1. ROMAN ENTERTAINMENT VENUES
Outside the Forum
Colosseum
Circus Maximus

2. Colosseum Background: Built on land originally owned by Emperor Nero.
Nero’s House: Domus Aureus: “Golden House”
Lake

3. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Type of Building: Ampitheater, a type of construction without Greek precedent.
Designed to hold spectators. (large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used for spectator sports)
Location: Rome, just outside the Forum.
Many ampitheaters were built in the Roman world.
Oldest ampitheater is at Pompeii, 80 BC.
Ampitheater: an amphitheatre and a theatre are different types of buildings. Amphi-theatres are "theatres in the round": amphi- means "around" in Greek. A theatre is a space with a stage, and the audience is on one side of it. People need to hear, so a theatre is relatively small. An amphitheatre is for action: it's a sports arena, where the spectators sit around the field. They need to see, but they don't really need to hear, so an amphitheatre can be much larger.

4. Amphitheater vs A Greek Theater
An amphitheater and a theater are different types of buildings. Amphi-theaters are "theaters in the round": amphi- means "around" in Greek. A theater is a space with a stage, and the audience is on one side of it. People need to hear, so a theater is relatively small. An amphitheater is for action: it's a sports arena, where the spectators sit around the field. They need to see, but they don't really need to hear, so an amphitheater can be much larger.

5. AHA!

6. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Vespasian
Colosseum is also known as the Flavian Ampitheater. built by the Flavian emperors in the first century AD
Construction was begun by Vespasian (emperor AD), between AD. inaugurated by Titus in 80 AD and completed by Domitian.
10 years to build
Located on marshy land, it is the first permanent ampi-theater built in Rome.
Family built other ampitheaters outside of Rome.
Damaged by fire in 217.
Titus
Domitian
Colosseum may come from the name of a colossal statue of Nero that stood on the site
Colosseum complete to third story by Vespasian’s death.
Top level finished and inaugurated by Titus.
Domtian constructed the hypogeum, series of underground tunnels used to house animals and slaves. He also added a gallery at top to increase seating ability.

7. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Colosseum is a vast ellipse.
Built in tiers, was able to seat 50,000 around a central elliptical arena.
Floor was made of wood.
Below floor were a complex set of rooms and passageways for wild beasts and other provisions for staging the games.

8. Colosseum Specs: 640 ft long X 528 ft wide
Structure covers over 6 acres.
Central interior oval: 287 ft l X 180 ft w
Outer wall: 100,000 cu m of travertine set in mortar held together by 300 tons of iron clamps.
Height: 158 ft. (Equivalent to story building!)

9. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Inside and floor area:
Elliptical design
Under-floor rooms

10. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Eighty walls radiate from arena and support vaults for passageways, stairways and the tiers of seats.
Three tiers of arcades are faced by ¾ columns and entablatures: first story, doric; second, Ionic and third, corinthian.
Each floor consisted of 80 arches.
Above them is an attic story with Corinthian pilasters and small square window openings.
Pilaster: columns attached to a wall so that ½ of its circumference is cut off by the wall.
Top: brackets and sockets carried the masts from which the velarium, canopy for shade, was suspended. Manned by sailors

11. The Roman Arch
To support the tremendous weight of the arches, it was necessary to provide a way of transmitting the force to massive piers to the foundation of the arch. The Romans achieved this feat through the use of the Keystone block. The force was directed down onto the top of the keystone. Force was then translated to the voussoir blocks of the arch which in turn translated the force through the impost to the piers.

12. Colosseum Columned tiers Middle Arcade: Ionic Upper Arcade: Corinthian
Lower Arcade: Doric Columns

13. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Outside: Arches arcades), columns, pilasters

14. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Construction used combination of types:
Concrete for foundations
Travertine for the piers and arcades
Tufa infill between piers for walls of lower two levels
Brick faced concrete for upper levels and most of the vaults.
Travertine is a sedimentary stone made essentially of calcite, deposited by calcareous waters. Its colour is whitish, slightly yellow or reddish. It is used for building, for the floors or as a veneer. It is common in Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Marche. The stone can stand a pressure of 226/298 Kg/cmq, depending on its quality.
Tufa is a stone produced by the cementing of vulcanic material fallen after eruptions. Its colour is gray, yellowish, greenish or brown. It is used in the preparation of special cements and as a building stone (peperino).
Cement is a building material with a binding agent, usually produced by mixing finely ground limestone and clay. It reacts to water by forming a cement that hardens to the consistency of stone. When mixed with sand, small stones or pebbles takes the name of concrete aggregate (or beton). Roman cement (today called "malta" in Rome) is composed of calcia and/or pozzolana. Coarse pieces of stone - different qualities of stones according to the use -  were added to the cement.

15. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
DETAILS:
50,000 could be seated.
80 entrances allowing crowds to arrive and leave quickly. 76 used by spectators; 2 used by emperor; 2 used by gladiators
Spectators used numbered tickets (pottery shards)
Built so that entry and exit could be done in less than one half hour!

16. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Details:
Upon entering, spectators climbed sloping ramps to their seats.
Seating was according to gender and social class.
Women and poor stood or used wooden benches on 4th tier.
During 1st ten years of use, it was filled with water for mock naval battles.

17. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Plan:

18. Colosseum
Plan:

19. Colosseum Hypogeum: Built by Domitian
Connected by underground tunnels to points outside the colosseum.
Machinery in hypogeum:
Elevators and pulleys raised and lowered scenery and caged animals to surface.

20. ROMAN BUILDINGS Colosseum
Details:
Most shows in the Colosseum lasted all day beginning with comedic contests and exotic animal shows in the morning and moving on to professional gladiator events in the afternoon.
In all shows, death played a prominent role.
During the Colosseum's opening ceremonies in A.D. 80, spectacles were held for 100 days in which hundreds of animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed.
Eventually, gladiator fights were outlawed by Emperor Honorius in A.D. 404; however, animal combats continued for another century.

21. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
View from the air:
Reconstruction

22. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Location: Rome, by the Colosseum
Purpose: The Circus Maximus was a track used primarily for chariot/horse-racing, although it was used on occasion for hunts or mock battles.
Built in the 6th century BC. First and largest chariot racing stadium in ancient Rome.
Size: A little more than a1/3 mile long (2037 ft) and 150 yards wide.
There was a long barrier (spina) that ran down the middle of the track.
In addition to obelisks, fountains, statues, and columns, there were also two temples on the spina, one with seven large eggs and one with seven dolphins.
At the end of each lap of the seven lap race, one egg and one dolphin would be removed from each temple, to keep the spectators and the racers updated on how many laps had been completed.
Held 250,000 people. ¼ of cities pop. However, remains suggest seating for 150,000. Even more could view from hills and grass.
Tradition says first games were held by Taquinius Priscus, 5th king of Rome.

23. Circus Maximus Coins issued by Caracella
Notice the image of the Circus Maximus on the obverse of the coin

24. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Facts:
It was twice destroyed by fire and on at least two occasions the stands collapsed, killing many people.
Inside its four-story facade, the Circus was a maze of shops, rooms, stairways, and arcades.
Throngs of people moved about the great interior corridor that provided access to any part of the structure.
Vendors hawked their wares and sold refreshments and souvenirs; and, of course, there were always prostitutes, gamblers, pickpockets, girl watchers, and drunks.

25. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Reconstruction

26. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Facts:
Men and women could sit together.
The Circus Maximus also had the ancient equivelant of the skyboxes you see now in stadiums for professional sports. The Emperor had a reserved seat, as did senators, knights, those who financially backed the race, those who presided over the competition, and the jury that awarded the prize to the winners.
Originally, races per day, then doubled to 24 by Caligula.
Chariots started from 12 gates.
Total distance per race: 3 to 4 miles.
Drivers had to stay in a marked lane for a certain distance.
Presiding magistrate dropped a white flag to start race.
The last race held at the Circus Maximus was in 549 A.D., nearly a full millenium after the track's construction.
Other Circus’: Circus Flaminius, Circus Maxentius, Circus of Nero.

27. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
From Palatine Hill:

28. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Facts:
Horses were well bred, drivers were not.
Drivers were slaves or of low status.
Risk of being dragged was very real.
Drivers earned very good money.
Racing was set up into factions: blue, green, red, white. Races were always between factions.

29. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Tile Mosaic

30. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus maximus
Construction:
For a long time it was built entirely of wood
carceres or stalls for the horse and chariots also acted as starting gates, were built in painted wood, as well as the spina.
In 174 B.C. the censors Fulvius Flaccus and Postumius Albinus had the carcers built in masonry, and placed the seven stone eggs along the spina.
In 33 B.C. Agrippa had bronze dolphins set up
Augustus had the pulvinar, a sacred box reserved for the tutelary gods of the games, set up and in 10 B.C. he had the obelisk of Ramses, II taken at Heliopolis placed on the spina.
The Circus measured 600 with 200 meters. Of the chariot races that were held there, the most important were those of the Ludi Romani the first week of September, which opened with a religious procession in which the highest religious and civil authorities of the city took part.

31. Circus Maximus
Carceres

32. Circus Maximus
Spina from Circus of Maxentius

33. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Notice the Valley it is in: Between Aventine and Palatine Hills.

34. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Interesting Tidbits:
The Circus Maximus allowed emperors an opportunity to announce new laws or taxes
the populace frequently aired its dirty laundry when horses weren't running.
Displeased with their taxes, the crowd one day shouted their troubles to Caligula in between races. Rather than hear them out, or even ignore them, Caligula sent out hefty chunks of the military into the crowd with orders to detain any shouting persons. He had them brought to the center of the circus, halted all racing activity, and summarily executed each one so that the bulk of Rome could see he wasn't fooling around.

35. ROMAN BUILDINGS Circus Maximus
Chariots, Horses, Jockeys