Roman Colloseum

In the ancient world, the elliptical-shaped Colosseum, taking ten years to build, was the largest structure of its type. It stood 160 feet high with four stories of windows, arches, and columns. Each of the three exterior floors consisted of 80 arches. As many as 50,000 spectators with numbered tickets entered through 76 of the entrances on the ground level. Two of the remaining entrances were used by Emperor Titus and two for the gladiators. Upon entering the Colosseum, …

…which hundreds of animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed. Eventually, gladiator fights were outlawed by Emperor Honorius in A.D. 404; however, animal combats continued for another century. Constantine's Arch was built in 315 AD to commenorate his victory in the battle of Pons Milvius in 312. As the new Roman Emperor, Constantine ended all persecution of Christians. He also moved the capital of from Rome to Constantinople (which is now in Turkey). Thus the Byzantium Empire had begun.