The Colosseum

The Colosseum is very interesting. The day we visited it was day four in Rome and day 56 of our trip. It was also near 100 degrees and the sidewalk was melting! What I mean by that is that if you stood on one part of the sidewalk for a little bit and then moved, you could see your footprint in the sidewalk!

I learned that in about nine years, 60,000 Jewish slaves built the Colosseum. The colosseum’s original name was the Flavian Amphitheater which was named after the Flavian family line of Roman emperors. About 50,000 people could be sit it at once and it would take about 20 minutes for everyone to enter because there were 84 gates! There were brutal fights in the middle of the Colosseum including gladiator fights and animal fights. When gladiators fought wild animals, they would come face to face with the animal and one or the other would be ripped to pieces. Sometimes condemned prisoners would be put out naked without any weapons as a public execution. Over 400,000 people lost their lives and over a million animals were slaughtered. There were many disasters that happened to the Colosseum but the worst of all were the earthquakes of 847 AD and 1231 AD. This is why part of the top collapsed and was restored later on.

The Colosseum was an amazing place to see!