Ancient arena of entertainment as well as destruction: The grand displays that took place at the Colosseum will live on in history.

It was the very heart of the Roman Empire, a place that was full of wonder and terror: the Colosseum. Even today historians are discovering long-forgotten fascinating facts about its history…

“WHILE THE COLOSSEUM STANDS, ROME SHALL STAND; WHEN THE COLOSSEUM FALLS, ROME SHALL FALL.” Venerable Bede, English historian

The appalled cries of tens of thousands of voices could be heard far beyond the boundaries of the city. Suddenly a well-known man enters the arena, and the 50,000 spectators cannot believe their eyes: The warrior is none other than their emperor, Commodus. In a flash, he is surrounded by other fierce gladiators. He fights like a lion, and then suddenly he disappears into the ground where his opponents are unable to reach him… An emperor masquerading as a gladiator and dissolving into thin air? There’s only one place in all the Roman Empire where such a miracle could happen: the Colosseum, a structure that was Rome’s equivalent of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Since its completion in 80, the structure has survived wars, earthquakes, and pestilence. Gigantic quantities of its stone were stolen to build churches and roads. However even today the Colosseum rises 160 feet into the air, a monument for the ages.

THE PULSE OF ROMAN LIFE

While the Colosseum was being built the Romans must have hated it. The 3.5 million cubic feet of limestone its construction required led to an acute housing shortage; additionally, the price of building materials, wagons, and craftsmen must have increased astronomically. Thus only the richest Romans could afford new houses. Even today, the Colosseum is still considered to be the world’s most expensive stadium. A seat there cost more than $75,000 in today’s money. That’s more than a six-person private box suite can cost at the Super Bowl. But the Colosseum’s usefulness did not survive the infamous excesses of the Roman Empire. Those in power sought the support of the people by staging incredibly lavish shows. They became so popular that restrictions became necessary, and women were prohibited from attending the athletic contests, for example. By this point the admission was essentially free. But as is so often the case, it was the citizens who paid the price in the end.

HOW TO MAKE AN EMPEROR DISAPPEAR

Emperor Vespasian had introduced a “latrine tax” in order to help offset the staggering construction costs and then coined the expression “pecunia non olet”—“money does not stink.” The Colosseum became a marvel of architectural innovation. Romans were the first to broadly use a construction material that is part of almost every major structure built today: concrete. And they were also the first to make widespread use of the arch to span an opening and support an overhead load. Archeologists have managed to reconstruct the stage technology of the Colosseum and determined that modern theatrical stages still function according to those same principles, although the Romans had relied on hundreds of slaves to move animals, people, and equipment up or down— or to make an emperor disappear… To the Roman spectators it must have seemed like sheer magic. Amazingly, the Colosseum’s architecture would meet many modern safety standards: The venue could be totally evacuated in a matter of minutes, for example.

Through the centuries earthquakes and fires have taken their toll, but the Colosseum has withstood them, just as it has endured centuries of misuse as a convenient stone quarry. It has been the symbol of Rome for almost 2,000 years—a reminder set in stone that Italy’s capital is the Eternal City.