ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre) in Rome. The introduction provides the historical background to the term ‘Colosseum’ and a brief historical overview. The emperor Vespasian intended this monument to be representative of his own reign and Flavian dynasty and to be in complete opposition to its predecessor on this site, Nero’s Golden House (Domus Aurea). The next section deals with a psychological perspective of the spectator approaching the monument and an overall description of the amphitheatre. Then the issue of socially segregated seating patterns and their attendant circulation systems is investigated in detail. Next, seating capacity estimates and the evidence upon which it is based are described. The next section provides an up-to-date analysis of the arena and its substructures in all their various phases. The administrative organisations needed to stock, maintain and run the spectacles here are investigated. Then the building materials, construction techniques, including the phases of construction and repairs, and theoretical laying-out architectural paradigms are described. Finally, a brief summary concludes the chapter. This chapter will provide a comprehensive, up-to-date summary of all of the major multi-lingual research works, excavations and structural analyses of this complex monument.
