In countries around the world, people flock to arenas and stadiums to attend events like sporting matches and concerts. What attendees might not know is that they are participating in a tradition that goes back thousands of years. In fact, one of the world's most famous entertainment venues, the Roman Colosseum, is almost two thousand years old. About the height of a twelve-story building, this oval-shaped amphitheater is so huge that it was once capable of holding fifty thousand spectators at the same time.
The construction of the Colosseum began around the year 72 CE under Emperor Vespasian. Before Vespasian, Rome was ruled by the tyrannical Emperor Nero, who had built himself a magnificent palace on a large plot of land. After Nero was dethroned, Vespasian took some of this land back and ordered the construction of the Colosseum as a gift to the Roman people. However, Vespasian would not live to see its completion. It was finished eight years later under the reign of Vespasian's son, Emperor Titus. For hundreds of years afterward, Roman emperors funded elaborate spectacles in the amphitheater and sometimes even provided free food and drinks for the audience. People from all classes of Roman society attended the events that unfolded within the Colosseum's walls.
One of the amphitheater's most popular events featured gladiators who had been forced into public combat by the emperor. The gladiators were required to fight one another in bouts of brutal hand-to-hand combat, often with swords, spears, nets, or other weapons. Although these fighters were often admired by the Roman people, the life of a gladiator could be extremely challenging. A few gladiators earned fame, riches, and admiration, but most of them died while fighting.
In addition to gladiator fights, the Colosseum offered Romans a rare opportunity to see exotic creatures such as lions, elephants, bears, crocodiles, and ostriches. However, these events were nothing like a visit to a zoo. In fact, the animals were often there to participate in "wild beast hunts" staged by professional hunters. The Colosseum also served as a venue for theatrical reenactments of famous battles. The "actors" were usually prisoners, forced to portray soldiers in legendary armies battling for control of the Roman city-state. On special occasions, the amphitheater would even be flooded with water to stage mock sea battles that included actual ships.
These events and reenactments went on for about four hundred years before spectators began to tire of the frequently brutal exhibitions. This shift in public tastes, combined with structural damage caused by an earthquake, brought an end to the use of the Colosseum as an entertainment venue. Instead of repairing the earthquake damage, Romans began to extricate materials like marble and bronze from the old amphitheater to help build new structures in the city, leaving the Colosseum in ruins.
In the centuries since then, scholars and political leaders alike have come to recognize the Colosseum's immense historical significance, and efforts have been made to restore it. While gladiator fights and animal hunts are a thing of the past, modern visitors can still experience this ancient amphitheater, which remains a spectacle in itself.
What Is The Text Mainly About?
It’s About the reasons it took so long to construct the colosseum
It’s About the abilities of different gladiators who fought in the colosseum
It’s About the rise and fall of the colosseum as an entertainment venue
It’s About the differences between Vespasians and Nero’s uses of the colosseum