At the
long ends of the arena there were two entrances:
the southeastern one was the "Libitinarian" gate
(from Libitina, goddess of funerals), through
which were carried the dead gladiators and the
wild beasts which had been killed; the other was
the entrance gate for the processions of
gladiators who paraded before the Emperor and the
spectators before the beginning of the combats.
"Ave, Caesar, Marituri te salutant! " (Caesar,
those about to die salute you!)
The subterranean areas beneath the arena
served to contain everything that was necessary
for the spectacles There were cages to hold the
wild beasts destined for the show and mechanical
elevators by means of which the animals were made
to appear on the surface of the arena.
Also worth noting is the existence of no
less than five cryptoportici (covered galleries or
corridors), of which one was decorated with
stuccoes, mosaics
and paintings on the wall. This structure seems to
have been added by the Emperor Commodus, who used
it to pass directly into the amphitheater
The Cavea, which held
the spectators, consisted of five tiers:
- The first tier being occupied
by two boxes for the Emperor, the Vestals and
the leading authorities
- Then came three tiers with
marble seats
- Finally the top tier with
wooden seats for women and the Plebs.
It is calculated that the
amphitheater could hold 50,000 spectators. The
Coliseum was mainly used for gladiatorial flights
and wild beast hunts; when these were held a
strong net made of gilded metal was put up to
protect the audience.
To shield the spectators from the sun a "velarium"
was used, a movable cover consisting of
a series of awnings stretched over cables, which
were manipulated by sailors of the Capo Misenus
fleet and specially stationed in Rome.
Concrete
The Coliseum, like the much earlier
amphitheater at Pompeii, could not have been built
without concrete technology. The enormous oval
seating area is sustained by a complex system of
radial and concentric corridors covered by
concrete barrel vaults. This concrete "skeleton"
reveals itself today to anyone who enters the
amphitheater; in the centuries following the fall
of Rome the Coliseum served as a convenient for
ready-made building materials, and almost all its
marble seats were hauled away, exposing the
network of vaults below.
Roman Arches
Philosopher
Alfred North Whitehead wrote, "The Roman Empire
existed by virtue of the grandest application of
technology that the world had hitherto seen." This
technology included engineering innovations like
the arch, vault, and dome. For the first time,
Roman builders spanned huge volumes of interior
space, shaping an architecture of enclosed voids,
not supporting mass. With the invention of
concrete, they built increasingly daring forms,
from baths to basilicas, on a vast scale.
The essential ingredient of Roman building
was the arch. Although Romans were smitten by
"superior" Greek style and plastered conspicuous
columns on facades, they abandoned the column as
an actual structural support.
The arch and its progeny - the vault and the
dome - revolutionized architecture. A stone lintel
atop two columns rarely spans a distance as wide
as 15 feet, but an arch can span 150 feet.
Additionally, when its keystone is locked into
place, the arch supports itself as well as immense
loads on top. Combined with concrete, which could
be cast in molds of any shape and scale, the arch
allowed Romans to enclose enormous spaces and
fully exploit the potential of these new forms and
materials.
When an arch is extended in a straight line,
or multiplied in depth, it becomes a barrel
(or tunnel) vault. Such vaults
provide a curved ceiling over two parallel walls
and may be combined to form arcades (as in the Coliseum)
supporting multiple tiers of superstructure. When
two barrel vaults intersect at a right angle, the
juncture forms a groin or cross-vault, which
provides lunette windows for lighting at either
end. An arch, rotated 360 degrees, creates a dome.
By the first century B.C.E., the arch and vault
were pervasive in Roman buildings.
Ancient concrete was not liquid but a
viscous mixture of sand, lime, water, and
aggregate. It was laid down in layers inside
wooden or brick form work and solidified into a
dense artificial stone that was light, strong,
fireproof, and monolithic. Roman concrete walls
and shells were always lined on both the exterior
and interior with brick or a veneer of decorative
stucco, fresco, mosaic, or marble. Purely
ornamental columns, like olives dressing up a
plain salad, adorned arches for a touch of Greek
zest. The columns were generally engaged, or
partially embedded in walls. When flattened and
squared off, they are known as pilasters.
Sources:
- "The
Annotated Arch," by Carole Strickland. Pub. by
Andrews McMeel, 2001
- "Gardner's
Art Through the Ages, Tenth Edition," by
Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner.
Harcourt Brace College. Pub.1996.
- Leonardo
B. Dal Maso, "Rome: From the Palatino to the
Vaticano." 1992.
- Leonardo
B. Dal Maso, "Rome of the Caesars"
