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​The Roman Colosseum

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​​​​This piece is an extensive Virtual Tour of the Roman Colosseum with views from one of the main entrances, of gladiators fighting, ships portraying naval combat, views from the upper gallery and from the rooftop.

 

The Colosseum could hold over 50,000 people.  It was segregated by class with the patrician class seated in the lower tier, while the common people sat in the upper tiers.  On the roof of the Colosseum, Roman sailors were employed to extend tarps to protect crowds from the sun and rain.

Gladiators fought either animals or each other in elaborate games, with some game events lasting weeks and thousands of participants.  Some gladiators became famous and were followed much like sports teams today. 

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Roman scribes claim that at some of the Colosseum games, the arena was filled with water to stage naval battles.  The building and it's basements have been altered extensively since, so it is unknown how water was pumped into the main arena.  In later years, a network of passages ran under the arena to channel wild animals from cages with ramps and elevators lifting them to the arena floor. 

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It is estimated that over a half million people and over a million animals died in the games over the course of 450 years.  Over the years, the Colosseum has decayed from earthquakes, erosion and citizens taking stones for new buildings.

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