Political and Cultural Significance of the Flavian Amphitheatre Essay Example

the unemployed.

Although the construction of his Flavian Amphitheatre offered Vespasian a possible solution, it also required an amount of money and manpower greater than anything ever required before, but this was money that Rome did not have, and Vespasian could not risk raising taxes for fear of losing support of the Roman people. However his son, Titus, at the time was involved in the sacking of Jerusalem and upon the fall of Jerusalem, they gained the wealth and treasures of the temples there, as well as thirty thousand Jews.

There is the possibility that the Jews worked on the construction of the Colosseum, however some think it is more likely that they were sold to fund the Amphitheatre. The sacking of Jerusalem showed the power of the Romans, and the outcome of this was the amphitheatre, a building which was intended to be a manifestation of the power of the Roman state, and a lasting memory of Vespasian and the Flavians. The chosen area for the Colosseum was Nero’s lake (Appendix a); the draining of the lake alone was a monumental task that required a huge workforce.

The location of the Colosseum is very important for understanding the motivation for Vespasian to construct it. Martial a Latin poet helps us to understand the importance of the placement; “Here, where, rayed with stars, the colossus views heaven from close up, and in the middle of the street tall scaffolding rises, once gleamed hatefully the Palace of a savage king, and but a single house stood in the entire city; here where the far-seen Amphitheatre lifts its august mas was Nero’s pond; here

where we now admire the gift so swiftly erected, the Thermae, once a proud park had robbed the lowly of their dwellings.

Where the colonnade of the Temple of Claudius extends its outspread shade the Palace once extended to its farthest limit. Some has been given back to herself, and under your direction, Caesar, and what was once the delight of a Master is now the delight of the People. ” Where the Colosseum is situated was formerly known as the Valley of the Golden House, and it is where the infamous Nero converted public domain into his own lavish palace and gardens, using the taxes paid by the people of the Roman Empire to do so.

What the Latin poet reveals to us is that the returning of the Valley of the Golden House to the public domain was a popular decision, and would have promoted Vespasian’s reputation hugely. He had already done this in various ways before he built the Colosseum, but deciding to build his amphitheatre in the Golden Valley was letting the people know that he would not be the same selfish emperor that Nero was, and an attempt to erase Nero from the map and Roman history.

In 79 AD Vespasian came to his final days, dying before the construction of the Colosseum was complete. His son, Titus, was to take over his role as emperor. Titus, new in his role, knew that he too must impress the people as his father had done, and so he announced the opening of the Colosseum would occur one year later. This seemed like an impossible goal for the constructers,

and Titus had planned an extravagant opening to ensure that none would think he was less visionary than his father.

Upon the opening of the great amphitheatre there were one hundred days of fighting. These one hundred days involved the slaughter of an unfathomable number of animals and men; one source tells us that five thousand animals were killed in the first day. The writer Cassius Dio tells us just how extravagant the opening may have been; “Titus suddenly filled this same theatre with water and brought in horses and bulls and some other domesticated animals that had been taught to behave in the liquid element just as on land.

He also brought in people on ships, who engaged in a sea-fight there, impersonating the Corcyreans and Corinthians. ” This suggests that Titus had the Colosseum flooded in order to stage a naval battle; however several historians question the technicalities of this, despite the multiple writings of its occurrence, no evidence of water proofing has been found, and an enormous amount of water would have been required in order to actually float ships.

Either way we know that Titus’s opening was one of grand proportions, typical of Roman culture and a way of Titus presenting that he, like his father, was there to please the Romans. The events that took place within the arena were an expression of Rome’s power. Animals were imported from all over the empire to be slaughtered and fought within the games. The exotic animals were a way of showing the widespread conquering of the Roman Empire; lions, tigers, ostriches and many other animals were used. The gladiators

themselves were named after Rome’s enemies, or mythological characters.

It was done as a constant reminder of Rome’s power, and their victories, a way to keep the people of Rome happy, and to affirm the mastery of the empire. Though today, these events seem barbaric, to the Romans this entertainment was a celebration of their civilisation and the culture they had built. Here was a place where they celebrated their many victories and executed criminals; this amphitheatre was the very symbol of Roman order and culture. The Colosseum was designed meticulously to reflect Roman culture; this was achieved in many ways.

One of these was the plan of the seating and how they accessed the stadium. Every Roman had their place in the theatre, and there were strict divisions between the different classes of society. The seating structure (Appendix b) defined who entered through each of the eighty entrances/exits; seventy-six of which were used by the general public. They were designated to each of the different sectors of society- the lower your class, the more difficult it was to get to your seats, and the longer you had to wait.

This was not a new idea, however the colosseum greatly expanded what had been done previously, with the social classes more divided. Archaeologists have identified stone bollards (Appendix c) that are still outside the Colosseum today to be a form of crowd control, where those wishing to enter would have been ordered to stand behind while queuing for entry, similar to stadiums today. There is a contrast between the purpose of the building, designed to unite the people of Rome, and how

they were segregated within it.

Although there was a clear hierarchy imposed, it was still a place where so many of the Romans could unitedly enjoy the games. Well into the 6th century its purpose remained the same. It was used as a political tool for emperors; appearing in the Colosseum as one with their people, demanding their respect. The Colosseum, or the Flavian Amphitheatre, is a building that stands at the heart of Roman civilisation, embodying their culture and politics, hence why today the Colosseum is still used as a symbol of ancient Rome.

The Colosseum served the emperors and the ordinary people of Rome alike, for hundreds of years, a proof of the power of the Roman Empire. Vespasian’s ingenious idea for the construction of the Colosseum must be admired. He was able to create one masterful building that fulfilled his purpose as emperor, to remodel the Roman Empire both physically and within the minds of the people, turning the destruction left by Nero on its head and creating a building to which the entire world would forever associate with his family, and the colossal power of Rome.