Coliseum Details

To provide some closer looks at what is arguably the world's most famous archaeological site, here are a few still pictures to add to the panorama (see another post).
Originally called the Flavian Amphitheater (because it was built by the Flavian emperors), the coliseum was started in 72 CE and completed in 80 CE. Only 8 years to build it! Seating is estimated to be as many as 80,000 people in 4 levels of seats, with each higher tier being for lower strata of Roman society.
The 1st picture is a model of the Coliseum, showing it with all the statues around the outer perimeter. The 2nd picture is in the outer ring hallway that was a passageway under the spectator seats at ground level. It looks amazingly like the same space in modern stadia.
The 3 remaining pictures are inside, all taken from the top of the 2nd seating level. Both higher level are gone, except for some of the walls. The 3rd picture looks toward 1 end of the oval to a small area reconstructed over what were the 2 floors beneath the arena floor to give a sense of what it might have looked like. The 4th picture looks down along the aisles of the lower of the 2 sub levels. The upper level is gone. This is where the animals were caged and the elevators were located for lifting animals, gladiators, etc. into the arena. The 5th picture looks at the Coliseum from outside as it is today.
The last picture is across the street. This is the gladiator's school. Here they trained and lived and where they entered the tunnel into the sub levels to be lifted into the arena to perform.Read more