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Events

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years ago
Events
The Flavian Amphitheatre is most commonly known for its gladiator fights. Roman’s loved bloodshed and gladiator combat was easy and entertaining for the citizens. There were many other events that happened in the Colosseum other than gladiator combat. Before the opening of the Colosseum there was a great festival and parade. This was a large celebration that everyone came to, including the emperor.
     Before any shows started there was a grand festival. The festival that took place before the grand opening of the amphitheatre involved many wild animal acts and a surplus of entertainment. The parade alone had musicians, dancers, and jugglers as human entertainment. Priests were also present to celebrate the opening of the Flavian Amphitheatre. Romans also loved animal acts so at the parade people would have wild beasts do tricks for the crowds, and there were displays of rare and untamed animals. The parade led to the Colosseum and from there people would enter and watch the first shows. The first games lasted over one hundred days, in that time there were three thousand gladiator fights. On the first day alone five thousand animals were slaughtered. These violent activities continued for the remainder of the celebration and throughout the rest of Roman history.
     Gladiator combat was the activity of choice for the Romans. Gladiators of different types would fight each other to the death or when the referee decided that one couldn’t fight anymore. When this happened the audience, specifically the emperor decided whether or not the gladiators fought well. If they did not fight well then the other gladiator would kill his opponent who was kneeling before him. Animal fights were also common events. Sometimes these fights would occur between more than one animal or between an animal and a gladiator. During animal clashes there would be archers surrounding the arena floor to protect the citizens. Animal fights and gladiator fights were exciting to the Romans but eventually the emperor felt that the Romans were getting bored with gladiator combat and that he had to find some other exciting fight.
     Historians have argued whether or not mock sea battles occurred. There has been scientific research done and it is said that sea battles could have been possible in the Colosseum. At times the Colosseum could have been flooded with water to be able to hold mock naval battles. The Flavian Amphitheatre had a removable wooden floor, where gladiators would fight. When the floor was removed there was a system of rooms and corridors, and on the sidewalls there were gates that could be closed to allow for water to be held inside the amphitheatre. Water would come from the mountains through a system of aqueducts. The sluice gates would be closed so no water could leak out. When the water reached the correct pressure another system of gates would close. The Colosseum could have four million gallons of water in the arena at a depth of five feet within seven hours. This means that the Colosseum could be flooded overnight in between shows. The flooded arena allowed for large triremes to float and create the illusion of a sea battle. Romans found this very exciting because many people got killed in a reenactment of a battle. These battles were very realistic and people often drowned.
     There were many events that occurred at the Colosseum. Gladiator fights are the most well known, but there were animal fights and sea battles. The animal fights and gladiator fights were single deaths at a time and the Romans wanted more death and more excitement. Eventually the emperor decided to introduce naval battles with a full navy battling each other from their boats and in the water. The Roman citizens loved bloodshed and the events at the Colosseum satisfied them.

 

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