000 cubic meters of this material were needed. In three of the floors, all of the walls were built of hundreds of arches, which were a method that would help hold all of the weight of The Coliseum in place and preventing it from collapsing (TSI, 2013). For example, this method of arches was also used in Ancient Roman bridges. The floor is made out of wood but is covered with sand (TSI, 2013; Customessaymeister.com, 2013). This amphitheater is considered one of the greatest and finest works of Rome and is said to be a symbol of Roman pride of their architecture and engineering (Diamond, 2011). Underground Passages Underground of The Coliseum, a labyrinth of passages called hypogeum was built, which allowed animals, actors, gladiators and other things to appear in the arena (TSI, 2013). They would also have 32 different trap doors underneath the ground of the amphitheater to add some special effects, like for example scenery (Hopkins, 2011). Seating The seating arrangements in The Coliseum were based on the social class that a person was part of. Admission was free and anybody could enter to see an event since the famous saying was, free bread and circus to the people of Rome (Martin, 2009). But, there were certain classes that were banned from entering; those classes were former gladiators, actors, and gravediggers (TSI, 2013). As to the other side, the best seat in the whole amphitheater was the Emperors box, in which the emperor seated. The second best seats, the ones closest to the arena, were for the senators. Behind them went the equestrians or ranking government officials, more up went the normal men 2

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

Roman citizens and the soldiers. Lastly, behind everyone and in the highest but farthest place from the arena were the seats for slaves and women (TSI, 2013). There were 4 floors and 84 entrances. All of the people that went to watch the event that was going to be presented were able to even just last 20 minutes seating down thanks to all of the entrances that it had, which were numbered I-LXXVI (1-76). Spectators would sit on their spot based on the number that a ticket that they were given said (Hopkins, 2011; Admin, 2012). Events Performed in The Coliseum Back in those days behind those arches and columns when The Coliseum was opened for the first time, there was an inaugural festival that had 100 different games. Those games included more than 3,000 gladiatorial combats, wild animal fights, people getting killed and many other inhumane things just for the entertainment of the Romans (TSI, 2013). Incredibly, they would also even flood The Coliseum and put ships inside so that they could make a live replay of a battle that they had in the ocean! To keep the hot sun and the rain from bothering and affecting the spectators, the amphitheater would sometimes get covered with a retractable stretched-out red canvas, which had 240 wooden masts around the top supporting it and was roped down in 64 rows from the outside of The Coliseum; it was called The Velarium. There was no electric technology back in those days, so the only thing that moved that gigantic mantle was hundreds of strong men. In those 390 years of active use of The Coliseum, more than 400,000 people died in events that happened just to entertain the Roman citizens. People of all classes were given food while watching an event, and there was a time in which trees started to grow in the middle of the arena. That was probably caused because of the spectators throwing fruits into the arena, maybe because the spectators didnt like what the presenters were doing (Admin, 2012).

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum After four centuries of active use, the amazing structure fell into ruins, and until the 18th century, it was used as a source of building materials (LLC, 2011). The Coliseum in Ruins

Andres Velez

Two thirds of the original Coliseum has been destroyed over time by weather and natural disasters (LLC, 2011). A very big earthquake in 847 A.D. destroyed a part of the southern side of The Coliseum (TSI, 2013). There have also been different acts of vandalism to The Coliseum. Medieval thieves as well as todays thieves have stolen many pieces of marble or travertine from the front seats of the amphitheater. But, even though that it is so ruined and misses so many parts that it used to have back when it was in use, today is a very popular place for tourists to go to visit (LLC, 2011). The Coliseum Today Today, in the 21st century, the Roman Coliseum is the most popular and most visited touristic place in Italy; its image is even seen on the five-cent euro coin. Even though that this amphitheater was built so long ago with ancient building strategies, it was the influence for so many stadiums that exists today. If it werent because of the whole idea of the architecture of The Coliseum and how it was built, none of the stadiums that exist today would be here, or at least wouldnt be built the way that they are.

Modern Day Stadiums Influenced by The Coliseum

Two extraordinarily great examples of stadiums that were influenced by the Roman Coliseum are The Yankee Stadium, located in New York and The Staples Center Arena, located in Los Angeles, California. The Yankee Stadium Arches

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

Many building methods used to build The Yankee Stadium were very similar to the ones used for the Roman Coliseum (Inglis, 2013). An example, and the main one of those building techniques were the arches, which were used on the architectural design of The Coliseum and built on The Great Hall of The Yankee Stadium. These arches were built with cement and stone blocks, which were then accommodated in a certain way that hold them together in the shape of an arch (Inglis, 2013). Multi-Purpose Arena Those were building techniques, but as to The Staples Center, The Coliseum influenced it in a very peculiar way. As mentioned before, the Romans would flood The Coliseum and later put ships inside to make a live replay of a battle that they had in the ocean in real life against another empire. The Coliseum could be a multi-purpose amphitheater, which could get transformed from a sandy, dry arena, to a gigantic fishbowl. The Staples Center also has a multi- purpose arena, which gets converted from a wooden basketball court, to an icy, frozen hockey rink (pigKiller666, 2007). Even though that The Coliseum influenced many things on modern-day stadiums, stadiums today have also many improvements thanks to new technology developed over time that The Coliseum didnt have.

