Properly called the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the dynasty that built it (AD 72–80)
Begun by Vespasian, opened by Titus, modified by Domitian
Geography · Landmarks & wonders
The Colosseum
AD 72–80
Italy — Rome, east of the Roman Forum
The largest amphitheatre ever built, begun under Vespasian and opened by Titus in AD 80 with a hundred days of games. Properly the Flavian Amphitheatre, it took its popular name from the colossal statue of Nero that once stood beside it. Earthquake and centuries of stone-robbing left the ruin we know, and in 2007 it was voted one of the New7Wonders of the World.
How to spot them
- ▸An elliptical four-tier arena in travertine, half its outer wall missing
- ▸Quiz clue: 'Flavian Amphitheatre', 'Vespasian', 'Titus', 'hypogeum', 'velarium'
- ▸Built on the drained lake of Nero's Golden House
- ▸Its popular name comes from a colossal statue of Nero that stood nearby
Key facts
Its inaugural games in AD 80 ran for a hundred days (AD 80)
Titus presided; Martial's Liber Spectaculorum celebrates them
It took its popular name from a colossal bronze statue of Nero that stood beside it
The statue was later re-carved as the sun god Sol
Beneath the arena floor ran the hypogeum, a two-level warren of cells and lifts for beasts and scenery
Added under Domitian; its exposure is why the arena floor is missing today
A vast retractable awning, the velarium, was worked by sailors of the imperial fleet
Rigged from the top-tier corbels by men from Misenum
It was built on the drained lake of Nero's Golden House
A deliberate gift of the tyrant's private pleasure ground back to the Roman people
A 2007 New7Wonders winner whose floor once hid a two-level basement of lifts and cages (2007)
Alongside Petra, Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall, Chichén Itzá and Christ the Redeemer
Quick-fire facts
- •It is elliptical, about 189 m long, 156 m wide and 48 m high at the outer wall
- •Estimates of capacity range from 50,000 to 80,000 spectators
- •The exterior tiers use Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders from bottom to top
- •Much of the missing south side was toppled by earthquakes, notably in 1349, and quarried for Roman palaces and churches
- •It lies within the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Historic Centre of Rome', inscribed in 1980
- •A Good Friday Way of the Cross procession has been led there by the Pope since the 18th century
- •Common misconception: there is no reliable evidence that Christians were martyred in it, and the idea that its floor was routinely flooded for full naval battles is doubtful once the hypogeum was built
Drill it — 7 cards
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Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
- Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard — The Colosseum