A combination stone and wood stadium was erected by Statilius Taurus in 29 B.C. This stadium along with the Circus Maximus and the city forums held the games of Rome until the a great nine-day fire swept through the city in A.D. 64. The damage was devastating - two-thirds of Rome destroyed including the amphitheater of Taurus. Emperor Nero resolved that the area cleared by fire would be the site of a great monument to himself: the Golden House. He did this contrary to the people's request for a large amphitheater. A 120 foot statue of Nero, the Colossus Neronis, was created as well as an artificial lake on the Golden House grounds. The statue would later be transformed into Helos, the Sun God, and placed near the building. This would become the namesake of the Coloseum while the lake would become the construction site. .
Vespasian took the Empire over in A.D.72. His full name was Titus Flavius Vespasianus and his goal was to create a "new Rome-. He began by rebuilding many of the buildings that were lost in the great fire. He drained Nero's artificial lake and began plans to build a colossal amphitheater in its place. Traditional Greek style was used in the rebuilding so as to contrast Nero's ultra-modernistic style. .
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The new amphitheater, the Flavian Amphitheater, was to be Vespasian's greatest achievement. The principle reference book used in the design was De Architectura by Vitruvius; the principle model was the Theater of Marcellus. .
Augustus Caesar erected the Theater of Marcellus, a playhouse in Rome, between 13 B.C. and 11 B.C. It was three stories high and sat 11,000 to 15,000 people. The design was that of a half-circle with rising tiers on the rounded side and a stage at the flat end. It was built with both annular and radial barrel vaulted corridors. Annular corridors encircled arena while radial corridors that branched out from the center of the structure. .
These radial corridors were key in the construction in that they dispersed the weight of the tiers providing stability for the theater.