Why Was the Colosseum Built? In 54 CE the cruel emperor Nero came into power. After Nero the Romans had a hatred towards the Roman government and emperors and the new emperor Vespasian needed to figure out a way to gain public support. He did this by building the Colosseum. The Colosseum was built on the land where Nero had previously had his gigantic palace, which returned to the Romans Nero’s land and was solely designed for their entertainment.
Construction of the Colosseum
The building of the Colosseum began around 72 CE under the rule of the emperor Vespasian. However, Vespasian died before he could see the completed Colosseum and his son Titus continued in building the Colosseum. The Colosseum was finished in approximately 80 CE, after…show more content… The tiers are composed of arcades and have pillars of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles. The first tier of seats is closest to the arena with Doric style pillars. This tier was reserved for the upper class. The second tier of seats was for the middle class and the pillars are of the Ionic style. For the lower class was the third tier, the tier farthest away from the arena and the least desirable seating section. Here the pillars were made in the Corinthian style. At the center of the Colosseum there is a large arena, similar to the field at the center of a sports stadium today, where the performances would take place. In order to separate the classes there were over 80 entrances at the Colosseum, which also aided in allowing massive crowds to leave swiftly. Even below the Colosseum there were rooms. Underneath the Colosseum there were rooms, vaults, and drains. Some of the rooms below the Colosseum were used to hold slaves and animals that would be forced to fight. Overall the Colosseum was a huge elliptical structure that covered aproximately 6…show more content… However, what the Colosseum is most remembered for is the gladiator fights that occurred there. Gladiator fighting was when a person, mostly men, would fight another man or animal. These fights typically went to the death, but if an emperor liked a gladiator he could prevent him from being killed by giving the thumbs down. The emperor could also signal for the killing of the gladiator by giving a thumbs up. Gladiators were often slaves from conquered Roman territories. These slaves could possibly earn their freedom if they won enough fights, but most would die terrible, brutal deaths. The Colosseum is also thought to be the place of Christian martyrdom, but recently this has been questioned as there is no mention of Christian killings at the Colosseum in Christian sources. Evidence also suggests that the Colosseum could be flooded to portray mock naval battles. In all the Colosseum was used for the entertainment of the Roman people and was the place of thousands of animal and human deaths, illustrating the brutality of the Roman