What can the construction of the colosseum teach us about roman government and politcs?

Answer 1

The Roman Colosseum, or Flavian Amphitheater, plays on all of our feelings and ideas of Rome itself - so much so, that we have essentially abandoned the actual name of it in favor of something more pleasing to the ear. No word speaks of majesty, power, and cruelty all wound into a single entity like "Colosseum" It elicits ideas of roaring crowds in a giant man made structure, and men fighting for their lives in mortal combat for a jeering crowd. Movies have been made out of the history of the Colosseum, poems have been written about it, and all styles of books have been published about aspects that have gone into it.

Answer 2

The way ancient Romans used the Colosseum reveals the violent side of Roman culture. The Colosseum was a place where many of the Roman "games" were held. The "games" included gladiator to gladiator fights, which were often fights to the death. Gladiators were often pitted against wild beasts, and mass public executions were also held at the Colosseum. The manner of many executions were extraordinarily cruel. Some prisoners were either burned to death or ravaged by wild beasts.

Answer 3

The Colosseum was financed with the funds from the spoil of war of the victorious First Jewish-Roman War and was built Jewish slaves. In antiquity slaves were enslaved war captives. Josephus estimated that the Romans took 97,000 slaves from Jerusalem to Rome. It is clear how many of them worked on the Colosseum. One estimate gives 20,000.

The construction of the Colosseum was commissioned in 70 by the emperor Vespasian (reigned 69-79) and was completed in 80 by his son and successor Titus (reigned 79-81). Titus' brother and successor Domitian (reigned 81-96) made further modifications. Since there were the emperors of the Flavian dynasty, the actual name of the arena was Flavian Amphitheatre(Amphitheatrum Flavium). The nickname Colosseum his thought to have been derived from a colossal statue of Nero nearby which was called Colossus, after the Colossus of Rhodes.

The Flavian Amphitheatre was built:

1) 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.

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

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

4) To celebrate the grandeur of Emperor Vespasian.

Therefore, the construction of this amphitheatre reflected the importance of the gladiatorial games to the Romans, the vast sums of money that could be obtained from the spoils of war and how they could fund massive public works, the large numbers of slaves who could be captured in victorious wars and the large numbers which could be used for a public work project. It also reflected the massive projects ambitious emperors could undertake to celebrate their grandeur, and the lengths to which Vespasian went to celebrate the victory against the Jews.

Vespasian started the campaign against the Jews, but returned Rome when he became the emperor. His son Titus continued the campaign and he was the one who besieged and captured Jerusalem. Therefore, Vespasian used the Colosseum which to mark the victory. Titus, the actual winner had the triumphal arch named after himself (the Arch of Titus) built to celebrate his victory. This was also built by Jewish slaves.

Answer 4

The Romans had many values that they recognised and respected. Some of these include: Entertainment, Christianity, violence, pleasure and wealth. All of these values were considered when building the Colosseum, in order for the society to respect the Emperor.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

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