🏛️ What is the Colosseum?
Few buildings that have ever been built are as instantly recognisable as the Colosseum in Rome. It was essentially built as an oval-shaped amphitheatre, wherein gladiatorial contests, dramas, comedies and other shows would have been held.
It was certainly not the first stadium built in the city of Rome. Many others had preceded it and in fact the Colosseum was not built until the second half of the first century AD, 300 years after Rome had begun conquering most of the Mediterranean World.
- 🏛️The Colosseum is an oval-shaped amphitheatre in the heart of Rome
- 🎭Gladiatorial contests, dramas, comedies and shows were held there
- ⚔️It was built for entertainment and public gatherings
- 🌍Construction began 300 years after Rome started conquering the Mediterranean
👑 Who Built the Colosseum?
Construction began on it in 69 AD by the Emperor Vespasian. However, it took so long to build that when Vespasian died in 79 AD it was not finished yet. The doors only opened a year later in 80 AD during the reign of Vespasian's son, Titus.
It could hold between 60,000 and 80,000 spectators, as much as today's larger sports stadiums. Originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre after the name of Vespasian's family, in the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire people began to refer to it as the Colosseum, a word derived from Colossus, meaning great or large.
- 👑Emperor Vespasian began construction in 69 AD
- 🚪It opened in 80 AD under Emperor Titus, Vespasian's son
- 👥It could hold 60,000 to 80,000 spectators!
- 🏷️Originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre after Vespasian's family
- 📛Later named Colosseum from “Colossus” meaning great or large
