The Colosseum is one of the 7 man made wonders of the world and is an important precursor for modern architecture. The Colosseum is also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre due to the fact it was built by the 3 Flavian emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. However, to the ancient Romans it was known as Amphitheatre Caesareum (meaning The Hunting Theater). Before the construction of the Colosseum, another Amphitheater was built near where the Colosseum would eventually stand. This Amphitheater was much smaller than the Flavian Amphitheatre and was unfortunately destroyed in Emperor Nero’s infamous fire of 64. Following the death or Nero, the Flavian family secured the seat of power. To help the roman citizens adjust and reconcile with the new dynasty, Emperor Vespasian gave much of Nero’s land back to the Romans and ordered a new, grander Amphitheater to be built. The construction began in year 72 and took 10 years to finish.
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While not the largest of all Roman Amphitheatre’s, the Colosseum is still an impressive architectural marvel. The Colosseum is 188 meters long and 156 meters wide (617 feet and 512 feet respectively) and has 80 arched entrances, easily giving access to the 55,000 people who would come to watch the games. The arches are 4.2 meters wide (13.9 feet) and 7.05 meters high (23 feet) high on the ground floor, while on the upper floors they are only 6.45 meters high (21.2 feet) but like the ground floor are 4.2 meters wide. Including the cornices between the floors and the attic, the building is roughly 48.5 meters tall (160 feet). In its entirety, the Colosseum needed more than 100,000 cubic meters (328,084 cubic feet) of
stone, and of that only 45,000 cubic meters (147,638 cubic feet) was used to construct the walls.
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The most impressive aspects of the Colosseum are its arches. In fact, the Colosseum is almost completely made of arches; these arches are how the Colosseum could be built to such a scale with mere stone and metal tools. The Roman arch was the keystone to Rome’s architectural proficiency and mastery. The Roman arch is the precursor to almost all modern architecture. The strength of the arch comes from how it controls the pressure created by large structures. The archway’s design would divert the pressure and weight from the structure downwards and outwards. Walls and other supporting structures were often places beneath the arches to provide extra support. The arch compressed the force created by the buildings weight to become what we refer to as compressive stress. The most important features of the Roman arch are the center keystone and the rounded tops. The center keystone allows the arch to support the enormous amount of weight placed upon it, but at the same time bears almost no weight itself due to its position at the apex of the arch. Prior to the keystone being placed, the arch cannot bear any weight. The Roman arch is the grandfather of all architecture, but the keystone is the bedrock. The mastery of archways and keystones can be seen across all Roman architecture and is what enabled them to build longer roads and aqueducts than any previous civilization. Our use of the word keystone in modern language is influenced by how significant the keystone was to Roman architecture.
Examples of the arches found throughout the Colosseum.
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The walls and columns of the Colosseum are riddled with holes. This is because the travertine blocks used to construct the pillars where held together by iron clamps but have long since been stolen. After the fall of the Romans the Colosseum was continually repurposed and altered. This allowed for thieves and owners of the Colosseum to remove the iron clamps. The removal of the metal support structures in the Colosseum is one of the main reasons for the collapse of its outermost corridors and levels. It has been calculated that for the iron clamps used to hold the travertine blocks together, 300 tons of metal was used. These holes, however, allowed archaeologists to discover that many of the travertine blocks used in the Colosseum’s construction were recycled from other buildings. It has not been decided if the Colosseum was purposefully built this way, or if it is a result of later restoration efforts.
Examples of the holes which can be found through the Colosseum's walls.
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The main arena where events took place has a width diameter of 44 meters (144 feet) and a length diameter of 76 meters (269 feet). The floor of the main arena was made of long wooden planks, which would be often be covered in yellow sand from Monte Mario. For special events the arena would be covered in various colored sands mixed with minerals. Wood was used for the arena’s floor due to the labyrinth of chambers and tunnels beneath. The wood was easily replicable and didn’t risk breaking and falling into the passage ways beneath. When the wood was broken or stained with too much blood, it was merely replaced by other wood. The tunnels beneath the arena, however, were made from the travertine stone, and was used for a multitude of purposes. The animals which were fought in the games were most often kept under the arena in the labyrinth. It was also used as a storage facility for materials and weapons used by gladiators participating in the games.
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In ancient times, the Colosseum was decorated with beautiful marble stone. Most of the marble has been plundered or repurposed throughout history, but some remains today. The marble was used to make up the columns in the portico where the emperor sat, the barriers of the entrances in the main seats, the decorations around the arena and along the corridors around the main seats, the first two or three rows of seats reserved for the Senators and the decorations around those seats. Through the plundering and weathering of the marble, very little remains, but archeologists have found 65 tops of columns, 9 bases of columns, and various fragments of the barriers which would surround the seating area.
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A visit to the Colosseum is like visiting the cradle of the infant which would eventually grow to become modern architecture. An unforgettable experience for those familiar with its history and construction and a fantastic learning experience for those who are not.
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