The Roman Coliseum

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The Roman Coliseum

• By Elizabeth Allen

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Mock Naval Battles

• The first 10 years of battles in the coliseum
  were mock naval battles.
• They flooded the coliseum for this by removing
  the wooden flooring and flooding the lower cells
  where the prisoners and wild animals were kept.
• After a while the Romans noticed that the
  foundation and floor of the coliseum were getting
  ruined so they no longer held naval battles in
  the coliseum.

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Fights in the Arena

• When a battle started the emperor would present
  himself to the crowd to show his power.
• The gladiators would fight in pairs.
• These gladiators would fight until death.
• If a beaten gladiator had a good fight the crowd
  could take mercy and wave their handkerchiefs in
  the air to save his life.
• Later in time when the wild animal cages were
  built the animals would fight humans and animals
  would fight animals.

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Attractions in the Coliseum

• People could watch the gladiator fights in the
  arena.
• Wild animals were kept in cages underneath the
  arena so people could visit them.

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Did you Know

• That the word gladiator came from the Latin word
  for swordsman, gladius.
• That is where we get the word sword from.
• Also that the proper name for the coliseum is the
  Flavian Amphitheatre.
• The naval battles were also known as naumachiae.

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Construction of the Coliseum

• This huge arena was built around 80 AD.
• It took 10 years to build.
• Had a canvas roof raised and lowered by specially
  trained Roman sailors.
• The canvas had a large hole in it to let the
  light in.
• Sand was spread across the fighting floor to soak
  up blood.
• There was a special exit for defeated gladiators
  and animals that were killed called the
  Libitinarian Gate named after the funeral god
  Libitina.
• The whole coliseum is 4 stories tall and the size
  of a modern day football stadium.

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• All around I think that the Roman Coliseum or
  Flavian Amphitheatre is a very important part of
  Roman History.
• THE END
• Pictures from google and other websites