When people think of the Roman Colosseum, they often think about the huge stone stadium structure and gladiator fights. While this is true, the Colosseum was much more than this. The Colosseum is not only an ancient structure, but also a symbol representing the power of the Roman Empire. This structure, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, entered construction in 72 CE in the reign of Vespasian. This building, which was built on a site that was once the lake and gardens of Emperor Nero’s Golden House, was part of a larger construction project by Emperor Vespasian in order to return Rome to its glory that it was before the recent civil war. The Colosseum was completed and first opened for business in the year 80 CE under the reign of Vespasian’s …show more content…
The final two doors were reserved for the Emperor’s use. Inside the structure, all three levels were filled with about 45,000 seats with enough space for 5,000 more standing spectators. Inside the structure, the Emperor and other dignitaries would be found by a wide marble terrace protected by a wall and contained ring-side seats, which was where they would be seated at. Beyond this area, the marble seats were divided into multiple zones for the different classes of people which included: the richer private citizens, middle class citizens, slaves, and foreigners. Aside from this, there were also wooden seats and standing room on the colonnade at the top levels, which is where women and the poor would sit/stand at. Being a massive structure, a lot of different types of stone were used to build this arena. One of these was travertine limestone, which was used for the main pillars, the ground floor, and the outer wall. This massive outer wall is estimated to have used over 100,000 cubic meters of travertine stone. All this was incredibly set without any mortar and held together by an estimated 300 tons worth of