We continued walking along the Forum until we reached the Flavian Amphitheater.
Yes, thew Colosseum is not actually the Colosseum, its the Flavian Amphitheater.
It became misnamed as the Colosseum as a true colossus - a giant statue of the Emperor Nero, the Colossus of Nero, was located here after he was deposed it was changed to represent the Sun God and become the Colossus solis - so People on their way to see the statue were off to see the Colossus, and the name then got applied to the Flavian Amphitheater itself. It was built by Vespasian and completed under his son Titus.
With a capacity of 80,000 spectators the amphitheater is truly a colossus.
The multiple levels are neat to see:
Roman numerals identify the various entryways into seating areas, much as stadium entries are marked today.
A papal sign marks the Colosseum:
By the time we reached the Colosseum however, one of the ladies in our tour group had had enough of the sun and almost collapsed. We helped find her a place to sit in the shade and brought her water to drink and she recovered after a bit.
We then admired the Arch of Constantine:
Built to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, the inscription on top of the arch can still be easily read 1707 years after it was dedicated.
Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, which made for a logical transition on our way to our next stop.
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