Colosseum, Rome Print

The Colosseum, named by the ancient Romans "Anphitheatrum Flavlum", was built by Emperor Vespasian, in 72 d.c. about, and inaugurated by his son Tito in 80 d.c. The construction took place in the area occupied by the huge palace of Nero, the Domus Aurea, built after the great fire in Rome of 64, which was to be a valley enclosed between the hills of Velia, Palatino, Celio, Oppio, and Fagutale and it was crossed by a stream that ran in the direction of the Tiber along a path that roughly follows the current route of San Gregorio. The presence of the pond was abundantly exploited to save on the foundations, made of travertine pillars resting on a continuous concrete ring, interspersed only by some sewers for the flow of groundwater that otherwise would have flooded the whole area. Nearby there was a colossal statue of Nero, from which legend has it that derives the name Colosseum.