Must See in Rome The Coliseum

The most famous and most visited venue of Rome, Italy is the ancient Coliseum. Also referred to as a Colosseum, it is situated at the IV Templeum Pacis. The word templeum means "the temple of peace". The gigantic looking monument in the heart of Rome is basically a Flavian amphitheatre. It was built by the Vespasian and Titus family in 70-80 AD. It is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome and is the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire. Today it is seen as one of the best shows of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

The construction of this mammoth looking amphitheatre started in 70-72 AD by the famous families of Italy, the Vespasian and Titus families. Hence the name is derived from them. Then came the reign of Domitian. Regardless of many dissimilarities between both the families, the Templeum was modified from 81-90 AD by Domitian.

The Coliseum had a capacity of 50,000 people. Built by Romans, it was mostly used for Gladiator contests and public spectacles. Later the use was extended to see battles, animal hunts, execution of the prisoners, and dramas on classical mythologies and re-enactments of famous battles. During that time rulers also used the Coliseum as a fortress, and as a quarry and shrine. By the beginning of the medieval era different kinds of workshops, religious gatherings and announcements took the center stage. Sustaining the rumor, the Templeum still has a connection with the Catholic churches of the holy Vatican City. The pope leads a procession of the "ways of the cross" from somewhere in Rome around the Coliseum to the Templeum every good Friday.

The Coliseum stands with the name Templeum to this day. As far as the physical description of the Coliseum is concerned, the beauty of the stone walled monument of Rome has a partially intact outer wall and mostly intact inner wall. The big dome shaped amphitheatre is a delight to see and feel, regardless of the long and ruthless Roman history surrounding it.

Unlike the Greek amphitheatres that were built into hillsides, the Coliseum is a free standing structure. Both the interior and exterior art work has an ageless beauty. Its plan is elliptical and is 189 meters long and 156 meters wide, with a base area of 6 acres. It stands tall with a height of the outer wall of 180 meters. It is estimated a total of 100,000 cubic meters of travertine stone was used to build this massive structure. These stones were set without the use of any motor, and instead used iron clamps. This has challenged modern civil engineers as to how this was done.

Natural calamities have played an important role in the damage of this Roman monument. The half ruined structure of the Templeum has suffered extensive damage due to earthquakes in Italy, with large segment collapses. Besides all the reckless foul play by nature and stone robbers, the ultimate Coliseum stands respected and alive in the heart of Rome.