Roman Colosseum

The grand Roman Colosseum, also know as the Flavian Amphitheatre, was completed in the year 80 AD. The Colosseum has been photographed, painted, and visited by thousands of people a year; it still stands today, surviving earthquakes and countless wars. Thousands of years old; its design is still used today. Even though the building’s use was brutal and barbaric in many people’s minds today, the building is still admired my many. The Colosseum was built as a testament to Roman architecture, and stands as a symbol of the Roman Empire’s overindulgence.

Amphitheatre, (the word), is Greek, created from two words, which translated means “theater in the round”. Even though the word was derived from the Greek, the amphitheatre is believed to be a Roman invention.

“The origins of the amphitheatre are distinctly vague. The oldest remaining one at Pompeii dates from the first century BC. Since Pompeii was originally much influenced by the Etruscans, it has been argued that this amphitheatre too must have derived from ancient Etruscan sources. On the other hand there is no evidence or of anything resembling an amphitheatre on an Etruscan site, so that most archeologists are content to describe it as an entirely Roman invention.” (Pearson 77)

Previous showplaces were derived from the Greek, such as the horseshoe shaped theatres that had a stage at one end, or the long thin stadiums which were ideal for chariot-racing. The Romans, hoping to impress their citizens, devised a complex structure, formed from two semi-circular theatres placed back to back, thus giving themselves the ability to entertain thousands of people at once.

You cannot discuss the Colosseum without discussing its purpose. In the years prior to the Colosseum, gladiator games had become immensely popular. The gladiatorial games originated from the Etruscans, but seemed to have evolved from the practice of human sacrifice for the gods. Julius Caesar used the gladiators politically to gain popularity...