109 more days..

The Colosseum

The Coloseum has long been a point of interest for me, and is one of the places that I am most interested in seeing during our adventure. In fact, I am reminded of a good friend who is known to walk around saying, "I'm Spartacus!", and of his son who is a big fan of gladiator movies. But I digress. I am interested in the Colosseum because it satisfies my interests in history, aesthetics, and engineering. Let's have a closer look.

History:
Also known as 'The House that the Flavor-Flavians Built', the Colosseum was constructed for the purpose of entertainment.

• More specifically, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests, public spectacles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on classical mythology.
• The largest building of its kind in its time, the Colosseum could seat 50,000 people.
• The opening ceremonies for the Colosseum (A.D. 80), carried on for 100 days, during which time as many as 9,000 animals were slaughtered.
• The building was repurposed in the early medieval era for such purposes as housing, workshops, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

Aesthetics:
What can you say? Just look at it. It's incredible.

Engineering:
While the most famous pictures of the Colosseum are those showing the structure in ruins from the exterior, to know what it looked like in the day is amazing. Of particular note:

• The Original Superdome - The Colosseum had a retractable canvas awning, known as the velarium, that kept the sun and rain off spectators. 
• Fill 'er up - According to ancient accounts, it was possible to rapidly flood the arena, presumably via connection to a nearby aqueduct. This allowed simulated sea battles to be conducted for the audiences. (I wonder if they had trout fishing...)
• Facility Operations - Drinking fountains, toilet facilities, and an adequate sewer system to dispose of the waste products of hundreds of slaughtered animals (and people...). You don't want THAT backing up! This state of the art water, sewer, and drainage system was designed by the best Roman Engineers of the era.

That much said, let's not forget...