How was the Colosseum built?

CAIRO – 19 July 2022: Built in the first century AD, Rome's Colosseum is one of the most impressive architectural monuments of the ancient world.

It was largely known as an entertainment site that featured gladiators, wild animals, and more, but as one of the best surviving and most famous buildings of ancient Rome, it remains a lasting monument to one of the most influential dynasties of the Roman Empire and a marvel of architecture.

After Vespasian became Roman emperor in AD 69, the Flavian Dynasty - which included his two sons, Titus and Domitian - launched a massive building program to restore Rome, the city ravaged by fire, plague and civil war.

During the 27-year reign of the Flavian Dynasty, it renovated buildings, statues, and monuments throughout the city. In AD 70, Vespasian ordered the construction of the new amphitheater in the city center, financed by the spoils of the Roman siege of Jerusalem during the First Jewish-Roman War. The Colosseum, which was consecrated 10 years later, has been a sensational political symbol for the city's resurgence, according to History.

It was also an innovative architectural and engineering wonder, the largest and most complex permanent amphitheater in the ancient world.

The Colosseum was made primarily of concrete, 3.5 million cubic feet of limestone, and similar amounts of marble, stone, and timber. It rose to 157 feet (roughly the height of a 15-story building), with an estimated capacity of 50,000 to 80,000 people