Originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre, it was built in the middle of Rome between 72 AD and 80 AD, and was capable of seating 45.000 - 50.000 spectators.It was used for public spectacles including gladiator contests. The amphitheatre was the biggest ever built in the Roman Empire. The Colossem was used for nearly five hundred, the last recorded games that were held there were in the 6th Century.

After it ceased to be used for entertainment puposes, it was used for things like workshops, a fortress and a quarry.

It is now in a severly ruined state due to stone robbers and earthquakes, but is still seen as a iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. It still as good connections with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope and on each Good Friday a 'Way of the Cross' procession is led to the amphitheatre by the Pope.

The Colosseum is beieved to be haunted, maybe due to the fact that gladiators thought that if a fallen gladiator was not given a proper burial they would roam the earth as a ghost, so there a maybe a few still wandering around.