ROMAN ENTERTAINMENT
VENUES
Outside the Forum
Colosseum
Circus Maximus
Colosseum
• Background:
– Built on land originally owned by Emperor
Nero.
• Nero’s House: Domus Aureus: “Golden House”
• Lake
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Colosseum:
– Type of Building: Ampitheater, a type of
construction without Greek precedent.
• Designed to hold spectators. (large central
performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and
were commonly used for spectator sports)
– Location: Rome, just outside the Forum.
– Many ampitheaters were built in the Roman
world.
– Oldest ampitheater is at Pompeii, 80 BC.
Amphitheater vs A Greek
Theater
• An amphitheater and a theater are different
types of buildings.
Amphi-theaters are "theaters in the round":
amphi- means "around" in Greek. A theater is a
space with a stage, and the audience is on one
side of it. People need to hear, so a theater is
relatively small. An amphitheater is for action: it's
a sports arena, where the spectators sit around
the field. They need to see, but they don't really
need to hear, so an amphitheater can be much
larger.
AHA!
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Vespasian
Colosseum
• Colosseum is also known as
the Flavian Ampitheater. built
by the Flavian emperors in the
first century AD
• Construction was begun by
Vespasian (emperor 69-79
AD), between 70-72 AD.
inaugurated by Titus in 80 AD
and completed by Domitian.
• 10 years to build
• Located on marshy land, it is
the first permanent ampitheater built in Rome.
• Family built other ampitheaters
outside of Rome.
• Damaged by fire in 217.
Titus
Domitian
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Colosseum is a vast ellipse.
• Built in tiers, was able to seat 50,000
around a central elliptical arena.
• Floor was made of wood.
• Below floor were a complex set of rooms
and passageways for wild beasts and
other provisions for staging the games.
Colosseum
• Specs:
– 640 ft long X 528 ft wide
– Structure covers over 6 acres.
– Central interior oval: 287 ft l X 180 ft w
– Outer wall: 100,000 cu m of travertine set in
mortar held together by 300 tons of iron
clamps.
– Height: 158 ft. (Equivalent to 12-15 story
building!)
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Inside and floor area:
Under-floor
rooms
Elliptical design
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Eighty walls radiate from arena
and support vaults for
passageways, stairways and the
tiers of seats.
• Three tiers of arcades are faced
by ¾ columns and entablatures:
first story, doric; second, Ionic and
third, corinthian.
• Each floor consisted of 80 arches.
• Above them is an attic story with
Corinthian pilasters and small
square window openings.
• Pilaster: columns attached to a
wall so that ½ of its circumference
is cut off by the wall.
• Top: brackets and sockets carried
the masts from which the
velarium, canopy for shade, was
suspended. Manned by sailors
The Roman Arch
•
To support the tremendous weight
of the arches, it was necessary to
provide a way of transmitting the
force to massive piers to the
foundation of the arch. The
Romans achieved this feat
through the use of the Keystone
block. The force was directed
down onto the top of the keystone.
Force was then translated to the
voussoir blocks of the arch which
in turn translated the force through
the impost to the piers.
Colosseum
• Columned tiers
Middle Arcade: Ionic
Upper Arcade: Corinthian
Lower Arcade: Doric
Columns
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Outside: Arches
arcades), columns,
pilasters
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Construction used combination of types:
– Concrete for foundations
– Travertine for the piers and arcades
– Tufa infill between piers for walls of lower two
levels
– Brick faced concrete for upper levels and
most of the vaults.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
•
DETAILS:
– 50,000 could be seated.
– 80 entrances allowing crowds
to arrive and leave quickly. 76
used by spectators; 2 used by
emperor; 2 used by gladiators
– Spectators used numbered
tickets (pottery shards)
– Built so that entry and exit
could be done in less than one
half hour!
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Details:
– Upon entering,
spectators climbed
sloping ramps to their
seats.
– Seating was according
to gender and social
class.
• Women and poor
stood or used wooden
benches on 4th tier.
– During 1st ten years of
use, it was filled with
water for mock naval
battles.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Plan:
Colosseum
• Plan:
Colosseum
• Hypogeum:
– Built by Domitian
– Connected by
underground tunnels to
points outside the
colosseum.
– Machinery in
hypogeum:
• Elevators and pulleys
raised and lowered
scenery and caged
animals to surface.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Colosseum
• Details:
– Most shows in the Colosseum lasted all day
beginning with comedic contests and exotic animal
shows in the morning and moving on to professional
gladiator events in the afternoon.
