Roman Colosseum
When Vespasian became the new Roman Emperor in 69 AD, he wanted everyone to know that he cared about the people and was going to take care of them and not live luxuriously as Nero had. He tore down a lot of Nero's Golden House and made the land into a public park.
He also melted down Nero's giant gold statue, the Colossus, and used the gold from it to pay for the construction of a new amphitheater where the statue had been. Because Vespasian's architects used the new method of building in concrete, he was able to build quickly and cheaply. This amphitheater was called the Colosseum, after the statue. (But officially its name was the Flavian Amphitheater). This made Vespasian very popular in Rome.
The Colosseum was a place where a lot of people could sit and watch entertainment. The entertainment was mostly people killing animals, or people killing each other. It was almost exactly like a football stadium today. It was built of concrete and marble and limestone.
The reason it looks so terrible in this picture is that a lot of the seats were made of marble and they have been stolen away over the years and burned in lime kilns to make mortar and cement. Also, the floor has been taken away so you can see the rooms in the basement where the Romans kept the animals and the equipment and stuff.
The Colosseum is a crowded area for kids' books. We've tried to pick good ones to feature here:
The Roman Colosseum, by Michael and Elizabeth Mann (1998). For kids.
The Roman Colosseum, by Don Nardo (1998). Nardo writes lots of good history books for kids. This one is more detailed and more architectural than the Mann book.
Make This Model Roman Amphitheatre, by Iain Ashman (1995).
The Colosseum, by Ada Gabucci, Filippo Coarelli, and Leonardo Lombardi (2001). From the Getty Museum, for adults. Coarelli is a well-known Italian archaeologist. This is a lavish, detailed look at everything about the Colosseum from when it was first built to now.
