When Rome dominated the world, one of the most popular places for Romans to go for entertainment was the Flavian Amphitheater. This huge elliptical stadium could hold crowds of up to 50,000 citizens in the six acres it covered. But it went by another name of Il Colosseo or as we call it, The Colosseum.

For centuries after the Colosseum was opened in the first century, some of the bloodiest games in human history were held there where gladiators fought to the death, or prisoners were thrown to wild animals to be devoured for the entertainment of others. When you visit the site on your trip to Rome, very little will remain of those brutal times except for the vaults, cells and tunnels underground where humans and animals alike were brought to the stadium and held to await their time before the crowd.

Over the millennia, the Colosseum has suffered with earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters. But even in decay, you still get a sense of the phenomenal glory and importance of this building to the Roman society.

When you visit the Colosseum and see how large it is from the top of the structure 157 feet up, you can almost see the huge spectacles that happened there so many years ago as though they just happened last week. Of course the days when slaves and warriors and lions passed through those red brick arches that are now crumbling are far in the past. But as you walk the passageways of this fascinating Roman attraction, you can sense the ghosts of those who fought there in the past mixing with the other tourists around you.

The layout of the stadium is by layers – each of which has a great view of the different levels of arches all around the huge space of the Colosseum. As you sit on those ancient seats, it’s easy to hear from the past the crowd explode with excitement when the Emperor came in with his entourage through one of the four gates that were only for him. There are 76 other entrances around the stadium that average citizens of Rome were allowed to use.

The Colosseum took eight years of hard labor to construct and the work of 15,000 slaves and designers before it finally opened for use in 80 AD. The name of the facility came from a very popular statue near the main entrance called “The Colossus.” At the time, many thought that statue was actually of Nero himself but over the life of the empire, the face of each successive Emperor could be found on the Colossus as well. You can still find the large base of this huge bronze statue standing between the Temple of Venus and Roma and the remains of the Colosseum.

The opening of the Colosseum launched a celebration that lasted 100 days as noblemen and barbarians alike visited the stadium. It was quite common when coming for a night of entertainment at the Colosseum to see gladiators fight until only one survived or to witness the brutal Roman approach to lion taming and other performances that were just as violent to our modern minds.

Seating in the Colosseum was assigned by your rank and status in society. The Emperor had the best seat near the base of the facility and the highest levels were left for women who were not part of the royal party. But there were no bad seats because from any of the 50,000 seats, you could see the combat unfold. And the spectacular display of elephants, hippopotami and other exotic animals that became part of the grand show along with the great cats that were used for combat made for a diversion that kept the Roman people excited and anticipating the next big performance.

To this day engineers do not know how designers at that time were able to develop the masts and velarium that made up the canopy that covered a massive area to provide shade during the games. Those canopies have long ago decayed so the answer may also have been swallowed up by time. But you can admire the elegant and powerful columns of the arena made of Doric on the lowest level, or Ionic on the second tier and finally with Corinthian on the third level of the arena.

To this day the architecture of The Colosseum amazes tourists and engineers alike who also emulate its design and use ideas from this ancient stadium in modern arena designs. At the time, it was a first of its kind and by far the biggest and most famous free standing arena in the Roman world. Other smaller stadiums were just simple structures that were dug out of the hills around Italy. You can still find examples of this design approach around Rome during your visit.

But as you plan your schedule for your visit of Rome, visiting the amazing Colosseum is a must.