Begun around AD 70 under Vespasian on the drained site of Nero's artificial lake, the Flavian Amphitheatre, known as the Colosseum, was inaugurated in 80 by his son Titus with 100 days of games. It could hold some 50,000 spectators, and its oval of arcades, built of travertine, tuff and concrete, had 80 entrances and a retractable awning. Gladiator fights, wild-animal hunts and executions were held there for nearly four centuries. Earthquakes and stone robbers reduced it to ruin, but about a third survives, and it remains the best-known symbol of Rome.
Before and after
- August 70 CEThe Romans destroy the Temple in Jerusalem
- 24 January 76 CEBirth of Hadrian
- 79 CEVesuvius buries Pompeii and Herculaneum
- 24 August 79 CEEruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79
- 80 CEThe Colosseum is inaugurated
- 81 CEConstruction of Colosseum
- 82 CEConstruction of Arch of Titus
- from 85 CE to 700 CEOrigins of Vindolanda
- 1st centuryOrigins of House of the Virgin Mary
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- from 206 BCE to 220 CEHan dynasty
- 200 BCEOrigins of Nazca Lines
- 19 BCEConstruction of Western Wall
- from 375 CE to 568 CEMigration Period
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 1st century.