Colosseum

This is the inside. All of the stuff on the bottom is what used to be the basement. There are many rooms that were used to cage animals and hold sets. Before, all of this was covered by the arena. It is called an arena because the floor was covered by sand, which is latin is spelled arena.

The Colosseum may have been my favorite part of Rome. Absolutely incredible. It is the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire. It was completed in 80 AD and is still standing today. There are some reinforcements but not a ton. It has deteriorated mostly because of a large earthquake in the 200's and because they took the good materials from the colosseum to make other monuments, like St. Peter's Basilica. It is set up so much like a stadium today that its crazy. It's been how many years, and we still can't invent a better system than the Romans. It was organized by social class, with the highest seats being the lowest class. See any similarity to today? Highest seats cost the least. It's estimated that anywhere from 50,000 - 60,000 people could fit in here.

The games that were held here had to make the Corrida look story hour at the library. There were trap doors and amazing sets. One time, they make a huge whale that opened his mouth and released 500 bears. They say christians may have been martyred here, but there isn't any written proof of that. Many people chose to be gladiators - either they wanted fame or they were slaves that wanted freedom. It was similar to joining the service - you served your time, and then you were released. Men joined when they were 17-18 and only fought 2 times a year - the rest of the year they were training. After awhile it became popular to throw prisoners in with wild beasts and no weapons. If they won, they were set free (kind of like the bull as the corrida de toros) - winning isn't very likely.