There are many things that ancient civilizations have in common with modern
civilizations. Many things have also changed over time. The Roman
Colosseum has influenced many things from the present. Many of the football
stadiums of today are modeled after the Colosseum. The intentions of the
people who made the sports arenas were similar to the intentions of those
who made the Colosseum. Here are some similarities and differences between
the ancient Colosseum and the modern sports centers.
When the Colosseum was first being constructed it was called the Flavian
Amphitheater. The Colosseum was built for three reasons. First, to help
raise the morale of the people; to help them forget Nero, an old ruler; and
to give them back the land that Nero had taken. The former ruler, Nero, had
taken between 300 and 350 acres just for a palace and the grounds. The
period of Nero's rule was not liked by many of the people and much of the
Palace costs came from over taxation. Therefore, many of the new leaders
wanted to help forget the reign of Nero. The second reason that they built
the Colosseum was to show the world their strength and their architectural
power. Because the Colosseum was such a massive building project, it was a
symbol of Rome's power and capabilities. The third reason they built the
Colosseum was to help take care of one of the city's biggest
problems-unemployment. There was a great number of people that were
unemployed and the building and designing of the Colosseum would compensate
for the loss of jobs.
The government of Rome started the designing and construction soon after the
end of Nero's reign, and his palace was destroyed. Again, to bring
happiness and extra jobs, many people supported the government's decisions.
Like modern day sports events and arenas, the Colosseum could seat 50,000
people or more. This was over 5% of Rome's population at the time. The
government and the people worked together to make the 620 foot by 513 foot
building. One of the most influential parts of the building process was the
large amounts of arches. In today's football stadiums we have arches in the
doorways, but the rest of the frame is steel.
Much of the Colosseum was made by cement made of pozzolana, lime mortar, and
temper poured into massive molds to form all of the arches. There were also
a few smaller arches made of separate blocks and a keystone, but they were
very unreliable because they fell apart easily. In the entire Colosseum
there were over 250 arches when it was built. Many of the football stadiums
are made in the elliptical shape that the Colosseum was made. The main
purpose of both the Colosseum and football stadiums and sports events today
is the need to go somewhere instead of constant working.
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