The Colosseum in Rome is a grand amphitheatre built during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian in the 1st century A.D. Vespasian became emperor in A.D. 69 after a period of civil war and construction began in A.D. 72. The structure has only been known as the Colosseum since the Middle Ages, and in the Roman period was simply called The Amphitheatre.[1] Since 1980, the Colosseum has been part the UNESCO's World Heritage site 'Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura'.[2]