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The Colosseum

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  Location: Rome, Italy (Continent of Europe)
• Built by: Emperor Vespasian as a gift to the Roman people
• Date built: Construction started in 70 AD and finished in 80 AD (about 2,000 years ago)
• How long to build: It took ten years to build
• Size: 620 ft long & 513 ft wide & 158 ft tall (190 m long & 155 m wide & 48 m tall)
• Weight: 245 million lbs (295,000 m tons)
• With the completion of the Colosseum, the current Emperor Titus (the son of Emperor Vespasian) held 100 days of games, including gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights for the people.
• The Colosseum had seating for more than 50,000 spectators, and on hot days there was an awning to help protect the people from the sun.
• About 60,000 to 100,000 Jewish enslaved people built the Colosseum.
• It is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built, and you can still visit.
• One use for the Colosseum was for gladiator fights with wild animals, such as lions, tigers, hippos, bears, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos.
• Gladiators were made up of men and a few women who were criminals, enslaved people, prisoners of war, and people who wanted to fight for fame and glory.
• They would also flood the arena to have mock (fake) naval engagements.
• Around the arena, workers would open different trap doors (36 trap doors in total) for releasing wild animals into the arena and for special effects during a performance.
• There were also tunnels and rooms under the floor of the arena. These tunnels are where they would keep the animals and the gladiators and performers coming and going in the Colosseum.
• In about 400 years, about 400,000 people died fighting in the arena, and about 1 million animals died.