– In all shows, death played a prominent role.
– During the Colosseum's opening ceremonies in A.D.
80, spectacles were held for 100 days in which
hundreds of animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed.
– Eventually, gladiator fights were outlawed by Emperor
Honorius in A.D. 404; however, animal combats
continued for another century.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• View from the air:
Reconstruction
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Location: Rome, by the Colosseum
• Purpose: The Circus Maximus was a track used primarily for
chariot/horse-racing, although it was used on occasion for hunts or
mock battles.
• Built in the 6th century BC. First and largest chariot racing stadium
in ancient Rome.
• Size: A little more than a1/3 mile long (2037 ft) and 150 yards wide.
• There was a long barrier (spina) that ran down the middle of the
track.
• In addition to obelisks, fountains, statues, and columns, there were
also two temples on the spina, one with seven large eggs and one
with seven dolphins.
– At the end of each lap of the seven lap race, one egg and one dolphin
would be removed from each temple, to keep the spectators and the
racers updated on how many laps had been completed.
• Held 250,000 people. ¼ of cities pop. However, remains suggest
seating for 150,000. Even more could view from hills and grass.
• Tradition says first games were held by Taquinius Priscus, 5th king
of Rome.
Circus Maximus
• Coins issued by Caracella
Notice the image of the Circus
Maximus on the obverse of the
coin
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Facts:
• It was twice destroyed by fire and on at least two
occasions the stands collapsed, killing many
people.
– Inside its four-story facade, the Circus was a maze of
shops, rooms, stairways, and arcades.
– Throngs of people moved about the great interior
corridor that provided access to any part of the
structure.
– Vendors hawked their wares and sold refreshments
and souvenirs; and, of course, there were always
prostitutes, gamblers, pickpockets, girl watchers,
and drunks.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Reconstruction
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Facts:
– Men and women could sit together.
– The Circus Maximus also had the ancient equivelant of the skyboxes
you see now in stadiums for professional sports. The Emperor had a
reserved seat, as did senators, knights, those who financially backed
the race, those who presided over the competition, and the jury that
awarded the prize to the winners.
– Originally, 10-12 races per day, then doubled to 24 by Caligula.
– Chariots started from 12 gates.
– Total distance per race: 3 to 4 miles.
– Drivers had to stay in a marked lane for a certain distance.
– Presiding magistrate dropped a white flag to start race.
– The last race held at the Circus Maximus was in 549 A.D., nearly a full
millenium after the track's construction.
– Other Circus’: Circus Flaminius, Circus Maxentius, Circus of
Nero.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• From Palatine Hill:
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
•
•
•
•
•
•
Facts:
Horses were well bred, drivers were not.
Drivers were slaves or of low status.
Risk of being dragged was very real.
Drivers earned very good money.
Racing was set up into factions: blue, green, red,
white. Races were always between factions.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Tile Mosaic
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus maximus
• Construction:
– For a long time it was built entirely of wood
– carceres or stalls for the horse and chariots also acted as
starting gates, were built in painted wood, as well as the spina.
– In 174 B.C. the censors Fulvius Flaccus and Postumius
Albinus had the carcers built in masonry, and placed the seven
stone eggs along the spina.
– In 33 B.C. Agrippa had bronze dolphins set up
– Augustus had the pulvinar, a sacred box reserved for the
tutelary gods of the games, set up and in 10 B.C. he had the
obelisk of Ramses, II taken at Heliopolis placed on the spina.
– The Circus measured 600 with 200 meters. Of the chariot races
that were held there, the most important were those of the Ludi
Romani the first week of September, which opened with a
religious procession in which the highest religious and civil
authorities of the city took part.
Circus Maximus
• Carceres
Circus Maximus
• Spina from Circus of Maxentius
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Notice the Valley it is in: Between Aventine
and Palatine Hills.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Interesting Tidbits:
• The Circus Maximus allowed emperors an opportunity to
announce new laws or taxes
• the populace frequently aired its dirty laundry when
horses weren't running.
• Displeased with their taxes, the crowd one day shouted
their troubles to Caligula in between races. Rather than
hear them out, or even ignore them, Caligula sent out
hefty chunks of the military into the crowd with orders to
detain any shouting persons. He had them brought to the
center of the circus, halted all racing activity, and
summarily executed each one so that the bulk of Rome
could see he wasn't fooling around.
ROMAN BUILDINGS
Circus Maximus
• Chariots, Horses,
Jockeys