Thanks to Hollywood recreations such as Gladiator, nothing symbolizes the cruelty of Imperial Rome as much as the Colosseum.  In truth, the games held there were even more extreme and theatrical than modern film directors dare to suggest.

A day at the Empire’s most famous arena was a total entertainment package, mixing bouts of savage violence with solemn religious pageantry, sexual titillation, slapstick comedy and kitschy stage shows.

During the regular festivals, 50,000 spectators would line up early in the morning at the Colosseum’s splendid vaulted entrances with their numbered wooden tickets, eager to take their places.  Thanks to the advanced design, there were no bad seats in the house, although men and women were separated, and the higher social classes got ringside seats near the Emperor’s box. The day’s schedule began with the slaughter of wild animals – ostriches, lions, panthers, bears and leopards brought back from military campaigns.  This was followed by the brutal executions of criminals.

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