The Colosseum opens
Named not for its size but for a statue of Nero
The Flavian Amphitheatre opened under Titus on the drained lake of Nero's Golden House. Romans called it simply 'the amphitheatre'; the name Colosseum came later, most likely from the colossal bronze statue of Nero that stood beside it.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 1st century
Did you know
A vomitorium was not a room where Romans threw up at feasts. It was a passage through which an amphitheatre crowd could 'spew forth' quickly after the show, from Latin vomere, 'to spew'. Share →
Gladiators were nicknamed hordearii, 'barley-eaters'. They lived on a nearly vegetarian diet of barley, beans and dried fruit thought to build strength, while legionaries got barley instead of wheat only as a punishment. Share →
The Colosseum opened a year after Pompeii was buried, under the same emperor. Titus came to the throne in the summer of 79, Vesuvius erupted that same year, and in 80 he inaugurated the amphitheatre. Share →
No one knows which gesture Roman crowds used to doom a gladiator. 'Thumbs down' comes from Gérôme's 1872 painting Pollice Verso — the Latin just means 'with a turned thumb', direction unknown. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Middle East
- 70 Siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple — 10 years earlier
Africa
- c. 100 The rise of Aksum — 20 years later
Asia
- 105 Cai Lun and the invention of paper — 25 years later
Alive at the time
- Ban Zhao (aged 35)
- Zhang Heng (aged 2)