But when it was first built, it looked very different from what it does today. In a certain sense of the word, there was never a time when the Colosseum wasn't a tourist attraction it was built to be Rome's central attraction. The statue stood outside the Colosseum and was made of bronze, reaching a height of 98 feet. The Colosseum got its name from the Colossus of Nero, a massive statue modeled after the Colossus of Rhodes. The violence depicted in the movie Gladiator doesn't fully capture the gruesome nature of the events held there. The Colosseum was a brutal place used for animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of battles, and other public spectacles.

The Colosseum, originally built by the Flavian Roman Emperors, was the largest amphitheater in the ancient world and had a large hypogeum and stunning architecture.