The
Colosseum, known in Antiquity as the
Flavian Amphitheater is an amphitheater in the center of
Rome that is capable of seating 50,000 people. It was built by the ruler
Vespasian on the remains of the "Golden House" that the previous emperor,
Nero, was attempting to build.
The colosseum was spared final destruction in the 18th century when it was declared a sacred site by the Roman Catholic Church, due to the martyrdoms that took place there.