Coliseum

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The Colosseum (ancient name: Amphitheatrum Novum or Amphitheatrum Flavium , Italian : Colosseo , Anfiteatro Flavio ) is the largest of the amphitheaters built in ancient Rome , the largest closed building in Roman antiquity and the largest amphitheater ever built in the world. Erected between 72 and 80 AD, the Colosseum served as the venue for mostly extremely cruel and brutal events, which were organized by members of the imperial family for the entertainment and amusement of the free residents of Rome and the Roman Empire with free entry. Today the ruin of the building is one of the landmarks of the city and at the same time a testimony to the high-quality architecture of the Romans in antiquity.

Coliseum
The Colosseum at night

Building history

The north view of the Colosseum illustrates the different column arrangements used on the arcades in the individual levels
Facade above the entrance area
Panorama of the interior from the northwest with a view of the reconstructed arena floor

The first stone amphitheater in Rome was the 29 BC. Chr. Inaugurated the amphitheater of the Statilius Taurus . Until it was destroyed by the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, it stood on the Field of Mars and should not have differed significantly from the amphitheatres outside Rome. After the fire, Emperor Nero not only built a wooden replacement at the same location, but also began a new palace complex, the Domus Aurea , on the southern slope of the Esquilin hill . The gardens of the Domus Aurea also included the later location of the Colosseum in the valley between the hills Oppius (part of the Esquiline) and Palatine Hill .

Around 72, a few years after Nero's fall, his successor Vespasian , who had won power in a bloody civil war, demonstratively gave the area back to the Roman public. There he had a new stone amphitheater built within a few years, which was supposed to surpass not only Nero's previous building on the Marsfeld, but all previous arenas in order to increase the fame of the new ruling dynasty of the Flavians . After a reconstruction of the building inscription of the Colosseum, its construction was financed in particular from the spoils of the Jewish war , among other things with the temple treasures of Jerusalem looted in the year 70 .

The building, which was originally supposed to have three storeys, was almost completed when Vespasian died in 79. It consisted of three rows of arcades with 80 arches each. The arcades were structured by half- columns: those on the ground floor in Doric , those on the second floor in Ionic and those on the third floor in Corinthian order . Allegedly at the request of Vespasian's son and successor Titus , a fourth floor was added to the three arched floors, which was not broken through by arcades, but rather solidly designed and only broken through by rectangular window niches. The outer walls of the Colosseum were made of Roman travertine , but the cheaper brick and tuff were used inside .

After its completion in the year 80, the Colosseum was opened, according to the historian Cassius Dio , with 100-day games, including gladiator fights, re-enactment sea battles and animal baiting, in which 5000 animals were killed in the arena.

Architecture

Sectional drawing from the Lexicon of All Technology (1904) by Otto Lueger

The Colosseum is not only an architectural masterpiece, it also does justice to the logistical problems of such a huge event area.

Entrance system

80 entrances around the arena enabled spectators to get to their seats directly. Four of these entrances were reserved for the top layer. Among these were the emperors, senators , vestals, and the male priests. A specially secured podium was set up on the edge of the arena for these important people.

Knights and ordinary citizens used the remaining 76 of the arched entrances. The surrounding corridors and the numerous stairs, which were mostly made of marble, led the audience up to the height of the third floor, from where they reached their seats in the rows of seats.

This ingenious system is still used today in stadium construction, which made it possible for spectators to clear the arena in just five minutes or to fill it in 15 minutes. The builders therefore gave this system the name vomitoria (from Latin vomere "to vomit").

The arrangement of the seats

Seating at the east entrance of the Colosseum. In the steps there are fragments of inscriptions that were used to divide the seating arrangement for certain population groups in the amphitheater

According to current calculations, the Colosseum could seat around 50,000 spectators. The podium , the first row of seats, was reserved for the Roman senators. The imperial lodge ( pulvinar ) was also located here. There were also special places for the Vestals , who traditionally attended public spectacles. Above was the Maenianum primum , which was reserved for the equites (knights). The rows above maenianum secundum were divided into three sectors. The lowest sector (imum) served the wealthy citizens, while the uppermost sector (summum) was reserved for the poorest residents of Rome. Only the women of the lowest classes were housed worse. There was standing room for them on a wooden structure on the top floor (maenianum summum in ligneis) that Titus had built.

The arena

Floor plan (different levels)

The Colosseum is built in the shape of an ellipse . Its width is 156 meters, the length 188 meters, the circumference 527 meters, the height 48 meters. The arena floor was also elliptical with a width of 54 meters and a length of 86 meters. The round shape was intended to prevent gladiators, those sentenced to death or hunted animals from taking shelter in a corner. The floor of the arena was made up of wooden planks that could be removed as required. Underneath were the basement rooms and the 7 meter thick foundation .

