History

• The Roman Emperor Titus opened the Colosseum in Rome in 80 A.D. According to Professor Keith Hopkins of the University of Cambridge, it was the first permanent amphitheater built in Rome and intended to be somewhere the general public could come to enjoy entertainments.
  
  

Layout

• The Colosseum was built in an oval shape centered around an arena where events could take place. It had 80 different entrances to allow its 50,000 spectators to get in and out of the building, including a special entrance for the imperial box.
  
  

Events

• The Colosseum witnessed many bloody encounters, as the Romans used it to host gladiatorial games. Gladiators fought each other, dueled with condemned prisoners, Christians and even wild animals to entertain the crowds. Professor Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard, both of the University of Cambridge, estimate that gladiators experienced a death rate of one in six.
  
  

Aftermath

• After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Colosseum fell into disrepair. In the Middle Ages much of its stone was taken away to construct other buildings. Archaeologists began preservation work in the 19th century, and today around 6 million people visit it each year.