It's true name is Anfiteatro Flavio, but everybody knows it by the name of Colosseum. It is the symbol itself of the city of Rome in the world. It was built in 72 A. D. by Vespasian and finished eight years after by his son Titus. The Colosseum was comparable, for its time, to our stadiums, even if the performances were very different from those of nowadays. The Roman people gathered in mass to attend the Circus games (ludi circenses), where the gladiators fought among themselves. In the Colosseum performances were organised, often bloody, in which gladiators, wild beasts and prisoners condemned to death, fought for their lives. The elliptic ring's longer axis measures 187 mt., the shorter 155 mt., the height of the highest ring is over 50 mt., the spectators could reach the number of 55.000. Centuries passing by, left very little of the ancient pomp, in fact the great amphitheatre was incredibly rich of marbles an decorations, gone lost most of all during the Renaissance, when the need for marble was exceptional and most of the materials covering the monument were removed and used elsewhere.