ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED by the roads around the Colosseum?

 Jake Graham


I imagine that you are likely not entertained by my poor Ridley Scott's Gladiator reference. 


But alas, the roads around the Colosseum truly are entertaining to behold. The roads here are among the most used during the height of the Roman Empire since they are... well, right in the smack dab of Rome! 



It is estimated by referencing sources regarding the distribution of units of grain per month that the population of Rome during the time of Augustus was roughly 1,250,000 people (Whitney J. Oates 105). That number was likely considerably higher since the Colosseum was built in 72AD which is 58 years after the death of Augustus (Colosseum 2024). 


Roads outside of the Colosseum. By Jake G


Now for the good part! The roads. As you can see here, there are parts of the Colosseum's roads that are not fully intact and that is to be expected out of a place that has been frequented by thousands of people every day for 2000 years. Thats right, in Roman antiquity this area was a hotspot and today as a tourist area regarding Roman antiquity, it is still a hotspot.

Roads in better condition at the Colosseum. By Jake G

Credit is given where credit is due. This roadway looks fantastic here. Notice how the bassalt is relatively intact. It looks like I could take a cart or wagon through here without problems!

Wheel imprints found at a Colosseum roadway. By Jake G

I wouldn't be the first to bring a wagon through here either. As you can see there are imprints here which really gets the imagination going. What could these wagons have been doing? What were they transporting? It wouldnt have been gladiators since they came in from an underground tunnel connected to the ludi magnus (Linda Alchin 2017). Perhaps it was vendors with carts moving around outside of the Colosseum to sell wine and snacks for viewers as they enter? We will never know for sure but it makes me wonder.

Roman cement blocks being used as road material. By Jake G

This photo was taken closer to the Colosseum and off the main bassalt rock road that winds around the Colosseum. When I was told that this was a form of Roman concrete, I was astonished. To this day we use cement for roadwork in areas that are usually regarded as significant since concrete is extremely durable. Roman concrete was created from a volcanic ash, lime, and seawater mix (Giatech 2022).

This road speaks to the importance that the Colosseum was believed to reach while it was still being built, for concrete roads to be implemented around it. This is the only time that I have encountered concrete used as a roadway for anything, and that's after seeing roadways at Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ostia antica and other parts of Rome like Trajan's markets.



The Colosseum is a marvelous place that brings people from all over the world to view the place where spectacles occurred for centuries in antiquity. I'm not about to downplay the awesomeness of the Colosseum to segway into a line about how the roads are where the hype is at... but the roads are pretty cool too!





Bibliography

Alchin, Linda. “Tunnels under the Colosseum.” Tribunes and Triumphs. 2017. Tunnels under the Colosseum (tribunesandtriumphs.org).

“Colosseum.” Britannica. Accessed June 22, 2024. Colosseum | Definition, Characteristics, History, & Facts | Britannica.

 “The History of Concrete.” Giatec scientific. July 28, 2022. The History of Concrete: Evolution and Technological Milestones (giatecscientific.com).

Oates, Whitney. “The Population of Rome.” Classical Philology 29. (1934): 101-116. https://www.jstor.org/stable/264523.

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