It's true name is
Anfiteatro Flavio, everybody knows it by the name
of Colosseum and it is the symbol itself of the city
of Rome in the world. It was built in 72 A. D. by
Vespasian and finished eight years after by his son
Titus. The Colosseum was comparable, for its time,
to our stadiums, even if the performances were very
different from those of nowadays. The Roman people
gathered in mass to attend the Circus games (ludi
cistercenses), where the gladiators fought among themselves.
In the Colosseum performances were organised, often
bloody, in which gladiators, wild beasts and prisoners
condemned to death, fought for their lives. The elliptic
ring's longer axis measures 187 mt., the shorter 155
mt., the height of the highest ring is over 50 mt.,
the spectators could reach the number of 55.000. Centuries
passing by, left very little of the ancient pomp,
in fact the great amphitheatre was incredibly rich
of marbles an decorations, gone lost most of all during
the Renaissance, when the need for marble was exceptional
and most of the materials covering the monument were
removed and used elsewhere.
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