Emperor Vespasian began construction of the Colosseum in 72 AD on the site of Nero's private lake - returning to the public what Nero had seized for himself. His son Titus completed it in 80 AD with 100 days of inaugural games that reportedly killed 9,000 animals.

The Colosseum could seat 50,000 spectators arranged by social class - senators at the bottom, slaves and foreigners at the top. A retractable canvas awning (velarium) shaded spectators from the sun. The arena floor could be flooded for naval battles. Underground passages (hypogeum) housed the animals and gladiators who would die above.

A typical day at the Colosseum began with animal hunts (venationes). Exotic beasts - lions, tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses - were set against each other or against hunters. Thousands of animals died in a single day's entertainment. The games drove several Mediterranean species to regional extinction.

Midday brought public executions - condemned criminals killed by beasts, crucifixion, or burning. These deaths were often staged as mythological scenes. A criminal might die as Orpheus being torn apart by a bear, or Icarus falling to his death. The afternoon featured the main event: gladiatorial combat.

Gladiators were mostly slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war, though some free men volunteered for the glory and money. They trained in specialized schools, learning specific fighting styles. A successful gladiator could win fame, fortune, and eventually freedom.

Death wasn't automatic. Most fights ended when one gladiator yielded, and the crowd's reaction influenced whether the loser lived or died. But the mortality rate was high - perhaps one in ten fights ended in death. Over the Colosseum's centuries of operation, tens of thousands of gladiators died on its sands.

Gladiatorial games declined in the 4th and 5th centuries as Christianity spread and the Empire weakened. The last recorded games were held in 435 AD. The Colosseum fell into disuse. Earthquakes collapsed its southern side. For centuries, it served as a quarry - its marble stripped for Renaissance palaces.

Legend claims the Colosseum was sacred ground where Christian martyrs died. The evidence is thin, but the legend protected the ruin from further destruction. In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV declared it sanctified by martyrs' blood and forbade its use as a stone quarry.

Today, the Colosseum is Rome's most visited attraction, drawing 7 million tourists annually. Its image is iconic - reproduced on postcards, movies, and the Italian five-cent coin. It has become a symbol of Rome itself.

But what does the Colosseum symbolize? Human ingenuity or human cruelty? Architectural genius or industrialized murder? The building that Romans built to celebrate death now celebrates survival - it's still standing after 2,000 years. The crowds still come. They no longer cheer for blood. But they still gaze in wonder at the arena where an empire staged its fantasies of power.