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In the city of Rome stands an ancient stadium - the largest amphitheater ever built.
Once the home of battling gladiators, staged sea battles, and re-enactments of ancient
myths, today it is a tourist attraction, and an icon of ancient Rome.
Although partially ruined, it has endured for nearly two thousand years.
Originally called the Flavian Amphitheater, it is now known around the world as the Colosseum.
Construction began on the Colosseum in 72 AD under the direction of the Emperor Vespasian.
Built by thousands of slaves and made of stone, bricks, and concrete, once complete it could
seat 50,000 people.
It was 620 feet or 189 meters long, 512 feet or 156 meters wide, and 158 feet or 50 meters tall.
That's as tall as a twelve story building!
Although it would take only eight years to build, Vespasian died before it was finished
and the Colosseum was opened by his son, the Emperor Titus.
The first games held in the newly completed Colosseum lasted for a hundred days!
Admission to these games was free, and helped keep the emperor popular with the people of Rome.
Thousands of animals fought and were killed as crowds cheered - everything from elephants
and tigers to bears and bulls.
Criminals were also executed there.
Sometimes they were used in reenactments of ancient myths and stories where the character
would be attacked by animals, like Prometheus, or flung to their death, like Icarus.
The most famous attractions of the Colosseum, however, were gladiators.
Professional fighters, they battled each other in a combat to the death for the entertainment
of the people.
Successful gladiators could become celebrities, drawing huge crowds and earning riches that
would allow them to retire in comfort - assuming they lived that long.
Sometimes, however, a more impressive spectacle than gladitoral combat was held in the Colosseum:
mock sea battles, called Naumachia.
The Colosseum had been built on the site of an artificial lake, and underneath it ran
channels that could divert water from a nearby aqueduct to flood the arena floor until the
water was deep enough that real ships could sail on it.
Once the sea battle was over, the Colosseum could be drained quickly to allow another
event to take place on dry land.
These sea battles were only held in the Colosseum for a short time.
Soon, the area under the arena floor was remodeled and a complicated structure, called the hypogeum,
was built.
The hypogeum was an underground maze of tunnels and cages, with elevators that allowed animals
and gladiators to suddenly enter the arena through trapdoors in the floor.
Fighters in the Colosseum could never be sure what their next challenge would be, or where
it would come from.
Fights and hunts were held in the Colosseum for hundreds of years.
Over time the amphitheater was damaged by fire and earthquakes, and by the 6th century
its use as an arena was largely over.
In 1349 a major earthquake toppled part of the outer wall, and the fallen stone was taken
away to use in other buildings.
For centuries, the Colosseum crumbled gradually into ruin.
Restoration of the Colosseum began in the 1800s and continues to this day.
It is now a major tourist attraction, as well as a World Heritage Site.
Millions of people each year visit the Colosseum to learn about its ancient history and stand
where emperors and gladiators once did.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Colosseum today.
Goodbye till next time!