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Monuments
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CAMPIDOGLIO
The Capitol was from ancient times a nerve-centre for the... |
PIAZZA NAVONA
It rises on the ancient Domitian Stadium, whose elliptic... |
CIRCO MASSIMO
Circo Massimo was a structure built for people's fun and... |
COLOSSEO
Its true name is Anfiteatro Flavio, everybody knows it by... |
FORI IMPERIALI
The Imperial Forums are composed with: Caesar's Forum,... |
FORO ROMANO
The forum was, for the roman culture, the aggregation point... |
PANTHEON
Pantheon is one of the greatest, the most majestic and best... |
PIAZZA COLONNA
In the middle of Via del Corso is Marco Aurelio's Column,... |
PIAZZA ESEDRA
Piazza della Repubblica, better known as Piazza Esedra,... |
PIAZZA VENEZIA
This famous square stands at the foot of the Capitol and... |
SAN PIETRO
San Peter's Basilica is situated in Città del Vaticano, the... |
SINAGOGA
It's the biggest synagogue in Rome, focal point of the most... |
VIA VENETO
One of the most famous and celebrated streets existing in... |
VIALLA BORGHESE
One of the most beautiful villas in Rome, whose project was... |
CAMPO DE' FIORI
This square is famous to have been for a long time the place... |
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COLOSSEO
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Description
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Its true name is Anfiteatro Flavio, everybody knows it by the name of Coliseum and it is the symbol itself of the city of Rome in the world.
It was built in 72 A. D. by Vespasian and finished eight years after by his son Titus.
The Coliseum was comparable, for its time, to our stadiums, even if the performances were very different from those of nowadays.
The Roman people gathered in mass to attend the Circus games (ludi cistercenses), where the gladiators fought among themselves. In the Coliseum performances were organized, often bloody, in which gladiators, wild beasts and prisoners (often Christians) fought for their lives. Often it was flooded to simulate sea battles. All this ended when in the V century, a man named Telemachus entered the arena and tried to make gladiators stop fighting; he was killed, but since that day, in Rome, games took place no more.
The elliptic ring of Coliseum has the longest axis measuring 187 mt., the shorter 155 mt., the height of the highest ring is over 50 mt., the spectators could reach the number of 80.000.
Centuries passing by left very little of the ancient pomp, in fact the great amphitheatre was very rich of marbles an decorations, gone lost most of all during the Renaissance, when the need for marble was exceptional and the marble of the Coliseum was removed and used elsewhere. |
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