The Colosseum

In the Colosseum, the crowd was seated according to gender and social class. The poor had the less desirable positions while the rich had favorable seating. In the hot weather, a giant tarp-like curtain, called a velarium, could be stretched across the top of the structure to keep the sun away (Kent School District).
             The Colosseum was the center of Roman entertainment. Because of this, it was constantly in use from sunrise to sunset. In the morning, the minor events took place. These included comedic contests and animal fights. Other events carried out at the Colosseum, such as animal hunts, staged animal acts, capital punishment, torture, and the martyrdom of Christians in the arena also took place. However, in the afternoon is when the real excitement occurred (Kent School District). Gladiators, or trained war criminals, slaves, and prisoners of war, would fight to the death inside the arena. Although originally used as entertainment during funerals, it became so popular that special schools were set up to train ordinary men to become gladiators. The gladiators would be armed with all sorts of weapons, including swords, daggers, and forks. Sometimes the criminals would be given nothing or only a net to use against their opposing gladiator. When one of the warriors was wounded, he would throw down his defense and raise their left-hand index finger. This motion was a plea for mercy from the crowd. The crowd would then either give a thumbs up or thumbs down to signify sparing his life or sacrificing it. Often if the combatant put up a good fight, then his life would be spared. However, most of the time that was not the case ("Ancient Roman Theaters & Amphitheater."") .
             The name "Colosseum" came from a colossal statue of Nero that was located in the area near this amphitheater. However, people did not start calling it its present day name until the middle ages ("Amphitheater.