My husband’s Legacy the Coliseum

My husband’s Legacy the Coliseum

 

50,000 people in and out in half an hour! Three emperors! The completion of the arena took place under the reign of my husband, Emperor Titus!  Walls 16ft high separated the rich from the poor.  Lions, tigers, elephants, gladiators, men, women and, children; all the people of Rome came to watch and enjoy the games.

Originally the grand building was commissioned by my husband’s father, Emperor Vespasian. The building was built on a portion of the land taken from the people of Rome by the previous Emperor, Nero, who claimed the land for himself.  The coliseum took ten years to complete!  The creation of this building was done by slaves and prisoners, some of whom were gained as a result of the Judaic War. At the time, my husband was not in a good place with two catastrophes having taken place during his reign; a volcano eruption and a fire. He also had many enemies.  People began to think he had lost favor with the Gods.  The Coliseum was my husband’s chance to gain back the respect and trust of the people. He knew that he would have to make an event so spectacular that not only would it become an example for years to come, but people would never forget it. 

My husband was brilliant!  He came up with the idea to have Inaugural Games. In the summer of 79 AD, convoys of exotic animals began to arrive.  In 80 AD the Inaugural Games began.  During the opening ceremony, people flooded through the arena. Crowds of people laughed, cheered, gambled, and awaited the beginning of the games.  A group of criminals were walked out to the middle of the arena and the animals were released upon them.  People began to yell chants that indicated they were not impressed, because the animals didn’t attack the criminals. Soon after the beast master was walked out and killed by the guards with swords.  The order was given by my husband because the animals did not kill the criminals.

Following this, a series of fights took place and Titus allowed the crowd to choose when they felt a gladiator should be killed.  The best fight in the arena and the only recorded fight took place between Priscus and Verus. My husband died 6 months later.   He was one of the most popular Emperors.

The Colosseum continued to serve as a source of entertainment.  In addition to the gladiator fights, the arena was used to show water battles.  It was built in such a way that the center could fill with water.  Along with the ability to fill with water, the arena was built with forty elevators and a bottom floor that was 36ft deep, used to house the animals and supplies.  In years to come the arena would serve as a precedent and would influence the architecture of buildings all around the world.  

Taylor Mitchell