The Roman Colosseum

Korben Bergmann and Taylor Jackson

Why was the
Colosseum
built?
The colosseum was built as a gift to the Roman
people from Emperor Vespasian. Although Vespasian
did not live to see the glory of his gift (He decided it
would be a great idea to take his life) His son Titus
finished the final product and opened it with 100 days
of games.
http://www.myartprints.
com/kunst/peter_paul_rubens/the_em
peror_vespasian_hi.jpg
http://www.wikigallery.
org/paintings/391501-
392000/391706/painting1.jpg
Vespasian (left)
and Titus (right)
How was the
Colosseum
Built?
It took 8 years to build the colosseum, surely
something so large and sturdily built would take a
much much longer time to build, considering they
didn't have cranes, bull dozers, or fork lifts to life
and move the many tons of rocks put in to build
the monumentus structure. Well an estimated
10,000 slaves were brought back to Rome after
the Jewish war, needless to say, Vespasian had a
large work force that he could command to do
what he pleased. The slaves were used to work in
the quarries and for lifting and carrying the stone
20 miles to where the colosseum was being built.
Professional artists, architects and painters were
recruited to work on the decorative parts of the
Colosseum. Gotta make it nice and pretty for all
those vicious wild animals and bloodthirsty
gladiator's!
http://ritabay.files.wordpress.
com/2012/02/the-original-menorah-on-
the-arch-of-titus.jpg
What was the Colosseums purpose?
The main purpose of the Colosseum was to have
a permanent set arena in rome to stage various
events for the people of Rome to watch. It was also
there to showcase new exotic animals that were taken
from all over the world, as well as re-enacting famous
victories and battles won by the Romans. If there
happened to be an extraordinary battle won at sea
they would flood the colosseum with water and stage
the fight on boats.
This monumentus place was not only there for
entertainment but it was also there to showcase
roman engineering and new building processes. A
good example what the large labyrinth and many
animal pens as well as jail cells that were set in for
wild animals and Prisoners.
http://www.the-colosseum.
net/images/slideshow/games.jpg
Famous people
that fought in
the Colosseum
There were really no famous people
that fought in the Colosseum. Gladiators
may have become popular for killing or
maming other gladiators, or taking down
vishous wild animals like lions or tigers. The
Gladiators that paid more attention to the
crowd, or put on a better show than the
others may have become more popular over
time, and gained more favor over the others.
http://urbanveganchic.files.
wordpress.com/2012/08/roman-
gladiators.jpg
Common Weapons that
were used
There were a few common
tools that the Gladiators were
supplied with. It was commonly a
sword or a lance, a shield, and
maybe a net. As far as safety and
armor went they were dressed in a
loincloth given a Galea (A visored
helmet), a Galerius (a metal
shoulder piece), and a Scutum (A
long shield).
(Scutum)
http://media.moddb.
com/images/articles/1/29/28121/auto/scutum
.jpg
(Roman Galea)
http://fcsurplus.
com/wild/images
/870330web.jpg
http://upload.
wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/com
mons/7/71/Uncros
sed_gladius.jpg
Where were
animals and
gladiators
kept?
Under the colosseum there was a
labyrinth with many, many cages
that held everything from wild
animals to prisoners of war that were
there as gladiators. Many times
animals and people would be moved
from their cage and would never
return due to the fact that they were
most likely slaughtered on the field.
http://static.cosmiq.
de/data/de/d33/56/d335663caf281794c7039a2ee4041
832_1_orig.jpg
Change Over Time
The coliseum didn't create its own culture it
was more like a magnification of the roman
culture. and the only main reason why it
fell was because a christian egyptian after
seeing a gladiator killed screamed that it
was wrong in the name of christ. then the
emperor at the time declared that the
coliseum would not be used any more.
http://www.crystalinks.
com/colosseum450.jpg
What did we do?
We created a to scale model of the
roman coliseum. It is 615 ft long by 510 ft
wide and 187 ft tall. with 76 entrances in
total.
Resources
"Building the Colosseum." Building the Colosseum. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/colosseum/building-the-colosseum.
htm>.
"Colosseum." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/colosseum>.
"Gladiator." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator>.
"Gladiators Weapons." About.com Ancient / Classical History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
<http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/games/a/gladiatorweapon.htm>.
"Gladiators, Chariots, and the Roman Games." ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.ushistory.org/civ/6e.
asp>.
"Purpose of the Colosseum." Purpose of the Colosseum. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/colosseum/purpose-of-the-
colosseum.htm>.