Do you enjoy watching sports? Love cheering on your favourite team or athlete? Well, gang – so did the Ancient Romans!

Join National Geographic Kids as we head back in time to visit one of the world’s most famous historical sites and sports arenas – the Colosseum. Let the games begin!

1) The Colosseum was built between 72 A.D and 80 A.D under the Emperor Vespasian, in the heart of Ancient Rome.

2) Made from stone and concrete, this magnificent monument was built with the man power of tens of thousands of slaves.

3) The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater (meaning “theatre in the round”) in the world! Oval in shape, it measures 189m long, 156m wide and 50m high (about the height of a 12 storey building). This ancient sporting arena could easily fit a modern day football pitch inside!

4) This brilliant building had 80 entrances and could seat approximately 50,000 spectators who would come to watch sporting events and games. These events included gladiatorial combats, wild animal hunts and, believe it or not, ship naval battles!

5) Free for all! At the Colosseum’s major events – often those organised and paid for by the emperors themselves – there was no entry fee. And free food was sometimes served, too. Bonus! Emperors would use this as a way to gain popularity and support from the public.

6) The event at the Colosseum were seriously brutal, though – during certain games held by the emperors around 10,000 animals were killed in a single day.

7) The first games ever to be held were in 80 A.D, under Emperor Titus (the son of Vespasian), and they ran for 100 days straight. Games continued to be held for centuries to come – gladiatorial games until the fifth century and animal hunts until the 6th century.

8) To protect the spectators from the blistering sun and heat of Ancient Rome, there was the velarium – an awning that could be pulled over the top of the seating area to provide shade. Clever, eh?

9) Below the Colosseum were numerous rooms and underground passages. Here is where the animals and gladiators were kept, waiting to meet their fate in the arena above. There were also 36 trap doors in the arena for special effects!

10) Although two-thirds of the colosseum has been destroyed over time – mostly the result of vandalism, earthquakes and fires – it is today a popular tourist site, attracting thousands of people every year!

With many thanks to Dr Dirk Booms of the British Museum. To step back in time and find out more about Ancient Rome and other fascinating civilisations, be sure to visit the British Museum, London.

Photos: Getty Images UK

Likes

LEAVE A COMMENT

THANK YOU

Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.

WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!

COMMENTS

  • jj

    nice facts

  • Glory

    very interesting facts

  • marioisnice_1

    nice

  • jaime

  • me

    cool

  • DJMarshmallo543

    gooooooood

  • taryq.murray3

    wow

  • Sam

  • .

  • NOICE

  • Ev

    Cool

  • Ali

    Sooooo good

  • Cooldude

    really cool

  • Elie

    Hi I love this

  • Wow

  • Hii

  • Elle

    super cool

  • bob marly

    hi

  • Liam

    really interesting

  • eoin

    these are cool facts.

  • drip fam

    i love roman history so much and i wonder if my family whos from italy ever saw a battle in that colleseum!

  • john

    amazing

  • Sapphie

    i love the fun

  • Holly

    cool!

  • Interesting

  • cool I can´ wait wow lol let take action

  • JORDAN

    Thanks for the info it helped me with my history project

  • Cool

  • me

    huh

  • J17

    Cool but not that is the place were a lot people died

  • SO COOL

  • Holly

    Nice

  • sam

    best way to get information

  • Su-Ane

    Very helpful, thank you!

  • mauro

    cool

  • iyla

    I believe the article was very correct and helpful to me.

  • shahalaE

    cool

  • bob

    sweet thanks

  • Brainiac

    this is actually pretty cool learnt a lot I'm gonna use this site more often!!!

  • Kamal

    I absolutely love this website!So informative

  • Miss Know-It-All

    This was very informative and helped me with my research! Thanks, National Geographic Kids!

  • Buttercup

    that is crazy how the colusim has been destroyed thourgh time because it was strong and prowerful i have never seen anything likeit be so big in pictures i want to go there some day

  • Isabella

    Awesome facts Ill just write them down in my reading book. Bye!!!!

  • summerlama123

    thanks that helped me allot for my speech

  • iluvcookies123

    Thanks a lot! I had to do an essay on Italys art forms, architecture, ceremonies, industries, landmarks, tourism, e.t.c. and this really helped a lot on the tourism part so now I am almost done! Guess what? Now I have to make a poster on it.

  • thehedgehogmaster

    so long ago

  • Vasishta

    Awesome many brilliant facts about Colosseum .

  • billy

    i loved looking at the long facts

  • izabella

    1) The Colosseum was built between 72 A.D and 80 A.D under the Emperor Vespasian, in the heart of Ancient Rome.

  • xjxjxjxjxjjxjxj

    o sick brill dam right

  • The-shredder

    sweet! but did you know that the gladiators fought to actual death, and the naval battles involved real killing? and that if the crowd does a thumbs down meant, to kill the man and thumbs up to spare?

  • Traded

    This website really helped me. It was really fun. Thanks

  • Traded

    This website really helped me. Thanks

  • takoda frost aka pikachu

    awesome

  • tawana

    awsome

  • ask

    wow

  • ask

    nice

  • Bvgvhgvngvhfhtd

    Hiii

  • rubu

    i love it

  • YEEZY2020

    i lov this websit<3its pretty neat!!!!! you can tell its neat by the way it is!1!!11!!11!!!!!

  • llcoolj

    AWESOME but maybe more facts

  • Caprice

    Good information :) <3

  • bree33

    cooooooooooooooooooooooooool w000000000000000000000000w

  • bree33

    this is a cool website

  • lois23

    amazing

  • Soup

    whats up fuzz

  • Megan23

    Awesome

  • Alex89

    good website but should include facts about the Colosseum today and how it is used today.

  • SuperLionMinecrafter

    I love this website it helped me with my Rome Coloseum essay

  • SuperLionMinecrafter

    This helped me a little but Im in sixth grade and I had to do a really loooooooong report ugh so boring!

  • LeahD

    C

  • LeahD

    Fityrhxbjm

  • LeahD

    I found ygcgufgd this helpful

  • butt face

    good but wired

  • Pop-star

    I ?? This website

  • Pop-star

    This website is so cooooooooool I learned a lot That I did not know

  • hectorman13

    NOICE

  • Liem

    It is very good but maybe put were it is at the top

  • asome

    coooooooooooool

  • Ric Ann

    We loved it

  • tj

    hi

  • luipere01

    This is a terrific quality

  • Lucy-Ann

    GREAT

More Like Romans

Romans

10 Facts About Ancient Rome

Discover the glory of Ancient Rome…
Romans

Max in the Colosseum

Join Max the time-travelling mouse in our Mini Histories Comic…
Romans

Huge Roman villa discovered in Wiltshire garden

The chance discovery could be one of the biggest Roman villas ever found in Britain