240 vertical masts were attached to the outer edge of the upper floor , on which a huge velarium could be raised to shade the interior. Marines from the Roman naval units stationed near Misenum (on the Gulf of Naples ) were used for this purpose.

Basement and stage technology

The space below the arena floor was originally not built on. After removing the wooden planks, it could be flooded, for example for the Naumachia (sea battles), as Titus demonstrably had performed for the inauguration of the Colosseum.

It is believed that the arena was subdivided into different basement rooms under Titus' brother and successor Domitian . This created the so-called hypogeum , a system of rooms, corridors and supply shafts . There were dungeons for those condemned to death, the underground access from the neighboring gladiator barracks ( Ludus Magnus ), cages for wild animals and the facilities of the extremely complicated stage machinery such as trap doors , ramps and elevators. With the help of a complex system of winches and pulleys , elaborate decorations and sets could be transported into the arena. Within a few minutes, for example, to the surprise of the audience, a complete forest or desert landscape could rise from the ground. It is unclear whether the arena could still be flooded.

Modern replica of the arena floor, on the right the reconstruction of a lifting platform with an open trap door.

  • The basement of the Colosseum

  • Cable winch guides with counterweights from a 3rd century lifting platform.

  • Cross-sectional model of the hypogeum of the Colosseum for the functioning of the stage machinery.

  • Detailed view of the construction of the winch and elevator technology with the counterweights.

Use of the Colosseum

As an arena, the Colosseum was in operation for almost 450 years, interrupted only from 217 to 238 when it had to be renovated after a fire caused by lightning on August 23, 217.

Imperial times

Detail of an animal baiting captured in stone from the Colosseum in Rome.

The Colosseum was the venue for what were usually extremely cruel games that were organized by members of the imperial family and to which every free resident of Rome had free access.

Common were mainly gladiator fights ( munera ) and animal hunts ( venationes ), where fighting between most exotic animals were the most popular. It is controversial whether the execution of convicts was carried out in the Colosseum , especially those on whom the damnatio ad bestias , death by wild animals, was imposed. The convicts were also forced to face each other with weapons, which was equivalent to a damnatio ad ferrum . The widespread assumption that numerous martyrs died in this way in the Colosseum as part of the persecution of Christians is not supported by ancient sources, and many researchers suspect that the executions took place elsewhere (see Sinn 2006).

At the beginning ship battles ( Naumachiae ) took place in the Colosseum, but this was no longer possible after the arena was basement. Some historians estimate that around 300,000 to 500,000 people died in the Colosseum over the centuries, and many millions of animals long after them. However, many scholars consider these numbers to be far too high, since gladiatorial fights were less fatal than often assumed.

Late antiquity

Even after the Christianization of the Roman Empire, in Rome, which had lost its role as the main residence first to Trier , then to Milan and finally Ravenna (Western Roman Empire) and Constantinople (Eastern Roman Empire), but was repeatedly visited by emperors, gladiator games continued organized, which were now often financed by rich senators, most recently probably 434/435. For Rome remained the seat of the Senate , and the aristocrats were expected to entertain the people.

Gaming activity had already been restricted under Emperor Honorius (395-423). The animal baiting ( venationes ), however, remained permitted and continued under the rule of the Ostrogoths even after the end of the Western Roman Empire . The last hate speech in the Colosseum reported by the sources took place in 523 under the rule of Theodoric the Great .

Christianity rejected the games, but this was not the decisive factor: it was only because of the rapid population decline in Rome during the 5th and 6th centuries that the effort was ultimately no longer worthwhile. At the time of the last animal baiting, the Colosseum had already been damaged by earthquakes, but Odoacer and the Ostrogoths still had extensive repairs carried out. The Colosseum fell into disrepair at the latest after the severe destruction that Rome suffered during the wars of reconquest of the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian . Since from then on no ruler resided in the city and the Senate soon no longer existed, it was not renovated again.

From the Middle Ages to today

Stone tablet above the entrance to the Colosseum on the east side, which identifies the amphitheater as a place of martyrs consecrated by Pope Benedict XIV
The Colosseum around 1858 with the Meta sudans in the foreground, which stood there until 1936.

Since the late 6th century, the remaining residents of the decaying city used the arcades and corridors of the Colosseum to furnish living quarters. Serious damage was caused by two earthquakes in 847 and 1349. In the 12th century, the arena was partly incorporated into the city fortress of the noble family of the Frangipani . Throughout the Middle Ages up to the Renaissance and Baroque periods , the ruling families of Rome and the Popes repeatedly used the Colosseum as a quarry for their buildings. Only the northern half of the outer ring of the monumental, four-storey facade was preserved.

