Effect Of Flavian Amphitheater On Julius Caesar

How did the construction and subsequent use of the Flavian Amphitheater effect the fortunes of the Flavian dynasty?

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. Emperors and Politics of the Period.
II. Martial's ‘On the Spectacles' and the opening of the Flavian Amphitheater
.
III. The Flavian Amphitheater and Rome.

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

In this Extended Essay I will attempt to examine how the construction and subsequent use of the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome effected the fortunes of the Flavian Dynasty. In chapter 1 I will examine the rise to power of Vespasian after Nero and the year of the four emperors, followed by Titus and Domition the other two emperors which make up the Flavian dynasty. I will discuss
an almost heriditary monarchy emerged under Augustus.The process can be encapsulated by the history of Romes voting pens. Augustus had erected these to upgrade the old Roman voting enclosure. They were the largest covered building in Rome, by the end of the 1st centuary pens were no longer used for voting. Now they held large shows and giant supermarkets for antiques. Democracy in a traditional sense was almost dead. Vespasian wanted his new amphitheater to recreate the togetherness of the voting pens were Romans would gather in a purposly constructed building with a common purpose thus promothing good relations among the citizens, easing any feelings of discontent and adding to the cult of the emperor. This was important to give his citizens a sense of belonging and involvement as Rome was no longer a democracy. The ampitheater was in Vespasians vision to become the new ‘voting pen'. Where people would all gather with a communal goal, this would remind them that they were all Romans and all shared a common goal.

Vespasian carried the
79. His son Titus added the third and fourth stories and had it dedicated in A.D. 80 with magnificent games which lasted one hundred days. This structure was truly colossal with dimensions of 189m (640RF) long, 156m (528RF) wide and 48m (163RF) high, with an outer perimeter of 545m (1,835RF), required 100,000 tonnes of Travertine and 300 tonnes of iron clamps to hold the blocks together (Claridge p276) and was to become an icon of the power of the Flavian dynasty and the empire. It will forever be associated with the legacy of Vespasian even though he never lived to see this colossal structure completed. The extent exceptional nature of this gift bestowed by Vespasian was commomorated in the coins minted by Titus to celebrate the opening of the games in A.D. 80 (p.21, Wiedemann ). However this structure provided an ironic sting in the tail for Vespasian after his own death. It was built by Vespasian partly with the intention of erradicating Nero Rome's ‘sites of memory' he notably failed. By the Middle Ages the structure had adopted the name ‘Colosseum' This according to many historians was not entirly due to its colossal appearance, but due to the colossal statue of Nero ‘The Colossus' which stood near by. Ironically the Flavian