“While the Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Coliseum falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, the world shall fall.”

–Venerable Bede, 673-735 AD

The most common form of entertainment in the ancient Roman Empire was watching animal fights and gladiatorial combats. For this purpose the Romans had constructed a number of arenas, the most famous one being the colosseum. It was able to seat up to 50,000 people with a separate section for the emperor and the nobles. This amphitheatre became a symbol of Rome. The games became an ideal place for the aristocracy to show off their wealth, celebrate war victories and mark other special occasions. It was also sometimes used as a way to distract the public from political and economic problems. Most of the gladiators were slaves, criminals and prisoners of war. A lot of them were forced into fighting. During the peak of the empire, schools had been set up to train fighters for battles. These bloody and violent games soon became a part of the Roman culture. But the lifespan of the fighters was shortened, as the opponents had to seriously injure or kill one another in order to win. It’s estimated that more one million animals and men had died. The most famous gladiator is known to be Spartacus, who was a soldier at first. Others include, Emperor Commodus, Flamma and Marcus Attilius.