History, photos and video of the Roman Colosseum –

Few monuments represent the splendor of an era as clearly as the Roman Coliseum. Today in Superhistory we review the history of one of the symbols of the unimaginable power that the Roman Empire came to have.

The Roman Coliseum

The Rome Coliseum It is, without a doubt, one of the most important monuments in Italy and a classic in the list of wonders of the world. It is a huge amphitheater with capacity for more than 75,000 people, where all kinds of shows took place that became the center of leisure in the city of Rome. As many historians of the time point out, people of all peoples and cultures came to Rome just to see the legendary gladiator fights, fights with beasts or chariot races.

The Roman Colosseum is located in the Piazza del Colosseum, a very central point of the city, just 500 meters from the Forum and very close to other monuments such as the Arch of Constantine or the Palatine, some of the best known and most representative of the city of Rome. It can be accessed on foot, or by urban transport, perhaps the easiest way to get there is by taking the metro, taking line B and getting off at the “Colosseo” station.

For those who want to visit the Colosseum, the entry for adults it costs 12 euros, for those between 18 and 24 years old it costs 7.50 euros, and it is free for those who are under 18 or over 65 years old. There is also the possibility of obtaining tickets at a better price by visiting other monuments together, such as the Paladino and the Forum.

History of the Colosseum in Rome

The Roman Colosseum began to be built in the year 72 AD and the works finished 8 years later, in the year 80. For its inauguration, one of the greatest shows in memory was staged, widely documented by writers of the time such as the poet Marcial. The celebrations extended, neither more nor less, than during 100 daysin which all kinds of shows took place, mainly gladiatorial combat and wild animal hunts. It even came to represent a naval battle, in which it would be the only time that the Colosseum would be filled with water. During the 100 days that the celebrations for the opening of the Colosseum lasted, more than 9,000 wild animals were killed in the hunts, and hundreds of gladiators lost their lives.

The shows of the opening party are remembered by historians as the most magnificent in the history of Rome, but the Roman citizens, the plebs, were also enthusiastic about the celebration of the most common shows, which used to coincide with the festivities of the Roman Empire, or with some other celebration by the emperor. These shows used to consist of hunts and gladiatorial combats, lasted between 3 and 6 days and they were announced by graffiti on the facades of the city. Admission was free and the population, who eagerly awaited these shows, made long queues at night to be able to witness them.

Another of the most common shows at the Coliseum were the missions. It basically consisted of releasing two animals of different species in the arena so that they would fight each other. In general, they wanted the mixture to be as exotic as possible, and thus they faced each other bulls, elephants, tigers, lions, giraffes, hippos, rhinos and other species of wild animals. There was also missions in which massive combats between wild animals were carried out, in this case they were called passive missions. Generally, these massive fights between animals ended in a hunting raid.

However, the real highlight of the shows were the fights between gladiators. These were received at the sound of trumpets and to cheers and applause from the public. On many occasions, the public forgave those defeated gladiators who had fought with honor. The dead gladiators were brought to the destrictoriuma kind of morgue in which the human and animal remains that fell during the combats or the venatius (hunting).

It should also be noted that in the Colosseum not everything was fights, hunts and shows in which blood and violence reigned. Other types of shows were also held at the Colosseum in Rome, such as theater performances that recreated classic battles or stories from Roman mythology.

The last show that is recorded in the Roman Coliseum was in the year 523 and it consisted of a hunting raid. During the High and Late Middle Ages, the coliseum ceased to be used for these purposes and some of its parts began to be used for the construction of other monuments. It is not until he is turned into a christian shrine when the plundering of the parts of the coliseum is finished, which is why today it presents its current state of conservation.

It goes without saying that today it is one of the most important tourist attractions in Italy and in Europe. Not surprisingly, it has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980 and was chosen as one of the new 7 wonders of the world in 2007.

Photos of the Roman Colosseum

Click on the following gallery to see some images of the Colosseum in Rome.

We hope this information has been helpful to you. To finish, we leave you with a video and some links that you might find interesting to complete the information in the article.

Video of the Roman Colosseum

In this documentary you can continue learning many more things about the Colosseum in Rome, one of the symbols of Rome, Italy and what was the period of splendor of the Roman Empire.

Links of interest

In Superhistory we have many other articles that you may find very interesting if you want to know more about some of the most important buildings and monuments in the world:

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