The Roman Colosseum

The Colosseum in a 1757 engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

A map of central Rome during the Roman Empire, with the Colosseum at the upper right corner.

Interior of the Colosseum, 2008.

Side view of Colosseum seating.

Pollice Verso ("Thumbs Down") by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872.

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883).

Part of the Zliten mosaic from Libya (Leptis Magna), about 2nd century CE. It shows (left to right) a thraex fighting a murmillo, a hoplomachus standing with another murmillo (who is signaling his defeat to the referee), and one of a matched pair.

Mosaic at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid showing a retiarius named Kalendio (shown surrendering in the upper section) fighting a secutor named Astyanax. The Ø sign by Kalendio's name implies he was killed after surrendering.

Part of the Gladiator Mosaic, displayed at the Galleria Borghese. It dates from approximately 320 CE. The Ø symbol (possibly Greek theta, for thanatos) marks a gladiator killed in combat.

A 5th century CE mosaic in the Great Palace of Constantinople depicts two venatores fighting a tiger.

Water battle (naumachia) staged in the flooded Colosseum arena.

Chariot-racing at the Colosseum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ7mwHwBOmk
Gladiator (starring Russell Crowe)- trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpoKdPNM10M
Chariot race from Ben Hur.

Rome's Colosseum restoration sparks inquiries into contract

Shoe firm Tod's had struck a €25m deal to fund restoration, but this is being investigated

John Hooper in Rome

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 January 2012 17.41 GMT


Experts check on the Colosseum in December after reports of falling masonry. Photograph: Mauro Scrobogna/Lapresse/AP

Italy's most visited monument, the Roman Colosseum, is suffering from "about 3,000 lesions", a government minister said last year. Sometimes, bits fall off, as did a chunk dislodged by a pigeon on Christmas Eve.

But the chances of the aged patient receiving emergency surgery receded on Wednesday when it emerged that Rome prosecutors and the Italian audit court had each launched inquiries into the award of a contract for the funding of restoration. In January 2011, the luxury shoe firm Tod's announced it had struck a deal under which it would put up €25m (£21m) for the cleaning and strengthening of the arena where gladiators once grappled with wild animals – and each other.

Tod's obtained the right to use the image of the Colosseum until two years after completion of the work. But the company's founder, Diego Della Valle, promised not to exploit his sponsorship for commercial purposes, saying he was happy just to give something back to his country.

The agreement has nevertheless been a subject of controversy ever since. And, on Monday, Italy's competition authority was reported to have condemned the procedures used.

According to a consumer group that lodged the original complaint with the authority, an inquiry found that Tod's should have been made to organise, and not just fund, the project; that it had been granted sponsorship rights for too long; and that rival bidders had not been given enough time to top its offer.

But the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned: "If, with €25m of private cash available, we don't get work under way now, we cannot then complain if parts of the Colosseum collapse."