Photos of the Iconic Wonderful Roman Colosseum Rome

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Photos of the Iconic Wonderful Roman Colosseum Rome. The biggest Colosseum of the Roman Empire. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Iconic Wonderful Roman Colosseum Rome

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Photos of The Roman Colosseum Rome, by photographer Paul E Williams.

Roman Colosseum Rome

One of the great iconic buildings of the world is the Rome Colosseum. Block buster films glorify fearless Gladiators fighting to the death in the Colosseum to the roar of 80,000 Roman spectators. For Christians the Rome Colosseum was where many early Christians were martyred 1700 years ago.

The Ultimate Entertainment Venue

For many people the shear scale of the Colosseum is an awe inspiring sight. It was the biggest building in Rome. It was designed to keep the ever restless and factious inhabitants of Rome entertained and docile. The entertainments in the Colosseum were brutal and performed on a massive scale. They really were a live equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster.

The events in the Colosseum were free. They were paid from by the Emperor of by wealthy Romans who wanted to gain popularity from the people of Rome.

The Building of the Rome Colosseum

In 72 AD Emperor Vespasian ordered the building of the Colosseum and it was opened by Emperor Titus in 80 AD. At the inaugural games over 9.000 animals were killed which set the benchmark for future events to beat.

In 106 Emperor Trajan celebrated his conquest of Dacia (Romania) with 123 days of games involving 10,000 animals and 11,000 gladiators. Elaborate sets were built in which hunters stalked exotic animals like Lions from Africa or bears from Europe.

Before each games condemned prisoners were executed for the entertainment of the crowd.

The Gladiators of the Colosseum

Gladiators are synonymous with the Colosseum. They were trained at great expense and there was great rivalry between the Gladiatorial schools. The Roman Nobility financed the Gladiators training to show off their wealth and power.

Gladiators could win riches and fame if they were successful in the Colosseum. Eventually success could buy their freedom.

Roman records record that retired gladiators talked of their defeats as well as wins. This shows that not all fights were to the death. To train a Gladiator was very costly so they were far too valuable for their owners to waste needlessly.

The Rome Colosseums & Christianity

In 303 AD the first Christians joined the condemned in the Colosseum and were executed. Emperor Diocletian, who was a devout pagan, ordered everyone in the Empire to make sacrifice to the pagan Gods. If they didn’t they were sentenced to death.

Christians refuse to sacrifice to pagan gods so were literally fed to the Lions in the Colosseum in a brutal martyrdom. The killing of Christian were not popular in the Colosseum. The Christian simply knelt in prayer and accepted their fate with quiet dignity believing that, as martyrs, they were going to heaven. These horrific scenes did not excite the crowd much who wanted to see more screaming and panic from the Lions victims.

Many in the crowd at the Colosseum had Christian Neighbours. Romans could not see why pious Christians, who had spent their lives doing good deeds, were being executed in the Colosseum. By 311 Christian persecutions were stopped when Emperor Constantine, made Christianity an official religion of the Roman Empire.

The Decline of the Rome Colosseum

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire the games stopped at Colosseum. In the 6th century a small area was used as a church and in the 1200’s it was used a a fortified castle by the Frangipani family. Eventually the colosseum was largely abandoned by the and became a popular den for bandits.

Severe damage was inflicted on the Colosseum by the great earthquake in 1349, causing the outer south side to collapse. Much of the fallen stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome. 

The interior of the amphitheater was extensively stripped of stone, which was reused elsewhere, or, in the case of the marble facade was burned to make quicklime.

The Sanctification of the Rome Colosseum

In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV sanctified the Colosseum as a sacred site where early Christians had been martyred. He forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ. Stations of the Cross were installed in the Colosseum declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who perished there. 

The actions of Pope Benedict XIV probably saved the Colosseum from complete destruction. Today it is one of the most popular tourist sites in Rome.