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The Roman-Colosseum was an enormous egg-shaped structure in Rome’s heart. “Also called Coliseum formerly the Flavian Amphitheatre or Amphitheatrum-Flavium in Latino, and Anfiteatro-Flavio (Colosseo) in Italian, is an oval amphitheater at the heart of Rome, Italy, the biggest ever constructed Colosseum in the Roman Empire” (Coarelli, 2002). This construction has been regarded as, one of the most impressive works of Roman architectural designing and Roman engineering. The construction which was commenced in71 AD during the reign of Vespasian (a Roman emperor), was completed at around 80-AD during the times of Emperor Titus. Situated on the eastern side of the Roman Forum, the Colosseum was further modified at the time of Emperor Domitian at about 81 to 96 AD.
It is given the name Amphitheatrum Flavium, coined out of two emperor’s family names (Vespasian and Titus). Able to seat a sixty thousand audience, the Colosseum was mainly used to host gladiator challenges and communal exhibitions i.e. mock sea-battles, wild animal hunting, executions, reenactments of celebrated encounters, or dramas centered on traditional mythologies. The construction was officially closed down as an entertainment arena during the early medieval period. The Colosseum was afterward re-used for the purposes of accommodation, meetings, residence for a sacred order, fortification, quarry, and a religious place of worship.
As much it is in a somewhat ruined condition, as a result of damage brought about by destructive earthquakes and stone robbers, the construction is a symbolic figure of Imperial Rome. The Colosseum is, “one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit “Way of the Cross” procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum” (Panini, 1996). This piece of architectural work is again represented on the Italian edition of the five-cent Euro-coin. This paper will therefore focus on the Roman Colosseum as a piece of architectural construction.
The Colosseum is one of the most impressive buildings of the Roman Empire. The Colosseum was identified as the Flavian-Amphitheater, “and the largest building of the early medieval period. To be concise, the Colosseum was designed to hold 60, 000 people, has terraced seats, and it had approximately eighty entrances so that people could arrive or leave easily and quickly” (Coarelli, 2002). Its plan is a vast ellipse, measuring externally 615ft X 510ft. The exterior of the Colosseum has a Doric column on the 1st floor, an Ionic column on the 2nd floor, a Corinthian column on the 3rd floor, and the 4th floor was made of the wall to support the tent poles called Velarium that protected the audience from sun.
Construction of this building was initiated under the reign of Vespasian approximately 71-AD. “The construction-site selected, was a level ground on the base of low valleys flanked by the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills, where a canalized river ran” (Coarelli, 2002). Towards the end of the second century BC, the region was densely populated. Later, it was destroyed by a fire (Great Fire of Rome) in 64-AD. The Colosseum was 3 stories up when Vespasian died in 79 AD.
The topmost part was later completed and the construction was inaugurated by the son (Titus), in 80-AD. During the inauguration, more than nine thousand wild animals were killed in the opening matches of the amphitheater. The structure was re-modeled further at the time of Vespasian’s youngest son, a newly chosen ruler Domitian, who built the hypogeum, a chain of secretive tunnels for housing wild animals and slaves. He again added galleries on the upper part to enlarge the seating capacity.
In 217, “the Colosseum was badly damaged by a major fire (supposedly caused by lightning) which destroyed the wooden upper-levels of the amphitheatre’s interior. It was not fully repaired until about 240 and underwent further repairs in 250 or 252 and 320” (Panini, 1996).
Written data shows renovation of some parts of the construction, during the reigns of Theodosius II and Valentinian III (between 425–455), probably to fix damages brought about by the major earthquake of 443; more renovation activities then followed in 485 and 508. The stadium was continually used for competitions up to late in the 6th century; with gladiator battles last mentioned about 435. “Animal hunts continued until at least 523, when Anicius Maximus celebrated his consulship with some venations, criticized by King Theodoric the Great for their high cost” (Panini, 1996).
The Construction experienced a number of major modifications of use in the medieval period. Late in the 6th-century a church was constructed in the formation of the amphitheater, although this did not bestow any specific religious implication on the Colosseum as a whole. The stadium was then transformed into a burial ground. The many cryptic rooms in the arcades beneath the seats were transformed into houses or workshops, and are said to have been still in use (rented out) up to the twelfth century. About1200 BC, a family (the Frangipani family) took control of the Colosseum consequently fortifying it, actually making it a castle. A major disaster befell the construction in 1349 following dilapidation by a major earthquake. The earthquake caused the exterior southern side that was lying on a lesser stable alluvial terrain to crumple.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Church representatives sought a useful function for the huge dilapidated wreck of the Colosseum. Pope Sixtus V considered turning the Colosseum into a wool factory in so doing give jobs to Rome’s prostitutes. This suggestion was not initiated following the pope’s premature demise. In about 1671, Cardinal Altieri certified the Colosseum’s use for bullfighting; a public protest caused the suggestion to be hurriedly dumped.
