Page 98 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

96  ROME AREA B Y AREA

How Fights Were Staged in the Arena

The emperors held shows here that often
began with animals performing circus tricks.
Then came the gladiators, who fought each
other to the death. When one was killed,
attendants dressed as Charon, the mythical
ferryman of the dead, carried his body off
on a stretcher, and sand was raked over the
blood to prepare for the next bout. A badly
wounded gladiator would surrender his fate
to the crowd. The “thumbs up” sign from
the emperor meant he could live, “thumbs
down” that he died, and the victor became Beneath the Arena
an instant hero. Animals were brought here Late 19th-century excavations exposed
from as far away as North Africa and the the network of underground rooms where
Middle East. The games held in AD 248 to the animals were kept.
mark the 1,000th anniversary of Rome’s
founding saw the death of a host of lions,
elephants, hippos, zebras, and elks. Interior of the Colosseum
The amphitheater was built in the
Emperor’s entrance form of an ellipse, with tiers of
Emperor’s box seats around a vast central arena.

Underground
passages

Gladiators’ Consul’s entrance
entrance Tiers of
seats Consul’s box
KEY
1 A complex of rooms, passages, and
elevators lies underneath the arena.
2 Metal fencing kept animals
penned in, while archers stood by
just in case any escaped. Dramatic
3 Seating was tiered, and different Entrances
social classes were segregated. Below the sand
was a wooden
4 A winch brought the animal cages floor through
up to arena level when they were which animals,
due to fight. men, and scenery
5 A ramp and trap door alllowed appeared in
the animal to reach the arena after the arena.
walking along a corridor.
6 Cages were three-sided elevators
that went up to the next level, where
the animals were released.

US_096-097_EW_Rome_US.indd 96 15/03/17 4:19 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2)
Date 3rd September 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm