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Piazza del Colosseo 1, 00184 Roma, Italy
GPS: 41.892101214435, 12.494209997921
The Colosseum in Rome home of the gladiators is most famous as the site of gladiator battles staged during the time of the Roman Empire. It is claimed that 9,000 animals were slaughtered when the games were inaugurated with 100 days of festivities under the reign of Titus. Today, the ruins stand testimony to an era in history that will never be forgotten. The Colosseum in Rome played host to human blood sports and pompous spectacles during its 350-year lifetime. During that time, more than 400,000 gladiators, prisoners, slaves, convicts and entertainers lost their lives in the amphitheatre. In 1349, a severe earthquake caused the southern side of the Colosseum to collapse. The rubble was collected and reused to rebuild a badly damaged Rome. The building continued to be vandalised for its materials – stones were stripped and iron clamps were wrenched from the walls. These acts of vandalism left scars that are still evident today on the walls of the Colosseum.
The Colosseum in Rome is the largest amphitheatre in the world and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. It wrote its script for moviemakers many years later. Films like “The Gladiator” and “Ben Hur” depict an era during which gladiator blood sports took place within this amphitheatre. Brutal one-on-one battles that were fought to the death and were the most popular of all the entertainment staged in the Colosseum. The gladiators were professional fighters and operated for 700 years in ancient times.
When you visit the Colosseum in Rome you will be able to explore a section of the underground network of tunnels where the animals and the gladiators prepared for battle. Today, the Colosseum is an empty shell but, if you listen closely, you can perhaps still hear the roar of the crowd as gladiators emerged from the bowels of the amphitheatre to fight to live another day.