The Colosseum is currently one of the many popular tourist attractions. It receives millions of tourists yearly. Since the inside parts are partly ruined, it is unfeasible to use it in hosting big events; the Colosseum can only hold several hundreds of audience in momentary seating. Though, much bigger events are normally held just outside, making use of the Colosseum as the background.
All Roman towns of significance, found in Italy and all Italian colonies, were not considered whole without an amphitheater. “The most important of those still existing are at Rome, Verona, Pola, Capua, Pozzuoli, and Pompeii, in Italy; at Syracuse, in Sicily; and at Nimes and Arles, in the south of France” (Panini, 1996).
The biggest, most prominent one is the Colosseum, build on Nero’s Golden-House location by Flavian Emperors, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. It officially started functioning in 80-A.D. Similar to all other amphitheaters; it has an egg-shaped design, and is approximately six hundred feet long and over five hundred feet in width. The field on the other hand, is approximately two hundred and ninety by one hundred and eighty feet long. Around this expanse there is a seating place rising in rows, over each other, being held up by concrete vaults and with stone piers.
Every segment of the vast auditorium has a detached entry point opening to a broad passageway running all-around the construction. Similar to current theater designs, every seat in the Colosseum had a letter or number. Entry tickets also had numbers that had corresponding marks. Rooms for the gladiators, the lairs for wild-beasts, and storage rooms for outlook and other such rooms were situated beneath the stadium level. The wild-beasts on the other hand, were barred from leaping amid the spectators by a high wall all round the stadium. There was also a metal railing placed on top of the perimeter wall
The whole area covering the auditorium was enclosed by a massive awning long drawn out from masts, which were fastened on the outer surfaces of the structure, to the topmost parts of other masts all round the stadium. More than fifty thousand audiences were provided seats, although some information reveals a higher number of more than 80,000 spectators attending at once.
As much as the building looks dilapidated, no construction existing offers such a feeling of magnificent dimension, and despite all chronological and sentimental interests, the influence of this structure has a vise-like grasp on individuals. The impressive form of the Colosseum is owed much more to the comprehensive lines of the entablatures, and to the re-duplication of its constituent, as compared to its sheer size. “The lowest story was of the Doric order, the second was Ionic, third Corinthian and fourth Composite. Firm Doric pillars formed the solid base, the fair Corinthian crowned higher space, and all below was strength, and all above is grace” (Welch, 2007).
There was evidence of a particular logic for the creation of the plain, simple, and in appearance strong columns at the foundation tier, that was for supporting those above. Columns found on the outside of the Colosseum structure were called the engaged columns. Their sole purpose was not for supporting the load above, like the one’s found in the Greek temples, the wall was what was responsible for this. On the other hand, they were only constructed to come out as if they did.
The columns were constructed in the walls so that they looked as if parts of the columns were hidden. This was a removal of the Greek model in addition to from the statement of the standard which forms architecture expressing their usage; to be precise it means they must bear a genuine constructive meaning. “The Romans here used a Greek form for ornament only, but their walls were so massive that the structure looked much better for this ornamentation, and it was fitted in appearance to the character of the building” (Welch, 2007). This pretexts the Romans, who did not act as if they were imitating Greek models. However, currently, architect institutions are carrying the pointless replication to a point where they are building columns in exactly the same ways into a lot of constructions now held in low-esteem.
“Amphitheaters were designed by Greeks, and were normally build into hillsides in so doing taking the advantages of the natural slopes on the bank to construct a seating space that overlooked the arena below” (Coarelli, 2002). An example of this is like the one constructed by Circus Maximus found in a valley flanked by Aventine and Palatine hills. On the other hand, the prehistoric Roman Colosseum was the foremost self-supporting amphitheater of the medieval era.
The Roman Colosseum “has an elliptical (oval) plan with a length of 189m (620 feet), height 48m (158 feet) and width 156m (512 feet). The central area of the arena is 88m (287 ft) long and 55m (180 ft) wide” (Coarelli, 2002). The wall around the stadium that protected the viewers was 5 meters (15 ft) tall.
The prehistoric Roman Colosseum has an architectural design common with a lot of other prehistoric Roman constructions. It was built by use of the Arch principle. It had eighty entry arches, which ran the length of the perimeter of the exterior and interior wall while a lot more ran to the middle (in the form of spokes of a bike’s wheel), building the interior passageways and tunnels which ran all-around the construction.
The huge outside wall formation was built with a three-set of the column, “Doric (at the bottom) then Ionic and then Corinthian. The uppermost section of the perimeter wall is referred to as the attic and was constructed with Corinthian pilasters, every second span receiving a window” (Coarelli, 2002).