Modern day improvements

Anything that was ever once invented was later improved in the future by somebody else thanks to new technology. Many stadiums today have at least something that The Coliseum didnt even have because of technology of those days, or have something that The Coliseum used to have only that better or more practically done, for example the mobile roof. Mobile roofs are a perfect example of something that The Coliseum had and

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

that stadiums today have, only that better. As written in a past paragraph, there was a retractable red canvas that would sometimes get placed stretched-out on top of The Coliseum to protect the spectators from rain or hot sun; the Velarium. Today, many stadiums have also a mobile roof, precisely to keep the field, arena or court from getting wet or maybe over-heated, only that most are moved by electric or fuel-powered motors. Not like the Romans, that had to move it with a lot of strong men. A stadium today that has a mobile roof that is moved when it is needed in 5-30 minutes by 8 motors, is the Amsterdam ArenA located in Amsterdam, Netherlands (Spampinato, n.d.). Conclusion In the construction of The Coliseum, the brightest and most intelligent minds in architecture of that time worked together to create this amazing amphitheater that wasnt like anything built before in that time. Only this structure that is like a speck in the planet affected the lives of anybody living in the world today. The Coliseum brought thousands, and thousands of people together to listen to an important person announce something, such as the emperor, or to enjoy of a fun show, act, fight, etc. All of these events helped everybody get together since people from all Rome and sometimes even form other empires would come to view a spectacle being presented in The Coliseum. This meant that those persons that traveled so long to come to The Coliseum would later go home and talk about it with the people that they knew, and this was how the idea of everything started to spread out everywhere. Before the Flavian Amphitheater, the construction of amphitheaters depended on location, now that people didnt know how to build artificial slopes and had to dig into a hill and make the seats out of the dirt. With the construction of The Coliseum, it no longer mattered where amphitheaters were built. Now days, stadiums can be built 6

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

anywhere, and the natural landscape where it is built isnt a problem anymore, thereby letting people come together for social, political, or sport events (Customessaymeister.com, 2013).

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

Bibliography
Admin. "Colosseum Facts." Roman Empire Tours. Unknown, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 May 2013. Diamond, James, and ChosenOne. "Colosseum Facts." Famous Wonders of the World Best Places to Visit See Travel Pictures Colosseum Facts Comments. Ed. Romelover. Famouswonders.com, Apr.-May 2011. Web. 22 May 2013. Filippo, Coarelli, and Keith Hopkins. "Colosseum." Diffen. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. Hopkins, Keith. "The Colosseum: Emblem of Rome." BBC News. BBC, 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 May 2013. Inglis, Abby. "How The Roman Colosseum Influenced Modern Day Stadiums." How The Roman Colosseum Influenced Modern Day Stadiums. Watermark Template, 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. Killer, Pig, 666. "Basketball Court into Ice Rink." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 May 2013. LLC. "Colosseum." History.com. A&E Television Networks, Mar.-Apr. 2011. Web. 23 May 2013. Martin, Phillip. "The Colosseum - Ancient Rome for Kids." The Colosseum - Ancient Rome for Kids. Clip Art, 2009. Web. 23 May 2013. Spampinato, Angelo. "World Stadiums - Stadium Design: Amsterdam ArenA in Amsterdam." World Stadiums: Amsterdam ArenA. World Stadiums, n.d. Web. 23 May 2013.

The Legacy of Ancient Rome: The Coliseum

Andres Velez

Unknown. "Ancient Rome for Kids: The Colosseum." Ducksters. Technological Solutions, Inc. (TSI), May 2013. Web. 22 May 2013. Unknown. "Term Paper, Essay, Research Paper on The Colosseum." The Colosseum Research Paper, Architecture Essay, Term Paper. Customessaymeister.com, 2013. Web. 23 May 2013.

Photo credit
Clenet, Patrick. Pont Du Gard. Digital image. Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons, 2005. Web. 29 May 2013. Quistnix. "Aerial Photograph of Amsterdam Arena." Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons, 1 Dec. 2007. Web. 29 May 2013. Unknown. Ancient Rome. Digital image. For Kids: The Colosseum. TSI, May 2013. Web. 29 May 2013. Unknown. The Coliseum. Digital image. - The Colosseum Rome. Tour-europe, 2010. Web. 29 May 2013. Zograf, Bohdan. Gladiatorial Games. Digital image. Gladiatorial Games. The College of New Rochelle, May 2011. Web. 29 May 2013.