The Colosseum

We started our second day in Rome by eating some breakfast in the apartment that we rented from Airbnb. Side plug for Airbnb: I'm loving this site currently to get unique and (usually) more affordable places than hotels. We used it in London and again here in Rome.

The Colosseum was the only place we paid for a guided tour of, which turned out to be a good decision for us. We wanted one for the Colosseum because we were very interested in the history of it and life during the time of gladiators and emperors. It was fascinating to us. The Colosseum, which could hold around 50,0000 people, was finished in the year 80 AD after around a decade of construction. It has 80 arched entrances, 76 of which are the same size for public entry and four larger ones, two of which were for the Gladiator's entrance/exit and the other two for the Emperor and the elite citizens of Rome.

When the Colosseum was finished, there were 100 straight days of fights and events. Entrance to these these events were free for the people and many times they were also provided food and drink. This was done as a political move to keep the citizens happy and in line as even the building of the Colosseum was actually a gift to the people of Rome. There were four tiers of seating and they were done by class, with the wealthy/elite in the bottom tier up to slaves/women/children on the top tier.

The original marble seats

A usual day's schedule of events at the Colosseum were animal battles in the morning, mock hunts and re-enactments in the afternoon, and gladiatorial combats in the evening. The gladiators were usually slaves, prisoners of war, or criminals. Many also trained at a special school across the street from the Colosseum which we were told was in the process of a 3-5 year restoration. One thing our guide seemed to want to make clear to us was that the animals and people never battled each other. However, when reading a bit online, many sites claim gladiator vs. animal combats, and I cannot be sure which is actually true!

We were able to go underneath the Colosseum floor to get an idea of the pulley elevator system where the animals, gladiators, and different scenery items were moved up and down. It was popular to change the scenery often during these battles. Around 300 slaves worked underneath the Colosseum during these events to make them run smoothly.

view from the underground

From there we went to the third tier of the Colosseum (both the underground/third tier are off-limits unless on a guided tour). There, we learned that on rainy or extremely sunny days, a canvas was rolled over the top to make the earliest form of a domed amphitheater. We got a great view of the ancient ruins and the interior of the Colosseum from here.

View of Roman Forum and ruins from the Colosseum

We went from the Colosseum to the Roman Forum/ruins where we listened to some more of Rick Steve's audio tour. So much more fascinating information that I won't write about here; you'd have a novel to read (but I would recommend looking up the Vestal Virgins if you're at all intrigued). We again spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, and exploring, running into the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps along the way. The many more pictures below can give you a good idea of the rest of our day!

Statues of the Vestal Virgins