The Colosseum, or the Flavian Amphitheater, built during the reign of the emperors Vespasian and his son Titus in the 70s - 80s. AD, is a testament to the exceptional engineering and construction abilities of the people of Ancient Rome. For centuries, it has remained the most ambitious entertainment structure ever built.
In ancient Rome, the concept of "people" meant free citizens who had the rights of citizenship. The Roman people consisted of patricians - people of noble birth and plebeians - ordinary people. Over the centuries of its history, the Roman state waged almost continuous wars. And as one of the results - in ancient Rome there were a huge number of slaves. Slave labor was practically free and, over time, became a significant competition for free labor. The ruin of the plebeians in the 2nd century A. D. became widespread. Rome was full of unemployed citizens supported by the state. But besides bread, they demanded spectacles.
Gladiator fights became one of the most important entertainments. Deprived of real life, here unemployed citizens could feel like arbiters of destinies. With a single gesture of the hand, they gave or took away lives. The word "gladiator" comes from the Latin word gladius, which means sword. And the very spectacular battle of armed people originates from the Etruscan funeral rite. The Romans, who adopted this tradition, also initially staged demonstration battles during the funeral of their dead comrades. But over time, gladiatorial fighting turned into a real industry with special schools. They received the recognition of the state and many noble people, including emperors, had their own troupes of gladiators.
Each group of gladiators had their own weapons and their own fans, between which from time to time there were far from comic clashes. Gladiators fought in pairs, groups and whole crowds, representing the armies of different nations. Of particular interest to the public were the battles in which the animals took part. Even a special kind of athletes stood out - bestiaries who measured their strength exclusively with animals. Some gladiators sought special respect from the public, the most skillful and fortunate managed to win dozens of victories.
At first, gladiatorial games were staged in the circus, but in 29 BC. the wealthy citizen Statilius Taurus built the first stone amphitheater on the Champ de Mars, designed specifically for this type of entertainment. The very word "amphitheater" is Greek, it is customary to denote a structure for all sorts of shows, where spectator seats are located on all sides of the arena. In the era of the empire, the construction of spectacular structures in ancient Rome reached a special scale. A huge number of them were built on the territory of modern Italy, and even more in the provinces.
A feature of the architecture of Roman theaters and amphitheaters is the widespread use of supporting structures for the construction of spectator seats. In Greece, hillsides were almost always used for this. The seats for spectators were arranged in tiers, rising from the arena at an angle of 30 degrees. They were matched by galleries, which were connected to the spectator's seats by foyer corridors. The galleries were covered with vaults, which are visible on the facade in the form of rows of arches - arcades. The amphitheater, which has two tiers of galleries, was considered large. The grandiose amphitheater was built in Rome under the Flavians. The construction of the emperor Vespasian began, and his son, the emperor Titus, finished.
The Flavian Amphitheater is most often referred to as the Colosseum. The name most likely comes from the Latin word colosseus - huge, colossal. Indeed, the Colosseum surpassed them all with its dimensions - 155, 64 by 187, 77 meters.
The facade of the Colosseum is made in the form of repeating semicircular arches, separated from each other by semicolumns. This is the so-called Roman architectural cell, developed by the masters of the Eternal City and widely used in world architecture. The Flavian Amphitheater has three tiers of arcades and a wall with windows in the fourth tier. The total height of the structure is 48.5 meters. It was the invention of concrete by the Romans that made it possible to build this miracle of architectural genius.
The cells on the facade of the Colosseum alternate in a special way from bottom to top, in accordance with the applied version of the order. Below, the most powerful in its proportions is the Tuscan - Roman version of the Doric. Above it are a number of slender Ionic half-columns. Even higher - Corinthian half-columns - the most graceful in this row. The uppermost tier, completed later, is decorated with pilasters with Corinthian capitals.
In ancient times, a sculpture was placed on the second and third floors in the openings of the arches. Shields were installed between the windows of the fourth tier. Even higher, there was a row of masts that supported the awning, it protected the audience in the rain or in intense heat.
In the Middle Ages, the Flavian amphitheater served as a quarry; as a result, it lost about two-thirds of its mass. Powerful substructures were exposed, which served as the basis for the spectator tribunes. The Colosseum could hold about 50 thousand spectators. But there never was a crowd. 76 of the 80 arches of the facade served as entrances and exits. Those hungry for spectacles easily found their place by checking the number on the ticket. Four arches at the ends of the building had no numbers, through which the emperor entered with his entourage and gladiators.
The cover of the arena also disappeared. Now you can see from above the premises that used to be located under it - the hypoeum. These are numerous passages, gladiator chambers, animal cages and warehouses. Complex mechanisms were hidden here, with the help of which the decorations were raised and lowered.
In the arena measuring 85 by 53 meters, up to 3 thousand pairs of gladiators could fight at the same time. Before the construction of underground utilities, a canal system was used. Water was supplied through them, turning the arena into a lake, and then naval battles were played out.
The imposing mass of the building served as the epitome of the steadfastness of the Roman Empire itself. Each of the thousands of crowds that filled the Colosseum felt like a part of a great and mighty state that had subordinated many nations to its will.
