Colosseum
The Colosseum is an iconic ancient Roman amphitheater located in the center of Rome, Italy. Officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, it is a renowned symbol of Imperial Rome and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The Colosseum was built between A.D. 70-80 under the emperors Vespasian and Titus of the Flavian dynasty. It was used for gladiatorial contests, public spectacles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Roman mythology. (Kremer, 2025) In plan it was a vast ellipse 620 feet long and 513 feet wide. Each story of this structure possessed eighty openings on the outside wall, those on the ground floor forming entrances. The area of the arena, or center, was 180 ft. X 287 ft. surrounded by a wall 1.5 feet high. The seats were cut out of solid stone, raised one behind the other from the arena, and were supported by vaulting over corridors and staircases below. Under the lowest tier of seats were located dens for wild beasts, and these opened directly into the arena. In the auditorium, the seats were divided into four ranges, the two lower tiers being separated from the third by means of a wall. Access to the top row of seats, which was added later, was by means of staircases between the radiating walls and by corridors leading from the eighty entrances. On the exterior, the building was four stories in height, the openings being arched in the lower stories and flanked with columns, while the upper story was a flanked wall with pilasters, between which were brackets to support the masts, which in turn carried an immense velarium, or awning, extending over all of the seats. In no building of Roman construction is the character of architecture more clearly expressed than in this. These four stories erected of concrete, with arches (International Textbook, 1922) Photo from Rome, Italy, 2025.