What Happened To The Floor Of The Colosseum

What that remains near the half built platform is known as the arena an extendable wooden floor in the past.

What happened to the floor of the colosseum.

If you look at the photograph of the present day colosseum below you can see a half built platform and an underground part right below it. Colosseum giant amphitheater built in rome under the flavian emperors. The floor of the colosseum where you might expect to see a smooth ellipse of sand is instead a bewildering array of masonry walls shaped in concentric rings whorls and chambers like a huge. Many famous buildings were built from the colosseum.

The fire that began that day burned for several days the structures of the building especially the tiers of the third floor wood. After the completion of the work it was no longer possible to continue the naumachia representations of naval battles in the amphitheater like in the. For example the cathedrals of st. It was the scene of thousands of gladiator combats contests between men and animals and mock naval engagements.

The colosseum s original latin name was amphitheatrum flavium often anglicized as flavian amphitheatre. The colosseum we know. One of the most basic facts about the roman colosseum how big is it. This name is still used in modern english but generally the structure is better known as the colosseum in antiquity romans may have referred to the colosseum by the unofficial name amphitheatrum.

A second fire caused the almost complete destruction of the colosseum which suffered its worst day on august 2 217. The colosseum s most distinctive feature was the arena upon which gladiators prisoners convicts and wild animals fought and died. The arena floor was made of wood panels covered with a layer of sand which was drawn from the nearby monte mario hill. It measured 83 meters in length by 48 meters width.

The floor was removed by emperor domitian in ad 84 to build the underground area of the arena. This is what happened to the colosseum. Unlike earlier amphitheaters the colosseum is a freestanding structure of stone and concrete that uses a complex system of vaults. John lateran were partially built from the colosseum.