Bread and Circuses

Rome's Colosseum still ranks as the world's most famous sports arena, site of gladiator combat and the wholesale slaughter of wild beasts to amuse the public

This wide majestic oval with the broken-tooth profile is the world's most famous sports arena. Started in AD 70 on the filled-in site of one of Nero's artificial fish ponds (see sidebar), this grand amphitheater was the "bread and circus" of the Roman Empire, an arena of blood and gore to amuse 50,000 of the masses at a time.

Poor Flavians
The offiicial name for this giant sports arena is the Anfiteatro Flavio, or Flavian Amphitheater, because it was started by the Emperor Vespasian in AD 70 and finished by his son Titus in AD 80, and their family name was Flavian. The emperors never really got their due, though, because, even in antiquity, the stadium quickly earned the nickname "colosseum" (in Italian, colosseo).

See, before there was an arena here, there was a giant artificial fish pond built by Nero as part of his imperial pleasure gardens. Nero being Nero, his palatial complex (most of which lies buried under the hill just NNW of the Colosseum) included an enormous statue of himself as the god of the sun in golded bronze. At 35m (115 ft), this was the largest bronzestatue ever constructed, and the idea was to outdo the famed Wonder of the Ancient World, the Colosseus of Rhodes.

The statue was known as the Colosseus of Nero, or simply "The Colossus," and when Hadrian moved the thing (it took 24 elephants) to stand beside the Flavian Amphitheater in the early 1st century AD, the nickname spread to the arena as well. (Which, incidentally, is why it's properly spelled "Colosseum" and not "Coliseum.)"

The last remnants of the statue were destroyed in 1936, though you can still see its raised base, 7m (TK ft) to a side and planetd with an ilex grove, at the end of Via dei Fori Imperiali between the road and the Colosseum.

The inaugural contest in AD 80 lasted 100 days and killed off 5,000 beasts—these contests eventually drove to extinction several species, including the Middle Eastern lion and North African elephant—and countless gladiators.

The Life and Death of a Gladiator

Russell Crowe aside, professional gladiators were young men (sometimes women) who, either poor or ruined, slaves or criminals, were lured by the promise of prize riches to sell themselves into a kind of slavery to the trainers and lead brutish, dangerous lives.

If a gladiator was seriously wounded but not mortally, he stretched out on the ground and raised his left arm for mercy. The victor then usually decided his opponent's fate, however, when the emperor was around, he got to make the call, giving us a gesture we still use today.

Gauging the crowd's reaction, he judged whether to spare the loser by flashing the thumbs-up signal, or give the order to finish him off by gesturing thumbs down. (Some spoilsports would have us believe the two gestures in ancient times were actually thumbs-down for death and thumbs-sideways for life; I try to ignore these people.)

The only release from gladiatorial life was death in the ring or the granting by the emperor of the rudis, a wooden sword that signaled a dignified, well-earned retirement from the games.

Incidentally, Christians were not thrown to the lions here—or at least an event was probably never billed as such. It was true that oftentimes prisoners were tossed into the arena to fight to the death with wild animals, and since Christianity was outlawed at various times during the Empire, Christ worshippers were probably among those unfortunates on occasion. But it's unlikely many screamed for Christian blood by name.

How to Build a Colosseum

Architecturally, the Colosseum is a poster child for the classical orders of architecture: three levels of arcades set with by niches once filled by statues and supported by columns that became more ornate with each level, following the Greek orders of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, respectively.

A fourth level, plainer in design, supported an apparatus of pulleys, beams, and canvas that created a retractable roof, winched out by a specially trained troupe of sailors to shade the seats from sun and rain. (Astrodome, eat your heart out.)

Visiting the Colosseum

"While the Colosseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Colosseum falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, the world shall fall."
—AD 7th century Anglo-Saxon pilgrims' proverb, quoted by the Venerable Bede

The most impressive aspect of the Colosseum is viewing it from afar, admiring that unmistakable silhouette, the symbol of Rome itself. The interior is, frankly, a bit disappointing, although the recent reopening of the upper levels to visitors has dramatically improved a visit (and goes a long way to justifying the admission price).

The Colosseum fell into disuse as the empire waned; earthquakes caused considerable damage, and later generations recycled its stone building blocks and marble cladding as a mine of precut building materials for their medieval buildings, Renaissance churches, and baroque palaces. The seats are gone, as is the wooden floor, though one-fifth of it has been restored so you can see how it once appeared.

The overall impression, though, is that of a series of nested broken eggshells of crumbling brick, littered with lazing cats and cupping a maze of walls in the center (these walls mark the corridors and holding pens for the animals, equipment, and gladiators).

Booking entrance tickets
Book your entry ticket to the Colosseum ahead of time and save yourself an hour in line. Bonus: the ticket also includes the Palatine Hill: tel. +39-06-3996-7700, or on-line at www.pierreci.it

You'll notice as you're waiting in line (though you should book tickets ahead of time; see sidebar) a huge marble arch standing alone between the Colosseum and the back entrance to the Roman Forum. This is the Arch of Constantine, one of the largest of Rome's ancient triumphal arches.

Piazza del Colosseo
tel. 06-700-4261.
Daily.