Archaeological Treasures Hidden Beneath the Colosseum

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Gladiator fights, exotic animals, rowdy, toga-wearing spectators. These are some of the images Rome’s Colosseum may conjure in your mind.

But last year, archaeologists took to the sewer networks beneath the infamous amphitheater to learn more about what a day there really looked like.

Colosseum Background

Construction work on the Colosseum began between A.D. 70 and 72, under the rule of Emperor Vespasian, and the Flavians completed it around A.D. 80. (This is where the world wonder gets its alternative name: the Flavian Amphitheatre.) It is said to have opened with 100 days of games.

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