The Colosseum in Rome is one of
the most notable and impressive
feats of architecture in
the history of the world.
Opened in the year 80
CE by the Emperor Titus,
the arena was used to stage
gladiator combat, skirmishes
with wild animals, and
even mock naval battles
with actual boats.
The unknown architects
behind this design
put extensive thought
into every detail.
If you've ever wanted to
construct your own amphitheater
of death, then this
is your lucky day,
because today we're going
to take a look at how
the Romans built the Colosseum.
But before we get started, be
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would like to know more about.
Do you want to be entertained?
OK, let the video begin.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
In 64 CE, Emperor
Nero built himself
a home, which he humbly
nicknamed the Golden Palace.
Clearing the land
necessary for construction
meant seizing property from
numerous ordinary Romans,
which as you might imagine,
wasn't a super popular move.
After Nero died,
the empire quickly
cycled through four
other corrupt emperors.
Then in 69 CE,
Vespasian seized power.
Looking to reverse the damage
Nero and his successors
had done to the Roman
people's faith in government,
Vespasian lived a
more modest lifestyle
and aggressively advocated
for Rome's citizenry.
It was around 70 CE
when Vespasian promised
to build a public
amphitheater, which would
hold gladiator tournaments.
In a politically
symbolic move, Vespasian
chose to build
this arena directly
on the site of
Nero's Golden Palace.
In 80 CE, after 10
years of construction,
Vespasian's son, Emperor
Titus, would finally
open the Colosseum.
The venue was inaugurated
with a festival
that boasted 100 days of games.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Vespasian chose to have
the Colosseum constructed
on what was once the site of
a lake in the garden of Nero's
Golden Palace.
The construction
would require drainage
26 feet beneath the surface to
divert rivers and streams that
flowed from the nearby hills.
It would also mean the concrete
foundations of the Colosseum
would have to run extra
deep to prevent collapse.
Dirt that was dug
out of the ground
to make space for
the large foundation
was repurposed to build up
the land around the structure.
This elevated the Colosseum
23 feet above ground level
forcing crowds to look
up at rather than down
on the building.
Don't rush off to see
for yourself though.
Due to changes in the
landscape in modern times,
the Colosseum sits
level with the ground.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The blocks of
travertine stone used
in the construction
of the Colosseum
were quarried in a place called
Albulae, located near what
today is the town of Tivoli.
The site of the quarry
was about 20 miles
from the site of the Colosseum,
so transporting the blocks
wouldn't be easy.
To help things along, the
Romans built a road specifically
for the purpose of moving
the stone from the quarry
to the construction site.
Each cart load contained
30 to 50 stones.
And historians estimate
workers would have transported
roughly 240,000 carts.
20 to 30,000 people
would have been
involved in the construction.
The majority of
them were slaves.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The Roman Empire
was an innovator
in the use of concrete to build
larger and sturdier structures
than had ever been built before.
The vaults and arches
of the Colosseum
were made from concrete, which
allowed the massive building
to maintain an open and
airy atmosphere, while still
being structurally sound.
The foundations were
also made of concrete.
Starting at the outer
wall, the foundation
was laid out in
concentric circles that
moved inward toward the arena.
The lowest part
of the foundation
is roughly 42-feet
deep, and it becomes
shallower as it moves inward.
Roman cement was
usually made by heating
limestone to create calcium
oxide, also known as quicklime.
Submerging the
quicklime in water
created a putty that acted as
a binding agent in the cement.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The unknown architect
of the Colosseum
wanted the dimensions
of the building
to reflect a ratio
of five to three,
which was considered
ideal at the time.
Indeed, the arena ultimately
measured 280 by 168 Roman feet,
and the width of the
auditorium and arena
were equal to the
height of the Colosseum.
Because of the
Colosseum's arches,
the perimeter of the
amphitheater had to be exact.
There were 88 entrance
arches and each
had to be 20 Roman feet wide and
have three Roman feet of space
between them.
For the record, the size
of a Roman foot could vary,
but generally it was
around 11.5 inches.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Construction of the Colosseum
started with the arches.
Made from sturdy
travertine stone,
the arches allowed
the laborers to start
work on both the bottom
and top of the structure.
Indeed, the upper
seating, wooden portico
and walls at the top two
floors of the amphitheater
were built simultaneously
with the lower
portion of the building.
It was this forward-thinking
construction plan
that made it possible
for the Romans
to construct the
Colosseum in less
than a decade, an absolutely
astounding feat for the time.
[SINGING IN ITALIAN]
For the safety of the
spectators in the front rows,
the seats closest to the stage
were raised nearly seven feet.
In addition, a fence would
be placed around the ring
to keep wild animals at bay.
Made from marble and
travertine, these seats
were also the most grandly
decorated and usually
had ceilings adorned with
intricate works of art.
