Art history

Running Head : THE COLOSSEUM Art History - The Colosseum (Your complete name (Name of your school (Name of your teacher (Name of the subject

The Colosseum

History

Colosseum 's original Latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium , frequently called in modern English name as Flavian Amphitheater , because it was constructed by emperors of the Flavian dynasty , hence its original name The name Colosseum has long been believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Emperor Nero located nearby . The structure was known as the greatest amphitheatre of the antiquity . It is situated in

Rome , Italy just east of the Roman Forum and surrounded by three of Rome 's famous seven hills which are Coelian , Esquiline and Palatine hills that were on the shore of a little Nero 's lake , which during certain seasons caused the site to become a wetland

The building was commissioned by Emperor Vespasian , the 9th Roman emperor , in around 70 AD to72 AD . It was built by Jewish slaves captured at the end of the Great Jewish Revolt . The main intention of Emperor Vespasian was to give a piece of the Empire back to the Roman people because he was loosing his fame as an emperor . To regain Romans favor back , he decided to give his nation a public building as a "present " to them . He wanted his people to know that he was concerned about them and was going to take care of them and not live a luxurious life like their former leader Nero . Later on 80 AD the Colosseum was completed by his son named Emperor Titus and improved by Emperor Domitian , Titus ' younger brother . The building was over 160 ft high with eighty entrances and could seat more than 50 ,000 spectators . Two of the entrances were used by Emperor Titus and two for the gladiators . After it was completed in 80 AD , Titus provided a grand celebration of 100 days with games in which thousands of animals and gladiators were killed . Such games and blood sports were provided by the Emperor to obtain and keep the favor of the Roman citizens

Purpose

Colosseum was used mainly for the entertainment . Most of the popular games during that time were hosted in the Colosseum such as gladiator fights (munera , wild animal hunts (venationes , and naval battles (naumachiae

Basically gladiatorial fights which were considered as the bloody forms of entertainment served as political purposes . They were to teach the local Romans how to fight in preparation for visits outside their empire and to display the strength and courage of the Roman citizen to unemployed visitors to the city of Rome . The gladiators of such shows were professional fighters or people who were captured to fight or were usually recruited from criminals , slaves (especially captured fugitives , and prisoners of war . They entertained the people of Rome by engaging in a mortal combat inside the Colosseum . After 404 AD gladiatorial battles were no longer held

Naval battles were one of the popular shows in the Roman Colosseum . Such...