Colosseo Roma
Located in the archaeological heart of the city of Rome, the Flavian Amphitheatre, or, more commonly, the Colosseum attracts thousands of visitors per day.
It was used for events that spanned several days including parades, public executions, and of course gladiator fights. Earthquakes caused considerable damage, and later generations recycled its stone building blocks and marble cladding as a mine of precut building materials for their medieval buildings, Renaissance churches, and baroque palaces. |
DesignThe structure of the amphitheatre is made of blocks of travertine, bricks and blocks of tufa The exterior of the building is divided into four levels that add up to a total height of about 50 meters.
The building has an elliptical shape and in the center of the building there was the arena. A wooden floor (now partly reconstructed on the eastern side) on which the games took place and that was covered with sand. The monumental entrances on the short axis led to two royal boxes near the arena, one of which reserved for the emperor. On the occasion of the spectacles the public took a seat according to a rigid division based on social classes: a ticket indicated the seat as- signed and obligatory pathways led to the tiers of seats (cavea) through numbered archways. |
Amphitheater of Nimes
The colosseum at Rome is the most famous but certainly not the only arena used for a variety of large public spectacles.
Before the Romans, Nîmes was a small fortified village at the instigation of the Emperor Augustus, the city developed rapidly and adorned itself with monuments including an amphitheater. They used this for the same kinds of events that took place in Rome until gladiators were outlawed in 404 AD. |