50 Fun Facts About Colosseum

In which city does the Colosseum stand?

It sits just east of the Forum, in the city centre rather than the outskirts where most amphitheatres were built.

Which emperor began construction of the Colosseum in AD 72?

He died in 79 with three storeys complete; his son Titus finished the top level.

By what other name is the Colosseum known, after the imperial dynasty that built it?

There is no evidence the name was actually used in antiquity; Romans may have called it the Amphitheatrum Caesareum.

The name "Colosseum" is believed to derive from a colossal statue of which emperor that stood nearby?

The giant bronze, remodelled as a sun god, was moved next to the amphitheatre by Hadrian.

What did the Colosseum's site hold before construction, as part of Nero's Domus Aurea?

Vespasian's decision to build on the drained lake was a populist gesture returning Nero's private land to the people.

According to a reconstructed inscription, the Colosseum was funded with spoils from which war?

The treasure came from the Temple in Jerusalem after the siege of AD 70.

According to Dio Cassius, roughly how many wild animals were killed during the inaugural games?

Commemorative coins were struck to celebrate the opening under Titus.

Which emperor added the hypogeum, the network of tunnels beneath the arena?

He was Vespasian's younger son; he also added a top gallery to increase seating.

What is the main building stone of the Colosseum's outer wall?

The blocks were set without mortar and held by some 300 tons of iron clamps, later hacked out for scrap.

What was the velarium?

It was rigged by sailors from the naval base at Misenum and covered about two-thirds of the arena.

Which naval headquarters supplied the sailors who worked the Colosseum's awning?

They were housed nearby in the Castra Misenatium.

How many entrances ringed the Colosseum at ground level?

Seventy-six were for ordinary spectators; the northern main entrance was reserved for the emperor.

What were the passageways that fed spectators into their seats called?

The name comes from the Latin for a rapid discharge, and gives English the word "vomit".

What form did Colosseum tickets take?

They directed the holder to the right section and row; every staircase and entrance was numbered too.

Which group shared the best box seats with the emperor, at the opposite end of the arena?

Both had private tunnels so they could enter without passing through the crowds.

Which class occupied the podium nearest the arena and was allowed to bring its own chairs?

Names of some 5th-century senators are still carved into the stonework, apparently reserving their spots.

Which of these groups was banned from the Colosseum altogether?

Actors and former gladiators were also excluded; women, slaves and the poor got the wooden gallery at the very top.

What is the literal meaning of "hypogeum"?

Its two levels of tunnels and cages held gladiators and animals; eighty vertical shafts sent them straight up into the arena.

The word "arena" comes from the Latin word for what?

The arena was a wooden floor covered in sand, laid over the hypogeum.

What were the large hinged platforms in the hypogeum, used to lift elephants into the arena, called?

At least twelve phases of construction can be seen in the hypogeum's much-altered structure.

What was the Ludus Magnus, linked to the Colosseum by a tunnel?

Its own miniature training arena was itself a popular attraction for Roman spectators.

What happened at the Spoliarium near the Colosseum?

The Sanitarium treated the wounded and the Armamentarium held the weapons.

What was the Latin term for gladiatorial shows, always staged by private individuals?

They had a strong religious element and doubled as displays of family prestige.

What was a venatio?

Beasts imported for the hunts included rhinos, hippos, giraffes, aurochs, Caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches.

Trajan's games of 107, said to involve 10,000 gladiators, lasted how many days?

The same games reportedly used 11,000 animals.

What were staged mock sea battles in the arena called?

Domitian's hypogeum made flooding the arena impossible, so they ended early in the building's life.

What were sylvae?

They served as backdrops for hunts, mythological dramas and gruesome executions in which a condemned man played the hero.

What caused the 217 fire that destroyed the Colosseum's wooden upper levels, per Dio Cassius?

Full repairs took until about 240, with more work in the 250s and in 320.

Which emperor banned gladiator fights in 399 and again in 404?

Fights are last mentioned around 435, but animal hunts continued until at least 523.

Which family fortified the Colosseum around 1200 and used it as a castle?

By then the arcades had long been rented out as housing and workshops, and the arena was a cemetery.

The great earthquake of which year brought down the Colosseum's outer south side?

The tumbled stone was carted off to build palaces, churches and hospitals around Rome.

What did Pope Sixtus V plan to turn the Colosseum into in the 1580s?

The idea was to give employment to Rome's prostitutes; it died with the pope in 1590.

What use did Cardinal Altieri authorize for the Colosseum in 1671, before public outcry stopped it?

The controversy persuaded Pope Clement X to close the arcades and declare the site a sanctuary.

Which pope consecrated the Colosseum to the Passion of Christ in 1749 and banned quarrying its stone?

He declared it sanctified by martyrs' blood, though there is no historical evidence Christians were martyred there.

What ceremony does the Pope lead at the Colosseum every Good Friday?

The procession starts in the area around the amphitheatre.

What was the marble façade of the medieval Colosseum burned to produce?

The iron clamps were hacked out too, leaving the pockmarks that still scar the walls.

Under which leader was the arena substructure fully exposed in the 1930s?

Partial excavations had taken place in 1810-1814 and 1874.

What colour does Rome light the Colosseum when a death sentence is commuted anywhere?

The gesture began after anti-death-penalty demonstrations in 2000; Italy abolished capital punishment in 1948.

The head of which Italian shoe company agreed in 2011 to sponsor a €25 million restoration?

Diego Della Valle's deal was controversial as a public-private partnership; the façade clean-up finished on 1 July 2016.

On which Italian euro coin is the Colosseum depicted?

It was also chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

How long is the Colosseum along its major axis?

It is 156 metres wide, with an outer wall 48 metres high, and covers about six acres.

The outer façade's three storeys use columns of which three orders, bottom to top?

The attic above is decorated with Corinthian pilasters, and 240 mast corbels once held the awning poles.

How many plant species have been recorded in the Colosseum since the 1643 catalogue?

Seeds arrived on the fur and in the dung of animals shipped from across the empire; a later survey counted 242 species still growing there.

Which Athens venue replaced the Colosseum on the Olympic medals in 2004?

Giuseppe Cassioli's design had put the Roman arena on medals for over 70 years.

The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, modelled on the Colosseum, was built for what cancelled event?

The exhibition was cancelled by the outbreak of the Second World War.

The Colosseum's discreet imperial passage is named after which ruler, who survived an assassination attempt there?

Rediscovered in the 1810s, it was restored in 2024-25 with a new walkway for visitors.

Which emperor moved the colossal bronze statue of Nero to its spot beside the amphitheatre?

By about the year 1000 the nearby 'Colossus Solis' had lent the building its now-familiar Latin name.

The 8th-century line 'when the Colossus falls, Rome shall fall' is attributed to which English monk?

Byron's Childe Harold famously misapplied the line to the Colosseum, but the epigram's 'coliseus' referred to Nero's statue.

In which Canadian city did Moshe Safdie design a building resembling the ruined Colosseum?

Other buildings inspired by the arena include the LA Memorial Coliseum entrance and McCaig's Tower above Oban in Scotland.

How much did the major Colosseum restoration of 1993 to 2000 cost?

That was about $19.3 million at 2000 prices; the underground passages opened to the public a decade later, in 2010.