The gradual destruction was only ended after Pope Benedict XIV declared the Colosseum a consecrated place of martyrs in the 18th century , established a Stations of the Cross with chapels and ordered the preservation of the Colosseum by edict of 1744. The background to this was the now controversial assumption (see above) that countless Christians died in the Colosseum for their beliefs.

In the meantime, the monument had long since become a sight for educational travelers in northern Europe, who saw in it a sublime example of the decline of its former greatness. In the Middle Ages there was so little knowledge of the building that it was often believed that it was a domed temple for the sun god; but in the Renaissance the real purpose of the building was recognized and since then the ancient Romans have been admired for their architecture. In the 19th century work began to secure the dilapidated building and to research it archaeologically . Investigations in the basement under the arena have only recently clarified the functionality of the ancient stage technology. However, the actual death of Christians in the Colosseum could not be confirmed by historical research, the ancient traditions refer to other places such as e.g. B. the circus of Nero.

Since 1964 there has been a Way of the Cross with the Pope in the Colosseum every Good Friday evening.

The Via dell'Impero realized by Mussolini leads directly to the Colosseum and thus creates a visual axis that provides many photos of Rome with an image axis with the Colosseum in the middle. This road connection, which was already planned in the Roman regulatory plans of 1873 and 1883, appears less conspicuous in a level position than in the plans of the 19th century, which provided for a viaduct. On the other hand, during the construction (1924–1932), in addition to numerous residential buildings, valuable ancient relics were simply destroyed - for example the base of Nero's colossal statue and the Meta Sudans, the remainder of an ancient fountain.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, discussions in Rome began to block or even dismantle the former Via dell'Impero, now known as the parade route of the fascist battalions, today Via dei Fori Imperiali . For decades, the Roman road traffic around the ancient monument caused considerable damage to the building fabric of the Colosseum with its exhaust fumes. The road north of the Colosseum has been closed to private car traffic since 2014.

The origin of the name

The ancient name Amphitheatrum Flavium is derived from the emperors of the Flavian dynasty , during whose reign the Colosseum was built.

The name Colosseum (cf. the originally ancient Greek kolossos ) can only be historically documented in the 8th century at the earliest . The predominantly accepted interpretation of this name is based on a colossal statue of the emperor Nero , which was converted into a statue of the sun god Sol after his death and placed next to the amphitheater. This Colossus , which stood at least until the 4th century, may have given the arena its name.

It can be ruled out that the Roman population of the Middle Ages called the building Colosseo simply because of its colossal dimensions , since the Italian word colosso for "colossus" has only been in use since the 15th century.

Monument against the death penalty

The Colosseum has served as a monument against the death penalty since 1999 . Whenever a death sentence is suspended or a state in the world abolishes the death penalty, the Colosseum is illuminated in bright colors for 48 hours. The campaign is supported by the Italian government and various human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Catholic Community of Sant'Egidio .

The Colosseum in Literature and Film

The Colosseum has always made a big impression on people. Beda Venerabilis coined the phrase dum colosseum stabit, Roma stabit as early as the 8th century ; dum Roma stabit, mundus stabit ( Eng . as long as the Colosseum stands, Rome will stand, as long as Rome stands, the world will stand ).

Examples of the modern use of the Colosseum as a film set include Bruce Lee's final battle in his 1972 film The Death Claw Strikes Again or the 2000 film Gladiator , for which part of the building was reconstructed in Malta and later completed with the help of a computer. In 2006, the film Jumper was recorded in the Colosseum .

In Asterix - Victory over Caesar , Obelix destroys parts of the Colosseum. The subsequent appearance afterwards is reminiscent of today's remains of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum as a symbol

Italian 5 cent coin

The striking ruin of the amphitheater has become a symbol of Rome and, in symbolic abbreviated form, is usually understood as a symbol for the entire city. The use of the burning Coliseum icon for the Nero Burning ROM software is historically incorrect, because the Roman Emperor Nero was falsely accused by his enemies of having caused the Great Fire of Rome (in 64), the Colosseum in its present size and shape was only built around 79 by one of his successors Vespasian on the area of ​​Nero's former palace.

literature

Web links

Commons : Colosseum  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Géza Alföldy : A building inscription from the Colosseum. In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . Volume 109, 1995, pp. 195-226 ( PDF ) = AE 1995, 111 .
  2. ↑ CIL 06, 32098m , CIL 06, 32098l , CIL 06, 32098i , CIL 06, 32098e , CIL 06, 32098b , CIL 06, 32098g , CIL 06, 32098c , CIL 06, 32098d , CIL 06, 32098a
  3. ↑ CIL 6, 2059 .
  4. ↑ Structurae : Colosseum
  5. ↑ Light against the Death Penalty. Die Welt , December 14, 1999, accessed February 15, 2014 .

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 24 ″  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 31 ″  E