This episode explores man's capability to build Architectural treasures on a grand scale, more specifically - the Colosseum. The Colosseum is a Roman masterpiece, completed in 80 A.D it was designed to be host to huge spectacles. Anyone who wanted to come to the Colosseum could attend, as admission was free, and multitudes of people would come to watch gladiator fights, and people thrown to the lions! Due to knowledge passed on by their Etruscan neighbours and forefathers, the Romans were provided with the techniques and skills for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics And the development of arches. Life in thriving Rome centred around the city, located on seven hills. They had many luxuries that allowed them to live a very comfortable lifestyle, such as bathhouses, functional sewers, marketplaces, libraries and shops, gymnasiums and fresh drinking water, provided by the hundreds of miles of aqueducts, spread right across the city. The Construction of the Colosseum was started by the Emperor Vespasian, about a decade after the 2 'Great Fire' in 64 A.D. The Colosseum itself was used as a centre for dramatic entertainment and 'sport' for approximately 500 years. There have been many repairs made to this magnificent structure over these years, especially after a fire caused by lightning in 217 A.D. Even after the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., although there were no more gladiator fights, it was still used for spectacle kind of events like animal hunting and drama for almost a century. It then eventually loss its initial entertainment vocation to serve as housing in the early medieval ages.
