I went to Italy for my cousins wedding. I thought it was time to go to the colosseum! So, I went.
The Colosseum was known for many things, one being Gladiator fights. The Gladiators fought wild animals and other Gladiators. They were usually slaves, criminals, or people from war. The Latin word Gladiator means swordsman, from the root word gladius, or sword. Gladiators most times died fighting.
How the colosseum was created
The colosseum founder was the emperor Vespasian. The construction started somewhere between 70 -75 AD and finished by 80 AD. It was for gladiator combat and public executions. It was built was to bring the people of Rome together. That was the trend back in the days.
Today two thirds of the colosseum are destroyed from natural disasters, but it still takes your breath away. When you go you should go very early to get parking and not wait in big lines. We found that out the hard way there was no parking for two miles. Once we parked, we started walking to the colosseum. It was still fun though! We saw street merchants. On our way there we saw a bunch of pigeons eating away at what looked like bread crumbs.
Once we got to the waiting line which was really long, it looked like it would take hours to get tickets and pass through security (that’s one reason why you should come early!). There were tour guides saying if you pay around $120 per family you get to skip the line and get a guided tour! My dad payed and we got the guided tour. It takes a few hours to go get a tour of the colosseum at various levels. It is surprising how they moved all those stones. Even though cars and stuff were not invented, the handy work was awesome. Our tour guide told us to meet at Foro Romano after a few hours. But we decided to go to the Vatican so we didn’t go. Foro Romano is next to the colosseum .It used to be the center of Rome where important government buildings were and they had processions during celebrations. DO NOT MISS IT!
There are plenty of old stuff to see around the colosseum including gladiator schools, the arch of Constantine (see below) and others.
There was a lot of killing and savage things going on in the colosseum during Roman times for entertainment. Emperor Vespasian built the colosseum to bring the people of Rome together
After you finish the tour you will feel hungry. There are perfecto indoor and outdoor restaurants you have to try around the collosuem. Remember to order gelato we forgot. Then they gave it to us for free!