Amphitheatres and colosseums What happened in the Roman amphitheatres
An amphitheatre was like an open air stadium where Romans went to watch sports and other shows. Various things happened in Roman amphitheatres, such as the bigger gladiatorial games where gladiators would fight animals and other gladiators as well as prisoners.

Amphitheatres

The amphitheatres were an oval shape and had seating that moved upwards in steps. Some people sat but the poor people bought cheaper tickets which only allowed them to stand at the bottom.

Before the Romans started to build amphitheatres, the gladiators would be allowed to fight in the Forum of Rome.

The Forum was a central meeting place where the government met, and they had to share it with the gladiators!

Are there any amphitheatres left?

There are the remains of a Roman amphitheatre in Britain at Chester. This amphitheatre was used for military training as well as fighting sports such as wrestling and boxing.

It was a very large amphitheatre made of stone.  There are a lot of more famous and better preserved amphitheatres like this in Europe.

The most famous amphitheatre ever was the Colosseum in Rome. This is one of the most famous symbols of Rome and Italy. It is right in the centre of Rome and is the biggest Roman amphitheatre ever built.

It is thought that it was capable of seating over 50,000 people at a time.

What has happened to the Colosseum since?

The name "colosseum" itself means means "gigantic", which means something bigger than big. It implies that it was even bigger than the biggest thing you would imagine man being able to make.

Over the centuries it has been badly damaged by a lightning strike, various earthquakes and stone-robbers. However, it still stands because the Romans who designed and engineered it planned so carefully.

It has been left empty for long periods of time. In between it has been used for lots of different things.

A pope once decided that Christians had been killed there. This, he said, made it holy ground that should be used for a Christian purpose. There is no proof that Christians were killed at this particular amphitheatre. However, the Romans certainly did put some to death in amphitheatres.

The Romans sometimes built smaller, wooden amphitheatres in towns which were less important or that were perhaps intended to be more temporary. The amphitheatre was a public space where people could watch any sort of display imaginable. This is why there are so many of them throughout the Roman Empire.

Other great pages to visit in "Cities" are:

Timeline, Town plans, Roman Forums, Roman baths, Roman basilica, Romans and their gods, Roman Houses, Aqueducts,
 

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