The Colosseum or Coliseum is today the most recognizable of Rome's Classical buildings. Even 2,000 years after it was built, and despite centuries when the abandoned building was pillaged for building materials, it is instantly r recognizable ... a Classical template for the stadias of today. It was the first permanent amphitheatre to be raised in Rome, and the most impressive arena the Classical world had yet seen. And with accommodation for 60,000 seated and 10,000 standing, all of whom could enter and leave in a matter of minutes, courtesy of 80 entrances, this is a structure that the designers of modern sports stadias could learn from..
The name Colosseum is in fact a much later addition. It was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, and was conceived as a peculiarly Roman political gesture ... a gift from a new dynasty of Roman emperors to a populace kept happy by bread and circuses.
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