The Underground Chamber of the Colosseum and the Functions - Essay Example

The underground chamber of the Colosseum and the functions” enter the Number or College 10th April, 2013. Part 1: Colosseum The colosseum that was first known as the famous Flavian Amphitheatre is huge ovel-shaped buildings that have an ellipsoid arena in its centre. It was build in the first century CE by the roman emperor Nero and then by Vespasian and by his son Titus and completed in 81-96 AD by Domitian. The prominent part of the colosseum was arena where the entertainment events took place. The most known event of the colosseum is gladiator fights, other than that animal hunt and public executions were hosted. The building served the first time in 80 CE at the time of Titus. The finished building was a great structure. It was the most dominating element of the city and also connected the city with the Esquiline, Palatine and Caelian hills (Mark, 2009) It was important to do grand productions in the colosseum to the emperor and the high ranking politicians who wanted to make the plebs amused so that they do not involve in crime, as the rate of unemployment was high in the ancient Rome. Mostly the emperor and the politicians hosted the shows because they were corrupt and had full control over the economics. The colosseum was a four stories building and had a height of forty five meters and the width across is one eighty nine by one fifty six meters. The arena of the building where all the events used to happen was about eighty eight by fifty five meters, which is a huge stage to perform. The theatre was build in limestone where as the internal walls were made of bricks, volcanic stone and concrete, as written by mark (2009). It had space for about fifty thousand spectators. Forty thousand sited and five thousand standing. For the Emperor or the organizer of the show there was a special marble Podium. The special boxes were also made at the first gallery then there were marble seats for the senators, knights and then the plebeians at the upper level. Finally there were wooden seats for the women, slaves and poor spectators they had to stand when all seats were filled at the upper most galleries. There were also some arrangements made for rain and heat protection. (Brain 4-5) There were many staircase and corridors in the colosseum that were made in such a way that it made easy for the public to get into the colosseum and get seated. There were also pathways repeated in each tire so as to make it easy for the spectators seated to their places according to their class. According to Brain (3) the arena of the colosseum was originally made in wood and was covered by sand. There was metal grating all around to serve the purpose of protecting the audience frame the wild animals. The colossum was beautiful and eye-catching dramatically from outside. It had monumental open arcades on its first three floors and the arches were filled with statues. The first floor had Doric columns, the second was made in Ionic columns and finally the third were Corinthian. It could be said that the building portrayed all the glory of the roman architecture. There were rectangular windows in the colossum and around eighty entering doors. The seventy two doors were for the spectators, two were for the gladiators named after the death goddess Libitina and two exclusive doors for the emperors (Mark, 2009) The insight of the theatre must have been spectacular when all the three tires were filled by the spectators, the noises at the theater must have filled the air with great sense of entertainment, yet it was cruel and bloody but the emperors, politician and even the ordinary public of the ancient Rome enjoyed this blood to such an extent that the events lasted for hundred and above days. Animal and humans were killed every day in an amount that they seem to have no value. Archeologists today do criticize the Renaissance preservation method but the reality is even today building collapse due to the natural and manmade disasters. The remaining of the colossume is evident that it was not well preserved but at least tried to be preserved leaving enough remains for the researchers to work on. It is also an important building to sports and culture enhancement. It speaks for the roman culture whether bloody or not but followed and practiced for about four hundred years. (Karmon, 2005, pp. 4-6) The most important part of organizing events is management. The management requires time, money, technology and most important space. There were thousands of animals, criminal, slaves and professionals that worked at the colosseum to make the events possible. The theater worked day and night. It was the only entertainment the romens had at that times thus the huge management was required at the colosseum at a huge level. The cages for the wild animals, rooms for the gladiators, rooms for disposing the dead bodies and animals, water for the animals and spectators and toilets were all managed at beneath the colosseum. The underground chambers of the theater were the necessity of the colosseum also known as the hypogeum. Part 2: Hypogeum (The underground chambers and the trapdoors of the colosseum) Hypogeum literally means underground or under the earth in Greek. The word is usually used for the underground of the temple or tombs. Under the entire colosseum were many chambers, cages, cells, tunnels and passages that were used for different purposes (Portelli, 2010). The games continued the entire day and the sponsors of the game required extreme entertainment thus there were constant events because something was to be seen at all times. Thus the hypogeum was a place of importance. All the work was supposed to be managed by the trapdoor at the hypogeum. The Romans took pleasure in astonishing performances; so the act had to be unique and surprising as that it was highly praised that is why scenery and costumes were changed frequently. For scenery forests, plants, streams, trees and mountains were produced through the underground chamber’s trapdoors. After the show the same trapdoors were used to dispose the dead bodies of gladiators, animals and criminals and in no time the arena was redecorated for the next show. Another purpose of the underground was water and sewage system. The colosseum held a large amount of spectators who needed water to drink and toilets. Also water was needed for the large number of animals kept in the cages and criminal, slaves, gladiators and the workers. There were also drinking fountains found in the colosseum to serve the purpose. Disposal of bodies, cleaning blood and waste of the dead was another part of the