Flavian Amphitheatre.

Colosseum Flavian Amphitheatre....if there was anything we were suppose to remember from our tour it was this!

Our morning started early. We were required to pick up our tour tickets at 8am. It was quiet around the Colosseum without the hoards of tourists milling around. A note on the ticket office told us the it din't actually open til 8.30am. We were grateful that we had arrived early even if we were all bored waiting because as the booths opened at 8.30am, the line was very long.

Form the ticket booth we made our way to the opposite side of the colosseum where the tours departed from. Receiving a sticker for the 9.20am, we had enough time to duck off for a coffee. Returning back to the gate, we were ushered in and gathered for the Colosseum underground and panoramic tour in English with 25 others. We were all issued headsets so were able to hear the tour guide without the need of standing by her side. Our tour began.

The Colosseum's construction was started by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty in 72AD and was completed by his son Titus in 80AD. Unlike other amphitheatres, the Colosseum is a freestanding structure built from travertine, tufo, marble, concrete, mortar, wood and bronze. It measures 190m by 156m and is 57m tall, so an imposing building which could fit over 50,000 spectators and when first opened the emperor Titus celebrated with a 100 day gladiatorial games.

First we walked out onto the arena floor which measured 83m x 48m and originally made of wood covered with sand. The floor of the arena is long gone and has only been partially replaced so that one can appreciate the hypogeum, the complex underground area which we would explore next.

Ringed by 80 arches, spectators entered the Colosseum via through the arches numbered I - LXXVI (1-76) using inscribed pottery shards which directed them to the appropriate section, row and seat. Today only outer arches 23-54 remain on the northside of the Colosseum as the southern arches tumbled during an earthquake in 1349. The Emperor and other important Romans entered the Colosseum via the north and south arches, while the last two arches or gates were reserved for the gladiators. The Porta Sanivivaria was the gate bet which the victors, as well as those allowed to survive the contests, left the arena. The other gate, the Porta Libitina (the roman goddess of death) and was the door which the dead were taken through.

Entry into the Colosseum for Romans was free, as the gladiator games were sponsored by the Emperor as a way of showing power as well as gaining popularity and support. The seating, however, was arranged in tiers reflecting the stratified nature of Roman society at that time. The further from the arena, the less status you had in society. Some of the original marble seating can still be seen.


We retreated our steps through the Porta Sanivivaria and descended into the depth of the Colosseum. Through the square arches with their impressive keystones we entered the cold, dark confined space of the hypogeum. It wasn't dark for long as we emerged into the section without the arena floor and so the sun streamed in.

Only a small fraction of the labyrinth of chambers and passageways of the hypogeum is open to the public. It was  down here that wild and exotic animals and their keepers were housed as well as prisoners, machinery and props. Slaves used a series of ropes, capstans and lead weights to pull in unison thus hoisting animals up from the basement. The top of the cage and a ramp would simultaneously open allowing the animal to run up into the arena to the cheers of the crowd.  It wasn't only animals that were transported upwards - gladiators, prisoners or stage props were also manoeuvred into position using these elevators. We were amazed to hear that each elevator was powered by 8 slaves and there were 28 of these lifts scattered at various positions in the hypogeum. In fact slaves, more specifically Jewish slaves, played an integral part of building and working within the colosseum.

  

As we exited the hypogeum, our guide pointed out the blocked off underground corridor that led to the Ludus Magnus, the largest gladiatorial school in Rome. From the bottom of the Colosseum, we now made our way to the very top via lots of stairs!

From level 3, we had a birds eye view of the ruins of the Temple of Venus and Roma as well as the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum itself.  It is here also that our guide explains how the Colosseum's correct name is the Flavian Amphitheatre. The name Colosseum is thought to have been derived from the colossal statue of Nero (the Emperor prior to the Flavian dynasty) which was located between the Amphitheatre and the Temple of Venus and Roma. Sadly though (unlike Uluru) I'm not sure the name Flavian Amphitheatre will ever take over from the Colosseum.

But the tour hadn't finished yet. As of October last year, those on the specific panoramic tour get to climb to the fifth level - the first time in 40 years - so up we continued! From the very top of the Colosseum, we could imagine how the lowest class of Roman society would view the gladiators in the arena.