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Coliseum Floor, Rome
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian
Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of
Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. Occupying a site
just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started in 72 AD under the
emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus. The arena
itself was 272 ft by 157 ft. It comprised a wooden floor covered by
sand, covering an elaborate underground structure called the hypogeum
-- a two-level subterranean network of tunnels and cages for
gladiators and animals.
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