hypogeum. (Roman colosseum, 2008) At the hypogeum there were two level recorded, one was the network of tunnels and the other served for about eighty animal pens. The total number of trapdoors that opened at the arena was thirty six which must have been big in size so as to let the enormous functioning possible. As the underground of the arena would have been dark many lamps would have burnt making the hypogeum extremely hot. Terrible smell is another factor beneath the colosseum as the animals, blood and bodies were all managed at a poor ventilated area. The tunnels at the hypogeum also connected the colosseum with the buildings in the surroundings like the Gladiator School, Spoliarium (The dead bodies of gladiators were bought here and there armory was stripped off) and the Imperial Palace. (Roman colosseum, 2008) The role of hypogeum is very important in the stage hunt as it allowed the hunters and the animals to enter the arena in many ways and amuse the audience in countless ways. They animals were some time launched in air from the trap doors making it magical. For the surprise loving roman surprise and suspense was created through the trapdoors on demand of the organizer and the audience. Some time humor was also created after suspense. (Mueller, 2011, pp.2) Elevators, pulleys, ropes, metal mechanisms almost all equipment that can be thought to be used at such a theatre was housed at hypogeum. Research of Heinz Beste provides clear evidence that the colosseum underground was a great work of engineering. The colosseum must have employed a great number of people in the city and from outside. It required twenty four hours service (Mueller, 2011, pp.3-4). The colosseum demolished much in the 16th century however the outer boundary of it is still there. The hypogeum is in the worst condition by now but the researches have provided enough information on the building to understand its architecture. German archaeologist Beste provides lot of information on this account, he tells that there are tracks of guiding animal cages between the arena and the hypogeum. There were many capstans found at the hypogeum which mere used for transferring large animals like bulls and elephants to the arena, roped were used and moved in circular rotations to lift and lower the animal cages and the platforms. Also holes are found in the ground with bronze collars for capstan shafts. Diagonal indentations for ramps, mortises that are square-shaped and horizontal beams for supporting the capstans and the floor in between the two stories of the hypogeum are the structural elements that are witnessed at the remains of the colosseum (Mueller, 2011, pp. 3) The term Pegmata is used for the capstans, pullies or elevators used as machines to let the huge scenery emerge from the hypogeum instantly. It is also said that they were built very near to the amphitheatre. the preparations of the parades, assembling them, large number of animals in real time were all dealt very well from the hypogeum thus it was a piece of architecture but for the workers it served no relief at all. There was a powerful elevator system at the hypogeum that was able to launch the beasts quickly to the arena as at Roman colosseum time was money. The amount of the capstans is said to be sixty according to Beste and their height was a large as two stories of the hypogeum (Mueller, 2011, pp.3-4). From the sixty capstans forty of them were used to lift the animal cages and the remaining twenty were used for lifting the scenery on the hinged platforms that were as big as twelve by fifteen feet. There were also smaller platforms about thirty in number and they worked at the outer edge of the arena. Sometimes water battles were portrayed at the arena for the purpose water was filled all over the arena when the show would end the water would be needed to be removed for the next act that’s why the traces of cannel runoff were also found to most probably drain the colosseum. Cannels would have also helped when the colosseum got flooded otherwise. Locks are also found that interprets that they must have been necessary to make the arena waterproof for the battle scenes. For the battle scenes they ships were released through the docks at the right time. The ships were also prepared and kept in the second portion of the hypogeum. The hypogeum is said to be modified many times during the centuries as per requirement, the fire at the colosseum greatly removed the traces of the actual architecture and functioning of the colosseum that is why it was difficult for the archeologists to know the structure of the many chambers and spaces found underground. Researches still help a lot in understanding the hypogeum. It was no more than the backbone of the colosseum, the entire colosseum was functioned from underneath. Above the dark, smelly, hot in summers and cold and moist in winter hypogeum was the stage for death every time someone or something died. The colosseum was said to be hell on earth both underground and above. It have a dark history of brutality and death, at an event eleven thousand animals died in a day an amount that stuck the mind. But by the audience then and there the shows and acts performed at the colosseum were splendid, they amazed them and surprised they and most strangely entertained them. Part 3: Graphic Section Figure 3.1: Cross section of the Closseum (Firenze Illustrations by Inklink Firenze. Illustration. Muller, T. Secrets of the Colosseum. January 2011) Figure 3.2: Closseum (Miettinen, V. Colosseum. Photograph. April 10, 2007) Figure 3.3: Secrets of the Colosseum. Firenze, I, Illustrations by Inklink Firenze. Illustration. Muller, T. Secrets of the Colosseum. January 2011 Part 4: References Mark, J. J.. Rome, (2009). 8 April 2013. Web. Mueller, T. Secrets of the Colosseum: A German archaeologist has finally deciphered the Roman amphitheaters amazing underground labyrinth, (2011). Web. < http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Secrets-of-the-Colosseum.html?c=y&page=3#> Brian, S. Adventures in Architectural Symbolism: The Use and Misuse of Rebuilding Programs in Ancient Rome. 21.1. (2009): 2-5 Karmon, D. Renaissance Strategies to Protect the Colosseum: Selective Preservation Reuse, (2005). Web. Miettinen, V. Colosseum. Photograph. (2007). 9 April 2013. Web. Roman Colosseum. Beneath the Colosseum, (2008). 8 April 2013. Web. < http://www.roman-colosseum.info/colosseum/beneath-the-colosseum.htm>. Portelli, Alessandro. "America and the underground: The beginning of history and the making of identities in a Roman periphery." History Australia [Online], 7.2 (2010): 29.1-29.15. Web. 18 Apr. 2013 Read More