History of Roman Colloseum

The amphitheatre seated some 50,000 spectators,who were sheilded from the sun by a massive retractable velarium(awning).Supporting masts extended from the corbals built into the colloseum's top,or attic,story, and hundreds of roman soldiers were required to manipulate the rigging that extended and retracted the velarium.The Colloseum was the scene of thousands of hand-to-hand combats between gladiators,contests between men and animal,and of many larger combats,including mock naval engagements,however, it is uncertain whether the arena was the site of the martyrdrom of early cristians. In mediaval times , the Colloseum was used as church, then as a fortress by two prominent Roman families,the Frangipane and the Annibaldi.The Colloseum was damaged by lightning and earthquakes and,even more severly,by vandalism and pollution.All the marble seats and decorative materials disappeared,as the site was treated as a little more than a quarry for more than 1,000 years. Preservation of the Colloseum began in earnest it the 19th century, with notable efforts by pius VIII, and the restoration prject was undertaken in the 1990s.IT has long been one of Romes major tourist sites.