The Roman Colosseum

( 4 Votes ) The Colosseum is Rome’s sixteen story crown jewel and the super stadium of the ancient world. It has served as both a spiritual and political center for the Romans. Ironically, with all its stunning beauty and its grand size, it is known for more sinister reasons. Within its walls there have been a wide range of events held here that had deadly consequences. The events include the infamous gladiatorial fights, beast against beasts, full scale naval engagements, and also served for the execution site of thousands of individuals ranging from criminals to Christians. Since it was dedicated by Emperor Titus it has been a symbol for both Romans greatness and their addiction to violence. The Roman Colosseum stands as a monument to the Romans’ lust for blood. Without a doubt, the Colosseum is the deadliest building of the ancient world.

  It took eight years to complete this engineering marvel. It is around one hundred sixty feet high, one hundred eighty nine meters long and one hundred fifty meters wide. The building’s creator is unknown, but must have been an architectural genius. Even before its construction, Nero’s Artificial Lake had to be drained out into the Tiber. In order to achieve this, the architect must have had a fair amount of knowledge in the field of hydraulic engineering. Scholars have estimated that it would have required a hundred thousand cubic meters of travertine, a stone that was found locally, to cover the exterior of the building. It is also estimated that it took eight thousand tons of marble, seven hundred fifty thousand tons of common stone and six thousand tons of cement for its construction. It is said, that it had eighty exits, in which the building could be completely emptied in an amazingly short five minutes. The building also included a gigantic canvas awning. It would have protected the spectators from the sun, while still allowing the sun to light the area floor.

On its opening day, the Romans held a hundred day celebration. It was held in the summer of 80 A.D. More than a total of nine thousand different types of animals which were brought from all over the known world within the fourteen weeks of celebration. Of that, five thousand animals were killed in one gruesome day. More than a thousand gladiators’ fought. Hundreds of criminals met their demise at the sharp end of a glatiators sword or the claws and hooves of the various animals. During which animals fought against other animals and also against both men and women. Amazingly enough, even ship against ship battles took place here. It is exaggerated that people actually stayed in the building for all the hundred plus days of celebration. Very few people would have been able to attend the every event held.

  Throughout the lifespan of the Colosseum, there were life and death struggles occurring on an almost regular basis. The majority of participants were mostly prisoners, slaves and criminals who trained in special schools. The people that participated in these events had no rights, who were judged by the Romans to have no value or may have even been guilty of disturbing the Roman peace. A small number of the participants joined voluntarily. There were many different reasons as to why people participated on their own free will. One reason may have been that people needed money, if you won, you would receive a generous prize. Motivation may have been yet another reason that people entered. Some wanted the physical challenge, while others may have liked the sense of danger involved. They also wanted to be the superstars of their day, which would allow them to become very popular and also allow them to have their pick on the young women around them. Women were also allowed to fight from time to time. They fought against other women, or against male dwarfs.

  Another event held here, were events that involved animals fighting against other animals or humans. Some of the animals that were brought to their deaths were bears, elephants, polar bears, Indian tigers, rhinoceroses. The hundred day celebration of the Colosseum, in which nine thousand animals lost their lives, was surpassed in A.D. 107. It was surpassed by the Emperor Trojan, to celebrate his conquest of Dacia. In this blood bath he presented at a minimum of eleven thousand animals that were destined to die. It is also said that around ten thousand gladiators fought during the celebrations. This slaughter of animals lasted an amazing hundred and twenty three days. At other times different types of animals were chained to one another. For example a lion was chained to a bull, or a lion was chained to an elephant. Neither of them could do anything other than fight each other till one or both of them died.

  The execution of many criminals and Christians also occurred here. The criminals were killed in three gruesome ways. The first way that they were killed is that they were put at the mercy of the gladiators. It was not just criminals that were put to the mercy of the gladiator. War captives and other offenders were sent in with no expectation that they would come out alive. They were given no weapons to defend themselves; also they had no training what so ever, they were hacked to pieces by the gladiators. Even if they managed to kill someone and survive, they were faced with someone else till they became too exhausted and then eventually they themselves were slain. The criminals were also crucified. The most savage way that the criminals died was by being tied to a stake and put in front of food deprived animal. All that was left were the mangled and half eaten bodies of criminals. It is also believed that hundreds or maybe even thousands of Christians were killed. The main reason that they were killed was because the Christians were not tolerant to other religions, as the Romans were. For this reason, the Romans did not give pity to the Christians that were killed.

  Staged Hunts were yet another way that the Romans were entertained. Animals from all other the world were brought to the area and where hunted. The people that hunted the animals were Roman slaves. They had no way to defend themselves against the animals because they were not given any protective clothing. As a result, many of these so called hunters were wounded or even killed by the beasts. Most of the time, the hunters became the hunted, seldom came out alive. The animals were sometimes herded together and were shot and killed by archers.

  Amazingly enough, the stadium was even filled up with water, by the order of Emperor Titus. It took an entire night to fill it up to five feet. Titus had several reasons to do this. One reason was to show off the specially trained swimming horses and bulls. Another reason was supposedly to recreate the famous naval engagements of the fifth century. Full sized ships were brought in and forced to fight against the other ships. These naval battles were between the Corcyreans Greeks and the Corinthians. There was also a naval battle on the hundred days of celebration, which supposedly involved around three thousand men.

  For more than four centuries, the Roman Coliseum has been witness to the Romans brutality nature and their lust for violence. It is said that the Colosseum could hold around fifty thousand spectators who where there to watch the bloodiest of battles. It is estimated that more than five hundred thousand people have met their horrific demise. There may have been millions of animals that have been killed in order to quench the blood thirst of the Romans. With all its elegant beauty a nd its architectural marvel, this infamous building will always be remembered as the deadliest building in the ancient world.


                                     Bibliography


Beard, Mary; Hopkins, Keith, The Colosseum (United Kingdom: Butler and Tanner, 2005)

Connolly, Peter; Dodge, Hazel, The Ancient City (Italy, Oxford University Press, 1998)

McGee, Marini; Melloe, Ronald, The Ancient Roman World (Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 2004)

Shelton, Jo-Ann, As the Romans Did (United States, Oxford University Press, 1998)

Testa, Judith The Ancient Roman World (United States, Northern Illinois University Press, 1998)

                                   About Article

I, jazzking2001, wrote this article October 2006 for my Western Civilization I, collage class as a research paper.

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