However, as with many
modern sports arenas,
as spectators moved
further up in the stands,
the seating would become less
ornate and less comfortable.
Everyone, except the
people in the front rows,
would've been tightly
packed in with maybe one
foot of personal space
and two feet of leg room.
While that does sound cramped,
it's actually more space
than you get flying
American Airlines, which
isn't saying that much.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
To remove the waste
of humans and animals,
the Colosseum required
a sewer system.
The public bathrooms,
or latrines,
were a row of
holes in the ground
dug over a pipe that
carried flowing water,
not fancy, but effective.
The pipe would then
empty into a drain
that connected to the city's
main sewer, the Cloaca Maxima.
This system may have
also provided fresh water
to the spectators,
the cisterns placed
to the sides of the
Colosseum, which drew water
from the Aqua Claudia aqueduct.
Delivery was accomplished by
building lead and terracotta
tunnels in the walls
of the Colosseum.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Within the Colosseum,
marble and iron dividers
can be found on the staircases.
Though historians don't all
agree as to their function,
some believe that
they were intended
to keep spectators separated
into their proper socioeconomic
classes, kind of like the
border between the riffraff
and the jet set.
I wonder if there was
a jet set before jets.
Support for this
interpretation lies in the fact
that the highest section
in the Colosseum,
where the poorest members of
the audience typically sat,
was separated from the
rest of the spectators
by a 16-foot high wall.
This seating at the
top of the arena,
over 300 feet from the stage, is
likely where women and the poor
would have been.
However, many
historians have noted
that the five ascending
sections in the arena
don't correspond with
any known division
of the number of Roman
social classes at the time.
This means that if the
spectators were seated
by social class,
it isn't obvious
how those classes
were segregated.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
One of the coolest things
about the Colosseum
was its ability to fill
with a few feet of water,
so that sailors could
hold mock naval battles
in miniature boats.
The transformation
though was not easy.
In order to create
the aquatic arena,
workers had to remove
the amphitheater's floor
and wooden supports.
The arena would then
be flooded with water
transported by aqueduct.
After it was all
over, the Colosseum
would be drained through
a series of runoff canals.
The popularity of these naval
skirmishes decreased over time.
Eventually, the
wooden supports were
replaced with
masonry walls, which
ended the possibility
of flooding the floor
and having naval
battles in the arena.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hypogeum is the Greek
word for underground.
And the hypogeum is an
area beneath the Colosseum
that was used for a
variety of purposes.
Several sections of its walls
are carved in unusual ways.
An historian spent many years
working out the purposes
of the various carvings.
For example, in the late 1990s,
architect Heinz-Jürgen Beste
discovered a set of
tracks in the walls
of the hypogeum's hallways and
strange diagonal indentations
near some of the
entrances to the arena.
Beste eventually concluded
that the tracks were likely
used to move animal cages
through the hypogeum
during events.
The diagonal
indentations allowed
for the placement of
ramps that would lead
the animals into the arena.
Beste also theorized
that a mysterious series
of semicircular
cuts in the walls
were there to allow for
the placement of devices
called capstans.
The capstans had
four rotating arms
and could be used to lift heavy
animal cages from the hypogeum
to the arena floor.
The architect
found the locations
of 60 capstans of this type and
another 20, which he believed
were used to set up
and change scenery.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Laborers who worked
in the hypogeum
received none of the
luxuries that the audience
took for granted.
In summer, the poorly ventilated
hypogeum was extremely hot.
And in winter, it
became cold and damp.
It was also incredibly loud.
The tiny space housed
machinery, wild animals
and numerous people who would
be shouting to each other.
On top of all that, there
were organ and drum cues
that signaled workers to
send up scenery or animals,
as well as a boisterous
crowd whose footsteps
would echo below.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
For those warm summer
days, the Colosseum
was equipped with an
enormous cloth awning known
as vela, which would be
hoisted over the structure
to shade spectators.
The Colosseum wasn't the
only one to use vela.
They were fairly
common in ancient Rome
and most amphitheaters
and arenas had vela.
The villa at the Colosseum
were rigged similarly
to a sail on a ship, making
actual sailors the most
qualified people to operate it.
That being the
case, the Colosseum
used actual members
of the Roman navy
to lift and secure the
awning over the crowd.
The job was considered a
privilege among the sailors,
as it meant they would get
to see a large city, which
most never got the
opportunity to do.
Sailors in the Roman
navy were typically
enslaved young men
and boys, who had
been taken from countries
around the world that
had been conquered by Rome.
They would serve for 15
to 30 years, after which,
they earned their freedom
and Roman citizenship.
And you thought student
loans were a pain.
So what do you think?
What impresses you most
about the Colosseum?
Let us know in the
comments below.
And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos
from our Weird History.
