The Colosseum or Coliseum is today the most recognizable of Rome’s Classical buildings.

Even 2,000 years after it was built, and despite centuries when the abandoned building was pillaged for building materials, it is instantly recognizable a Classical template for the stadium of today. It was the first permanent amphitheater to be raised in Rome, and the most impressive arena the Classical world had yet seen. And with accommodation for 60,000 seated and 10,000 standing, all of whom could enter and leave in a matter of minutes, courtesy of 80 entrances, this is a structure that the designers of modern sports stadium could learn from.

In 68AD Emperor Nero died and with him the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Vespasian was made emperor by the Senate in the following year and decided the city needed a new amphitheater. Just like a modern politician, such gestures simultaneously pleased the populace and would (hopefully) leave a lasting monument to the emperor’s greatness. Well maybe. The city’s first amphitheater in stone had been built in 29BC by Statilius Taurus, but Caligula (12-41AD) had adjudged it too small and started building his own.

Did you know? That the Colosseum saw around 450 years of service as Rome’s entertainment center. Architectural historians have read many alterations and additions to Vespasian original structure. In 217AD the higher storeys were wrecked by fire, and there were earthquakes in 442, 470 and 847AD. The last recorded gladiatorial contest was in 404AD, the last hunt in 523AD. It would be tempting to think that Romans had become softened and civilized as Christianity took hold, but the decline is probably down to a lack of cash. The Roman empire was faltering. A series of invasions by Goths, Huns and others were weakening their hold and the revenue being pulled in from its territories and Games were expensive.

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