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This shot clearly shows the labyrinth of underground passageways, storage rooms for scenery, and cells for both animals and prisoners used as gladiators discovered after excavation of the original floor. The Colosseum's floor or arena (76 x 46 m) was covered with sand (Latin arena, source of the English word), and surrounded with a 5 m-high wall to protect spectators from wild beasts. The last gladiator matches were held in 523. The Colosseum has a circumference of 1,730 feet, is 164 feet high, and had 80 arched entrances. The arena is 29,000 square feet. "As long as the Colosseum stands, Rome will stand; when the Colosseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome falls, the whole world will fall." (Venerable Bede, VIIth Century AD).
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Western Europe
