00:00The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome, Italy,
00:09just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built
00:13and is still the largest standing amphitheater in the world, despite its age. Construction began
00:19under the Emperor Vespasian, 69 to 79 AD, in 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his successor
00:26and heir Titus, 79 to 81. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian,
00:3281 to 96. The three emperors who were patrons of the work are known as the Flavian dynasty.
00:38And the amphitheater was named the Flavian Amphitheater, Latin, Amphiteatrum Flavium,
00:44Italian, Amphiteatro by later classicists and archaeologists for its association with their
00:49family name, Flavius. The Colosseum is built of travertine limestone, tough, volcanic rock,
00:55and brick-faced concrete. It could hold an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at various
01:01points in its history. Having an average audience of some 65,000, it was used for gladiatorial
01:07contests and public spectacles including animal hunts, executions, reenactments of famous battles,
01:14dramas based on Roman mythology, and briefly mock sea battles. The building ceased to be used for
01:19entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing,
01:24workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
01:30Although substantially ruined by earthquakes and stone robbers taking Spolia,
01:34the Colosseum is still a renowned symbol of Imperial Rome and was listed as one of the new
01:39seven wonders of the world. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and has links
01:44to the Catholic Church. As each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit Way of the Cross
01:49procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum. The Colosseum is depicted on the
01:54Italian version of the five euro cent coin. Originally, the building's Latin name was
01:59simply Amphitheatrum, Amphitheater, though the modern name Flavian Amphitheater, Latin
02:04Amphitheatrum Flavium, is often used. There is no evidence it was used in classical antiquity.
02:11This name refers to the patronage of the Flavian dynasty, during whose reigns the
02:14building was constructed. But the structure is better known as the Colosseum. In antiquity,
02:20Romans may have referred to the Colosseum by the unofficial name Amphitheatrum Caesareum,
02:25with Caesareum in adjective about the title Caesar. But this name may have been strictly
02:30poetic as it was not exclusive to the Colosseum. Vespasian and Titus, builders of the Colosseum,
02:36also constructed a Flavian Amphitheater in Pudioli, modern Pozzuoli, interior of the Colosseum by
02:42late 19th-century photographer Francis Frith.The name Colosseum is believed to be derived from a
02:47colossal statue of Nero on the model of the Colossus of Rhodes. The giant bronze sculpture
02:52of Nero as a solar deity was moved to its position beside the Amphitheater by the emperor Hadrian
02:58117-138. The word Colosseum is a neuter Latin noun formed from the adjective Colosseus,
03:05meaning gigantic, or colossean. By the year 1000 the Latin name, Colosseum, had been coined to
03:11refer to the amphitheater from the nearby, Colossus Solis. The spelling was sometimes
03:16altered in medieval Latin. Colosseum and Colosseum are attested from the 12th and 14th centuries
03:22respectively. That is all. Subscribe and post comments for future videos.
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