The Roman Colosseum: The Flavian Amphitheatre

The Roman Colosseum, formerly known as the Flavian Amphitheatre exists today as a monumental relic of the Roman Empire. Not only is it known to have provided a place of entertainment for people of Rome, it is, although time has eroded its two thousand year old façade, nonetheless, admired for its complex design and construction. The Roman Colosseum was not only successful in attaining the eyes of the people but has also greatly influenced and contributed to many other Roman architectures for the time period. The Colosseum was built under the reign of Emperor Vespasian who ruled from July 1, 69 until June 23, 79 AD. The Great Fire of Rome in 64AD occurred during Nero’s monarchy, Nero was the emperor before Vespasian. Nero made the city suitable to build a stupendous palace with lake and gardens and was referred to as the Golden House. A colossal stature of Nero was built on the site and had become a landmark in Rome. During the fire in Rome, the Amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus was destroyed, as well as the Amphitheatrum Neronis. After the death of Nero, the
Engineers dug six metres below the surface of the lake and a further four metres into the clay subsoil until an oval shaped ditch, fifty metres wide and two-hundred metres long was achieved. The ditch was then lined with brick and concrete facings. Two brick walls were built with concrete laid in between. Overall, the facings were three metres thick and six and a half metres high. The concrete was poured to what had been the level of the lakebed. The foundations were then built, consisting of four travertine stone tunnels and a series of concrete vaults that ran under what would be the arena and seating areas. The travertine blocks held in place by a bed of powdered travertine mortar was laid over the concrete acted as the initial supports for the seating