The Roman Colosseum Free Essays

The Roman Colosseum was built around 70 AD and was opened around 80 AD. The Roman Colosseum is an amphitheatre in the center of rome. It was a gift to the people of roman. We will write a custom essay sample on The Roman Colosseum or any similar topic only for you Order Now The colosseum was used as many things such as gladiator battles, execution, drama, animal hunts, mock sea battles. The colosseum is 157 feet tall and covers 6 acres of ground. The Colosseum was also thought to of been designed by many different people, not just one. The Colosseum can hold up to 50,000 people and has 80 or more entrances. The games and even festivals could last up to 100 days at the Colosseum. The Romans would sometimes flood the Colosseum and have miniature naval battles. In the first games held at the Colosseum somewhere around 9,000 wild animals were slaughtered. People think that through all the games held at the Colosseum somewhere around one million animals have been killed and 500,000 people have been killed also. The Colosseum is the most famous tourist attraction site in all of Rome and it gets millions of views every year. In animal games, some animals were wiped out entirely from the face of the earth. One of the animals was the North African Elephant it was also a war animal. The Hippopotamus is not even found in the Nile river anymore because of this. The Hypogeum was the area beneath the Colosseum and it had to levels to it. There were over 32 different animal cages and 80 vertical shafts leading straight to the Colosseum floor. Gladiators were usually slaves but not always, somewhere ex-soldiers trying to show off their ability of fighting. The fighting didn’t always go to the death. There were referees that would stop the fighting after someone was seriously injured. Sometimes they both got to leave the arena if the enthused the crowd. Gladiator battles were originally funeral services. Gladiators didn’t just fight anyone, it was kind of like MMA fighting were the have weight groups, gladiators had classes based off of record, skill, and experience. Some gladiators were women. They fought in the Colosseum same as men did. Although their participation in the gladiator games might have ended somewhere around 200 A.D. In the Colosseum the also did dramas and plays. They did comedy plays and tragedy plays. One actor could play many different characters because they wore mask and would go behind a background and change their mask into a different character. The mask would have different expression on them so the audience knew what how the character was feeling. At first all actors were males and when playing a womens part, they just dressed up like a girl and used a high pitched voice. Their costumes were very dramatic and oversized so they could be seen in the back of the theater. In the theater they also had animal and gladiator battles. They even had animal on animal fights. In one animal on animal fight an elephant picked up a spear with his trunk and stabbed a rhino’s eyes out. One man one time beat 20 different animals in a single battle, they were all lions and bears and leopards. How to cite The Roman Colosseum, Papers