1) The actual name of the Colosseum was Flavian Amphitheatre (Amphitheatrum Flavium). Colosseum was a nickname which is thought to have been derived from a colossal statue of Nero nearby which was called Colossus, after the Colossus of Rhodes. It was named after the emperors of the Flavian dynasty who built it.

2) Its construction was commissioned by the emperor Vespasian after the storming of Jerusalem in 70, during the First Roman-Jewish War. It was completed in 80 by Vespasian's son and successor Titus. Domitian, Titus' brother and successor added a fourth tier.

3) The Colosseum was financed with the funds from the spoil of war of the victorious First Jewish-Roman War and was built by Jewish slaves. In antiquity slaves were enslaved war captives. Josephus estimated that the Romans took 97,000 slaves from Jerusalem to Rome. It is not clear how many of them worked on the Colosseum. One estimate gives 20,000.

4) The Colosseum was built:

- To provide a replacement for the first part-stone amphitheatre (arena) for gladiatorial games in Rome which had been inaugurated by Augustus in 29-30 BC and which burned down in 64 AD.

- To reclaim the area in front of Nero's enormous palace (the Domus Aurea, Golden House) for public use;

- To celebrate the Roman victory against the Jews in the revolt of the First Roman-Jewish War (66-73 AD).

- To show the grandeur of Emperor Vespasian and bolster is position as emperor as he obtained his position through wars between rival claimants to the imperial title.

5) The construction of the Flavian Amphitheatre involved the drainage of an artificial lake Nero had made in front of his Domus Aurea. Drains were built 8m (26 ft.) below surface, to channel the streams which flow through the valley. The elliptic foundations were made of concrete: under the outer walls and seating, they are 12-13m (39-42 ft.) deep. Under of the arena, they are 4m (13 ft.) deep, and designed in strips beneath concentric walls.

6) Its construction was made possible by the invention of concrete and the simple (barrel) arch and the vaulted arch or vault. The core of the structure was made of Roman concrete (which was different than modern concrete), which was covered with stone of stucco (a type of plaster) because concrete was unsightly. Local tuff stone was used and travertine stone, which was brought from 20 miles from Rome, were used. The outer facade was covered with travertine the stones were braced by 300 bronze clamps. it was supported by 80 simple arches. The seating was supported by vaults.

6) The Colosseum is elliptic in shape, measured 187.5x159.5 metres (615x523 ft.) and could host 50,000 spectators. It height is 48.5 metres (159 ft.), but it probably was originally 52 metres high (177ft.). The actual arena was 86x54 metres (282x177 feet) and was separated from the seating by a 4 metre high platform. Below the floor there were 12 corridors arranged symmetrically around the two sides. This area hosted the machinery and the animals used for the games. At the two opposite ends there were two monumental entrances for the gladiators and the animals which were too heavy to be hoisted from below the arena.

7) Three tiers have 80 arches with Doric columns on the first, Ionic ones on the second and Corinthian ones on the third. The fourth tier was walled and had 80 windows. The arches on the first tier provided 80 entrances: 76 numbered entrances for the general public (plastered and painted white and red) and four un-numbered grand entrances decorated with stuccoes. One entrance was for the magistrates (officers of state). One was the ceremonial entrance for the emperor, the senators and the Vestal Virgins. One entrance gave direct access to the arena via the Gate of death of Porta Libitina (Gate of Libitina, the goddess of funerals). Dead gladiators and animals were taken through this exit. A tunnel connected the gate to the Spoliarium, a room under the arena, where the bodies of the gladiators were stripped and the weapons and armour were taken. One entrance also led directly to the arena, but via the Gate of Life or Porta Sanaviva. It was used for the procession of gladiators into the arena and their exit. A tunnel connected the gate to the Ludus Magnus gladiator school, 60 meters (180 feet) to the east.

8) The seating was divided into 5 horizontal sectors. The lowest one was reserved for the senators and their families. The other ones were assigned by social status, with poorer people sitting at a higher level. Women sat on steps under a portico, separated from the men. The poor sat on a terrace above the portico. They had the worst view and the worst seats. Their lower steps were of marble and the higher ones were made of wood. The passages to the seats were called the vomitorium (plural: vomitoria) and were below or behind the tiers of seats. The crowds could "spit or vomit there.

9) The arena of the Colosseum could also be flooded to stage mock naval battles (naumachiae). Parts of the underground structure were built with waterproof material. There were gates could to let in water and close it off when it reached a depth of five feet. It has been estimated that four million gallons of water were used and that the arena could be flooded in seven hours. There were eighteen blocks which held wooden props which supported the floor of the arena. This floor was removed to make room for the naumachiae. Due to the limited space of the arena and the shallowness of its flooding, mock ships were used. They came in a small scale and were flat bottomed. Ramming ships, the procedure to sink enemy ships in a real battle, was not possible. Therefore, boardings were staged. As the water was shallow, the fighters who fell off the ships could continue to fight in the water.

10) Over the centuries, like many other ancient Roman buildings, the Colosseum was quarried for building materials. The interior was stripped of stone, and so was the marble of the facade. The bronze clamps which held the stones together were ripped away. . In 1349 the upper part of the southern faÃ§ade collapsed in an earthquake because the soil is less stable on that side. The fallen stones were taken and used as building materials.

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