From gladiators to a vegetable garden, this iconic landmark has housed it all.
While it may be best live as the location where Lizzie McGuire gave theperformance of a lifetimealongside her famous doppelganger Isabella inThe Lizzie McGuire Movie , Rome ’s Colosseum has a copious chronicle that dates back almost two millennia . For exercise , did you know that the internet site used to host mock naval fight , callednaumachia , which involved flood the entire bowl floor , as shown in thetrailerfor Ridley Scott ’s upcomingGladiator 2?Keep read for more unique things you may not know about one of Italy ’s most famous landmark .
1. Naval battles did happen, but they were rare.
The most famous denounce naval battle of Ancient Rome did n’t really take situation in the Colosseum . Think about it — it ’s incredibly airy , not to remark costly , to flood an intact amphitheatre , particularly one the size of it of the Colosseum . Instead , the battles were typically represent inman - made basins , like the irregular one built by Caesar in the Campus Martius , or the one built by Augustus near Tiber Island .
2. In theory though, they could have been easier to stage.
Weirdly enough , they could have saved a lot of money and effort by leaving the site as it was — the Colosseum was construct on the site of a human race - made lake . The Colosseum was build on theformer land site of Emperor Nero ’s acres , Domus Aurea , and upon his destruction in 68 advertizement , Emperor Vespasian decided to run out the lake and build an arena there instead , erase all ghost of Nero . Emperors Vespasian , Titus , and Domitian oversaw mental synthesis of the Colosseum , with Titus throwing the infamous chess opening ceremonies which hold out for 100 day .
3. Gladiator fights were brutal, but not always deadly.
While prizefighter did fight for the entertainment of onlookers , and many masses die , reality is a little more complex than Hollywood would have you trust . Much like in modern boxing , paladin were divide into weight class , and there were referees and doctors on the sidelines ready to intervene if necessary . incentive fun fact : the last recorded gladiator fightstook post in 435 , 41 years before the fall of Rome .
4. Except for the animals.
While human gladiator may have have some minimal degree of aegis , creature did not . Thanks to the staged hunt club and fights that witness beasts oppose human as well as each other , thousands of animals were kill in the Colosseum . One accountsuggests that some 9000 animals were kill during Emperor Titus ’ lengthy opening ceremonies .
5. Women were mainly spectators.
Female gladiators , now have it off asgladiatrix(although never have-to doe with to as such at the time),did exist , although they were uncommon , and many papist writer criticized the conclusion to allow them to participate , with some even going so far as to regulate their participation through legislation .
6. The underground tunnels had many uses.
Archaeologists at the play of the century spent over a decadeuncovering the secretsof the system of underground burrow underneath the Colosseum known as thehypogeum . Over the centuries , it had been filled with rubble , been used to lay in hay and floor animal dung , and at times served as a home for vegetable garden . By the 19th hundred , the hypogeum had been buried under 40 foot of earth , but eventually , in the 1930s , workers were able to remove the way .
7. It was pretty high-tech for the time.
The Colosseum was astonishingly technologically advanced : it had a retractable dome , eff as avelarium , which was made from fabric strips hung from masts and operate by soldiers whenever it needed to be open or shut down , as well as asystem of 28 lifts , operate by slaves , which transported animals used in fight from the hypogeum to the arena floor .
8. It’s been more than a home for games.
For part of its history , the Colosseum served as a kind of open - air promenade , host cobblers , blacksmith , mucilage - makers , money - changers and even priests . It also served as acemeteryin the sixth century , a church in the 6th and 7th centuries , and afortressused by the Frangipane fellowship in the twelfth century .
9. Including a wool factory (almost.)
Pope Sixtus V implemented a program of urban reclamation during his tenure in the belated 16th hundred that included twist the Colosseum into a wool mill ; workshops would be house on the arena floor while workers would last on the upper floors . alas , due to costs , the project was abandoned play along the Pope ’s death in 1590 .
10. It was probably quite colorful.
Much like its fellow icon , Athens ’ Parthenon , the Colosseum used to be significantly more colorful than it is now . The hall were painted in a variety of colors include violent , green , dim , and light blue , and some archaeologists trust the external rampart were painted too . Visitors are now able to see some of the original frescoes in coloration thanks torestoration employment conducted in 2013on the arena ’s only intact internal passage .
11. The stone came in handy elsewhere.
Some 2522 cartload of stone were take from the Colosseum and used in the rebuilding of St Peter ’s Basilica in Vatican City in the 15th hundred . The two sites are just over 2 mile apart — in fact , trace the course of those stone can take you past many of Rome ’s biggest site , including the Pantheon , the Trevi Fountain , and Castel Sant’Angelo .
12. It’s unlikely you’ll see a concert there anytime soon.
While there was involvement on the part of the Italian government in 2020 to restore the Colosseum ’s base in parliamentary procedure to host concert and stage productions in the bowl , the proffer drew significant repercussion , and little has been said about the plans since 2021 . At least we ’ll always haveThe Lizzie McGuire Movie .
Sun shining through the arches of Coliseum at sunrise, Rome, Italy|Getty/Alexander Spatari
Roman relief of gladiators fighting wild beasts., 1st century.|Getty/Print Collector
Panorama view of the Colosseum|Getty/by Ruhey
Interior of the Colosseum|Getty/Steve Whiston - Fallen Log Photography
