Английский язык. 11 класс (О. В. Афанасьева и др.)



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5. The Roman Colosseum is a tremendous amphitheater, the 
embodiment of both the grandeur and cruelty of the great Roman 
Empire. Capable of seating at least 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum 
hosted spectacular games that included gladiator exhibitions, fights 
between animals, prisoner executions and – strangely enough – naval 
battles. Untold thousands of humans and animals met their ends within 
one of the most popular attractions in Rome.
The Colosseum’s name is derived from a bronze colossus of Nero that 
once stood nearby, though it disappeared sometime during the Middle 
Ages and has largely been forgotten. The arena floor was covered with 
sand to soak up the blood shed by those humans and animals unlucky 
enough to find themselves in its centre. Its elliptical shape kept the 
players from retreating to a corner and allowed the spectators to be 
closer to the action than a circular arena would allow.
Seating was divided into different sections. The first level of seating 
was restricted for Roman senators and included the emperor’s private 
box. The section above the podium was for lower Roman aristocrats. The 
third level was divided itself into three sections. The best of these seats 
reserved for wealthy citizens, the upper part for the poor and the third, 
wooden section was left for lower-class women.
Eventually, Christian leaders ensured that humans were no longer 
executed within the Colosseum’s great walls, though the building was 


still used for animal hunts until around 524. Four major earthquakes 
took their toll on the structure though, and by the Middle Ages the 
Colosseum in Rome had been fully converted into a military fortress, 
before finally being relegated to existing as the world’s largest rock 
quarry.
During the Baroque age the marble that originally covered the facade 
was redistributed by the ruling Roman families who used it as a source 
of marble for the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica and their private 
palazzos.
In the 18th century, Pope Benedict XIV eventually ended the use of 
the Colosseum in Rome as a giant quarry. The Roman Colosseum will 
forever remind visitors of an inhumane past, when thirst for blood could 
bring crowds from miles away and nothing was more thrilling than the 
taking of a life.


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