Colosseum

• The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, was the biggest Amphitheatre in the Roman Empire with a capacity for 50-60,000 spectators. It was completed in 80 CE, opened in 81 CE and the last Games were played in 404 CE.

Getting There

• Location: Piazza del Colosseo, 1, Rome.
• Nearest Metro Station: Colosseo, Line B.
• Admission: Daily 0900-1630. See website.

Dimensions and Construction

• An ornamental lake had to be drained into the Tiber.
• The Amphitheatre measures 620 ft (190m) by 513 ft (155m).
• The Concrete foundations were sunk 18 ft (5.5m) into the gravel riverbed.
• There were 80 concrete walls built from the oval perimeter into the arena’s edge. Then the Marble seating was built on top which reached a height of 160 ft (48m).
• It held 750,000 tons of dressed stone, 8,000 tons of marble and 6,000 tons of concrete.
• A canopy called the Velarium was extended overhead by a Block and Tackle system to provide shade for all the spectators.

Inauguration Games

• In 70 CE it was planned by Vespasian (Architect unknown), and completed in 6 years under his son, Titus.
• Funded by the Spoils of the First Jewish-Roman War, and in particular the treasure of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. It was built by teams of craftsmen belonging to over 12 workers’ guilds, not by slaves.
• In 81 CE, Titus opened the Colosseum with the Inauguration Games, which according to Dio Cassius, lasted for 100 days and featured Gladiatorial Combats and Mock Naval Battles. The spectators were summoned from all over the Roman Empire.
• Dio Cassius states that over 9,000 wild animals were killed.

Entry and Seating Segregation by Roman Social Class System

• Entry to the Colosseum was free or by invitation, but every spectator had to hold a ticket.
• The Colosseum had three tiers of seating and a fourth tier with standing room at the top.
• The first two tiers were provided with Silk cushions and fountains of perfumed water according to Calpurnius, with Statues filling every niche in the outer wall. Wood was provided for the seating on the third tier.
• Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE) decreed that seating in Auditoria in the Empire had to be by class:
  • The front row was for the Patricians and Government and Temple officials.
  • The second row was for the Equites or Knights.
  • The third row was for the Plebeians.
  • A fourth row of wooden seating was added on top of the outer wall for women.

Entry was controlled by tickets, with each ticket showing three numbers

1. Sector number (Cunei):
   • There were 76 entrances, each showing a number one to seventy six. If your ticket was marked 28, then you had to enter via Sector number XXVIII.
   • This way the crowd of 60,000, was divided into sectors of up to 800 people, allowing an orderly entry and exit at the end. Each entrance was called a Vomitorium, for spectators to ‘spew out’ of the building after the show was over.
   • There were 4 entrances with no numbers, these were for the Patricians, Senators, Vestal Virgins and Foreign Visitors.
   • The Emperor had his own tunnel from the Imperial Palace.
2. Row number (Gradus): (This number indicated what row your seat was in, like in a cinema today.)
   • The First Tier was called the Podium.
     • It was flat and 15 feet wide. The Podium was reserved for the Patricians, Senators, Judges and the Vestal Virgins.
     • The Emperor’s Box, called the Cubiculum, was in the north Podium, and raised on a dais. It had 4 columns supporting 4 statues and a canopy.
     • The Vestal Virgins sat in a Box opposite the Emperor in the south Podium.
   • The Second Tier
     • This was called the Maenianum Primum. It was reserved for the Equites or Knights and consisted of 14 rows of seats.
   • The Third Tier was divided in two parts.
     • The Maenianum secundum imum, for the wealthy Plebeians.
     • The Maenianum secundum summum, for the ordinary Plebeians.
   • The Fourth and top Tier
     • The Maenianum summum in ligneis, consisted of steep wooden seating on the top wall. This was added for women.
     • Slaves and ex-gladiators were banned.
3. Seat number
   • Each seat was numbered, with markings etched on the marble outlining the exact space.
   • There was some standing room, mainly in the aisles and the top tier.

The Programme

• There was a formal arrangement for the order of entertainment throughout the Roman Empire.
  • Before Midday:
    • Venatio, ‘the Hunt’ where animals were hunted down by the ‘Bestiarii’.
  • Midday:
    • The execution of criminals usually by Damnatio ad bestias, being ‘condemned to the beasts’.
  • After Midday:
    • ‘Ludi Gladiatorus’, the Gladiator combats.
    • Re-enactments of famous battles.
    • Occasionally, Sea Battles called Naumachia.

The Roman Spectacle

• Gladiator Combats
  • Gladiatorial combats were staged where men fought each other.
  • Gladiators who fought wild animals were known as ‘Bestiari’.
  • These men were either professional Gladiators, prisoners of war, criminals or slaves.
  • The ‘thumbs down’ signal from the Imperial Balcony condemned the fallen Gladiator to death.
• Naumachia
  • Naumachia were mock naval Battles. In 81 CE, two took place during the inauguration under Titus. They remained popular under the Flavians until 96 CE.
  • In a marvel of hydraulic engineering, the Colosseum could be rapidly flooded (and just as quickly drained) to provide mock naval battles inbetween Gladiatorial Combats.
  • According to Martial (Book of Spectacles, XXIV), referring to one of Titus’ naumachia in the Colosseum, he says draining the water and starting the next show on the dry sand, appears to have been part of the entertainment.
• Venatio
  • These were shows of wild animal hunts and the hunters were called Venatores.
  • Ludus Matutinus
    • This was the training school at the Colosseum for the Venatores.
    • It was founded by Domitian in 81 CE. Ludus Matutinus means morning school because the wild animal games were usually held in the mornings.
  • The Venatores
    • They hunted the wild animals either on foot or on horseback.
  • The Bestiarii
    • These were Gladiators who were specially trained to fight wild animals in the Colosseum. They were trained in special schools called scholae bestiarum.
  • Animal species displayed in the Colosseum
    • Aurochs, a now extinct species of wild cattle, were the main beast on display in Roman Amphitheatres.
    • Also displayed in the Colosseum were Bears, Bulls, Antelope, Buffaloes, Camels, Cheetahs, Crocodiles, Deer, Dogs, Elephants, Giraffes, Hippopotami, Hyenas, Jaguars, Leopards, Lions, Panthers, Rhinoceri and Tigers.
    • Wolves were never used as they were held to be sacred in Roman Mythology.

The Velarium

• Sailors from both the Imperial Italian Fleets operated the ‘Velarium’ in the Colosseum.
• This was a sun screen that consisted of sails that extended outwards along poles pulled by ropes through a Block and Tackle System.

The Sailors

• Half the Sailors operating the Velarium came from the Naval base at Misenum, the Classis Misenensis, and had a garrison, the Castra Misenatium, on one side of the Tiber.
• The other half of the sailors came from the the Naval base at Ravenna, the Classis Ravennas, which had a separate garrison, the Castra Ravennium, on the other side of the Tiber.

The Last Combat

• The last Gladiatorial combats were held in 404 CE.

Photo and map: The Colosseum, Rome