A large oval or circular building with tiers of seats arranged around a central arena, historically used for gladiatorial contests and public entertainments.
From Greek 'amphi-' (around, both ways) and 'theatron' (place for seeing, from 'thea,' viewing). The Romans perfected the architectural form during the 1st century CE.
The Colosseum could hold 50,000 people and had a retractable awning system, underground trap doors for surprise effects, and even flooded the arena for mock sea battles—ancient engineers were incredible problem-solvers.
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