There were two hundred and forty wood beams around the top of the perimeter fortification supporting the Valerium/awning; the awning was for shielding the spectators from rainfall and from the sun. This (the Valerium) was fastened to bollards down on the grounds, which was held up by corbels built in the higher perimeter wall. “The canvas, ropes and netting which made up the Valerium, were operated by hundreds of sailors employed from the Roman naval headquarters. When fully deployed the Valerium could cover most of the seating, leaving just the arena exposed” (Coarelli, 2002).
An estimation has so far put the capacity of seats to about sixty thousand and eighty-five spectators, although sixty-five thousand looks like a commonly acknowledged figure. Because of the huge size of spectators, the prehistoric Roman Colosseum underwent comparable logistics as with present arenas; for example, the way people could seat or evacuate fast. The Romans too had comparable systems of numbered entries, exits and flight of stairs to present-day arenas; this was responsible for ensuring quick entrance and exits.
In the Colosseum, Seats were strictly set as per the social classing, the nearer to the inner ring, the high an individual’s status in the society was. Emperors and Vestal Virgins took up seats near the innermost narrow point of the arena, whereas senators sat at a similar height at the end of the arena. The senators were followed by Nobel-men together with knights, followed by affluent personalities, and lastly the poor citizens. The uppermost position was reserved for women (especially of low class) while no tickets were needed in the gallery. To find seats in the gallery one had to come very early (probably before daybreak).
“The arena itself was made of wood at the bottom which was covered in sand, in Latin the meaning of arena is sand” (Welch, 2007). Underneath the arena floor there was a hypogeum, an inventive arrangement of burrows and slave compartments, “gladiators, wild animals and hoists and pulley houses. Various underground tunnels connected the stadium with stables and the gladiator barracks. The emperor also had his own private tunnel to enter the stadium”. (Welch, 2007)
Different from former Greek theatres which were constructed in hill-sides, the Colosseum was a completely free-standing construction. It derived its fundamental external and internal architectural design from that used on 2 Roman theatres back to back. “The external walls are projected to have needed about a hundred thousand cubic meters travertine stones set with no mortar although joined together by over 300, 000 kilograms of iron clamping” (Coarelli, 2002).
However, the Colosseum has experienced widespread damages over time, with big sections having crumpled as a result of earthquakes. The northern parts of the walls are still standing; “the distinctive triangular brick wedges at each end are modern additions, having been constructed in the early 19th century to shore up the wall. The remainder of the present-day exterior of the Colosseum is in fact, the original interior wall” (Coarelli, 2002).
The existing parts of the external wall’s colossal frontage consist of 3 stories of super-imposed walkways surmounted by a platform on which an elevated attic is found; both elements are perforated by windows interspersing at regular spaces. “The arcades are framed by half-columns of the Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, while the attic is decorated with Corinthian pilasters” (Coarelli, 2002). Every one of the arches on the 2nd and 3rd story arcade has frame-worked statues, most likely idolizing religious and other prominent figures from traditional mythologies.
About 240 mast corbels were placed all round the topmost part of the top story. They initially were for supporting a retractable awning (velarium), which kept heat and rainfall off spectators. It constituted a canvas-covered, net-like formation prepared from ropes, having an opening in the middle. It sheltered over two-thirds of the field, and inclined downward to the middle so that it would catch the wind thus providing a cool gust for the spectators. Sailors specifically recruited from the Roman navy in Misenum, and accommodated in the near the Construction, were responsible for the maintenance of the velarium.
“The Colosseum, (the Flavian Amphitheatre) is one of Rome’s most famous buildings and enduring monuments to the culture of the ancient Romans. Construction was initiated by Emperor Vespasian around 72 AD” (Panini, 1996). The son (Titus) then finished it up. As shown in available resources, this must have been approximately eight years later. The site location was significant because Emperor Vespasian sought to erase the memories of his predecessor’s (Nero) profligate period in power from the Romans. “It got its popular name, the Colosseum, because of Nero’s colossus (120 ft. high) statue of himself, which was nearby” (Panini, 1996).
The Colosseum was placed in the heart of Rome, the construction was a representation of the strength, prosperity, and supremacy of the Roman Empire. The structure was built in less than a decade, an extraordinary accomplishment for the brilliant engineers and their renowned engineering skillfulness. The architectural design of this structure illustrated the use of one of Rome’s most famed discoveries (concrete). A Careful Look at images of this construction and one will be able to make out Tuscan columns at the base, followed by the Ionic columns, and the Corinthian columns on the third floor.
References
Doreen Yarwood. The Architecture of Europe. New York: Hastings House.
Coarelli, F. (2002). The Colosseum. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Trust Publications.
Panini, G.P. (1996).View of the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine. Chicago: IL Rosenthal publishers.
Welch, KE. (2007). The Roman amphitheatre: From its origins to the Colosseum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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