Byron and Hitler were equally entranced by Rome’s most famous monument, the Colosseum. Mid-Victorians admired the hundreds of varieties of flowers in its crannies and occasionally shuddered at its reputation for contagion, danger, and sexual temptation. Today it is the highlight of a tour of Italy for more than three million visitors a year, a concert arena for the likes of Paul McCartney, and a national symbol of opposition to the death penalty. Its ancient history is chock full of romantic but erroneous myths. There is no evidence that any gladiator ever said “Hail Caesar, those about to die...” and we know of not one single Christian martyr who met his finish here. Yet the reality is much stranger than the legend as the authors, two prominent classical historians, explain in this absorbing account. We learn the details of how the arena was built and at what cost; we are introduced to the emperors who sometimes fought in gladiatorial games staged at the Colosseum; and we take measure of the audience who reveled in, or opposed, these games. The authors also trace the strange afterlife of the monument—as fortress, shrine of martyrs, church, and glue factory. Why are we so fascinated with this arena of death?

Inside the enormous, boldly designed Roman Colosseum, gladiators fought for their lives as citizens watched the deadly "entertainment." Completed in 96 AD, it's a miraculous feat of engineering. This noble monument, and the ancient empire that created it, await young readers on these stunningly illustrated pages. Curious children can discover why and how the Colosseum was built; how it was decorated; who was allowed to enter; what took place behind the scenes; and what the Roman world was like. Full-color cutaways reveal the details of this astounding architectural achievement, and pinpoint enlargements focus on the day-to-day life of the people including how they ate, dressed, and sometimes fought."

The Colosseum in Rome is one of the world's most amazing buildings. Built over 10 years during the reign of the Emperor Vespasiano in c. 72AD, at 160 feet high this immense oval stadium was home to the most violent and deadly spectator sports in history, and the making of many 'gladiator' heroes. Using state-of-the-art computer graphics, Colosseum brings the world of Ancient Rome to life and shows how and why this most extraordinary of human monuments was built. New research debunks the myths perpetuated in the film Gladiator and helps us understand the nature of these games - why the chariot races of Gladiator could not have happened within the Colosseum walls, for instance. Here for the first time, new evidence reveals exactly how the Colosseum was regularly flooded with water for the spectacle of deadly sea battles.

Discusses the history of the Roman Forum and Colosseum, two large meeting places, and the uses to which they were put during the last years of the Roman Republic and the early years of the Roman Empire.

Describes the building of the Colosseum in ancient Rome, and tells how it was used.

*Includes pictures. *Includes ancient accounts of gladiatorial games and other spectacles. *Explains how the Colosseum was designed and built, as well as how seating was arranged. *Describes the different classes of Roman gladiators and the armor and weaponry they used. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. “He vows to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword." - The gladiator's oath, according to Petronius in the Satyricon. When the Colosseum was built in the late 1st century A.D., the Romans, a people known for their architectural acumen, managed to amaze themselves. Martial, a Roman poet writing during the inauguration of the Colosseum, clearly believed the Colosseum was so grand a monument that it was even greater than the other Wonders of the Ancient World, which had been written about and visited endlessly by the Romans and Greeks in antiquity. Indeed, although the Wonders were wondrous to behold, the Colosseum was a spectacular achievement in architecture, something new and innovative, and therefore an amazing “Wonder” in its own way. The Colosseum was designed to be both a symbol and show of strength by the famous Flavian emperors, most notably Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. Vespasian had started the construction of the Colosseum shortly after becoming emperor in 69 A.D., but he died before he could present any spectacles in his giant amphitheatre. That honor went to his son Titus, who celebrated the inaugural opening in 80 A.D. with 100 days of games, despite the fact that the Colosseum was not completely finished. When his brother Domitian came to power in 81 A.D., he finished the amphitheatre, but not without making some changes to the overall design. By the time it was truly finished, the Colosseum stood about 150 feet tall, with the oval in the center stretching nearly two football fields long and over 500 feet across. The Colosseum is a large stadium even by today's standards, and its great size conveys the power of the empire as it dominates the landscape and towers over nearby buildings. Of course, the main events in the Colosseum were gladiator fights. Gladiators are somewhat synonymous with ancient Rome, and even thousands of years after they performed on the sands, when people are asked about Roman culture, many think about and refer to the bloody spectacles of men fighting to the death in the arena. Gladiatorial combat is often regarded as barbaric, and most find it very difficult to comprehend how people could have enjoyed watching something so violent, but nevertheless, the spectacle still intrigues and fascinates people today, whether in movies like Gladiator or television shows about Spartacus. Each match usually pitted one type of gladiator against a different type of gladiator, with each having their own kind of armor, weaponry and fighting style. For example, the retiarius was a gladiator that used a net, dagger and trident as his offensive weapons, while only wearing a protective guard over his left arm for protection. The retiarius would typically fight against the secutor, a gladiator armed with a sword, large shield, helmet and protective covering on his right arm and left leg. Therefore, a retiarius sacrificed armor for quickness in battle, while the secutor did the opposite. Although people often think of gladiators fighting to the death, the outcome of gladiatorial combats was not always fatal for one of the participants. If a gladiator fought well, the sponsor of the show could spare him, particularly if the crowd desired it. The fact that the outcome of matches was never the same and the crowd could help determine the result of the match certainly added to the Roman public's pleasure, making it a lot less surprising that such an abhorrent spectacle still fascinated the modern world.