Located in the east of the Roman Forum, in the heart of the city of Rome, the Colosseum is said to be the largest amphitheater ever been built in the Roman Empire. Originally known as Amphitheatrum Flavium in Latin, and as the Flavian Amphitheater in English, this huge elliptical amphitheatre was commissioned by Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 by his successor and son Titus, with later modifications and improvements by Domitian, the youngest brother of Titus. As all these three emperors, responsible for the construction of this massive structure, belong to the Flavian dynasty, the amphitheatre was named in Latin after their family name. Though the name is still used in modern English, it is popularly known as the Colosseum, which has long been believed to be derived from the colossal statue of Nero, which was named after the Colossus of Rhodes. Subsequently, the said statue of Nero was remodeled by his successors into the likeness of Helios or Apollo, the Sun God. Though the head of the statue was also replaced several times with the heads of the succeeding emperors, it remained standing well as an iconic symbol of Rome into the medieval era. Ultimately, the statue was destroyed, possibly pulled down and its bronze was reused. Today, the statue is forgotten, but its base still survives, situated between the Colosseum and the temple of Venus and Roma. It is considered that by the year 1000 the name ‘Colosseum’ had been chosen to mean the ancient amphitheater.

The Colosseum was built on the site of Nero’s dream palace complex, the ‘Domus Aurea’, the Golden House. By the 2nd century BC, the site was densely inhabited, which was devastated by the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Subsequently, Nero seized much of the area to build his dream project. Most of the Romans believed that Nero himself started the fire to clear the land for the construction of the Domus Aurea. Emperor Vespasian deliberately selected the spot for the Colosseum, as his good gesture to dissociate himself from the hated tyrant and at the same time of returning to the people an area of the city which Nero had appropriated for his personal use. His decision to build the Colosseum, in the heart of the city, on the site of Nero's lake can also be judged as a populist gesture, since unlike the Colosseum, many other amphitheatres were located on the outskirts of a city. In fact, Titus had the intention to gain popularity by staging deadly combats of gladiators and wild animal fights in the arena for public viewing.

Construction was funded by the treasure plundered from the Herod's Temple, after the Great Jewish Revolt in 70 AD, following the Siege of Jerusalem by Titus, which ended in the destruction of Herod's Temple. After the war, about one hundred thousand Jewish prisoners were also brought to Rome and were added to the massive workforce needed for the gigantic construction. Apart from those unskilled slaves, numbers of professional Roman builders, engineers and artists were engaged in the more specialized tasks for the construction and decoration of the Colosseum. To mark its grand inauguration, Titus held games that lasted 100 days and nights, during which some 5000 animals were slaughtered. Subsequently, that record was broken by Emperor Trajan (98-117), as he held a marathon 117day killing spree, which involved the slaughtering of 9000 gladiators and 10,000 animals.

Unlike many earlier amphitheaters, which had been dug into hillsides to provide adequate support, the 620 by 513 feet Colosseum was a freestanding structure. Its distinctive exterior had three stories of eighty arched entrances, known as ‘vomitoria’, supported by semi-circular decorative columns. Each story contained different type of columns: Doric at the bottom followed by Ionic and topped by the ornate Corinthian order. The upper level, punctuated with windows and slender Corinthian pilasters, were equipped with supports for the masts that held the coverings over the arena, shielding the spectators from the sun and rain. The interior of the Colosseum was divided into three parts. The ‘arena’ had a wooden floor covered with sand to prevent the combatants from slipping and to soak up the blood. Caged animals were lifted up to the arena by 80 winch-operated lifts. The ‘cavea’, for spectator seating, was divided into three tiers, arranged according to social ranking. The lowest tiers were meant for the magistrates and the senior officials, wealthy citizens were placed in the middle and the plebs in the highest tier. Except the vestal virgins, who share the charge of maintaining the sacred fire burning on the altar of the goddess, all other women were allocated to the cheapest sections at the top. Apart from cavea, the ‘podium’, is also included in the seating arrangement, which is a broad terrace in front of the tiers of seats, reserved for emperors, senators and the other important persons.

The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial combats, hunts, wild animal fights and larger combats such as mock naval engagements, for which the arena was temporarily flooded with water. Gladiators were generally slaves, condemned criminals or prisoners of war. As the helpless and desperate gladiators smeared with blood fought fiercely for their lives, cruel cries and roaring curses were heard from the audience around the Roman Colosseum.

The Colosseum saw some four centuries of active use. However, with the struggles of the Western Roman Empire, progress of Christianity, associated with the gradual change in public tastes put an end to gladiatorial combats and other large public entertainments. With the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Colosseum was abandoned. Even by that time, the arena was considerably damaged due to natural phenomena such as lightning and earthquakes. The Colosseum was badly damaged by the great earthquake in 1349, resulting the collapse of the outer south side. Much of the tumbled stone was reused to build palaces, churches, hospitals and other buildings elsewhere in Rome. The interior of the amphitheater was indiscriminately stripped of the valuable stones, which were also reused elsewhere. Even the bronze clamps which held the stonework together were pried or hacked out of the walls, leaving numerous pockmarks which still scar the building today.

However, a major restoration programme carried out between 1993 and 2000, at a cost of 40 billion Italian lire, which is approximately USD 19.3 m. Though the major portion of the original Colosseum has been destroyed over time, the amphitheater still remains a popular tourist destination, as well as an iconic symbol of Rome and its long, tumultuous history.