A Comparison between the Pantheon and the Coliseum Essay

A Comparison between the Pantheon and the Coliseum - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the Roman Empire has been credited with a lot of history regarding its people, events, and most importantly architecture. Rome’s historical credit, in terms of architecture, is partly attributed to two great buildings, which are the Pantheon and the Coliseum. Architecture in Rome was not only limited to buildings but also included roads, great walls, forts, and baths. These two buildings see to it that Rome hosts an influx of hundreds of tourists on a daily basis. The building, Pantheon, was constructed in AD 118 at a site, which two buildings built had earlier burnt down. On the other hand, Coliseum was constructed in the year AD 80, on a site that hosted an artificial lake. The building of the enormous Pantheon structure was under the orders of Emperor Hadrin. Flavian Amphitheater is a different name used to refer to the Coliseum, whose construction was under the orders of Emperor Vespasian. Looking at the time the emperors ga ve orders for constructions of the two buildings, it is evident that the Coliseum was built earlier than the Pantheon, and both buildings count over 1,900 years of their existence. Pantheon, dome-shaped, was built with the objective of being a Temple. Coliseum was built in a shape that resembles an arena, and in most instances, it served the purpose of accommodating people during public entertainments and free games. The Coliseum suffered an incident in which part of it was destroyed by an earthquake, but to this day, the two buildings are still in existence serving as historical sites. Architecturally speaking, the two buildings the Pantheon and the Coliseum, can be compared and contrasted. Culture, traditions, and religious beliefs of the Roman Empire affected the architectural construction of the Pantheon and the Coliseum. Ancient Rome’s culture, tradition and religious belief were marked with the building of structures, which were novel at that time. Ancient Rome was an architectural society as it is reflected with the numerous constructions of monuments, temples, roads, forts, markets, theatres, villas and great walls. The structures were used for entertainment and religious purposes. Culture in ancient Rome entailed entertainments and games, which featured gladiators or slaves, fighting and the only way to win was to kill the opponent while spectators watched. In ancient Rome, tradition was practiced through worshiping gods in the buildings constructed as temples. Additionally, religious belief in ancient Rome was practiced through Christians worshiping their God in temples. The Coliseum Cultural, traditional and religious influence on the Coliseum The political class of Rome took advantage of Rome’s culture to construct the Coliseum in order to distract its citizens from politics. This was due to the fact that ancient Rome’s cultural practices were marked with a lot of entertainment and games. The Coliseum, which is an enormous structure, was built with the intention of providing an entertainment zone for Rome’s citizen at that time. Its construction was also political, in that it distracted the citizen of Rome from focusing on the political struggle at that time. The arena could accommodate more than 50,000 people in its four stories during entertainment sessions. This ampitheater was commissioned by the Emperor Vespasian credited to have been the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled ancient Rome the entire time the Coliseum was under construction. Rome’s architectural culture was exemplified when Emperor Vespasian annihilated an artificial lake, which was constructed during Emperor Neroâ₠¬â„¢s reign and replaced it with the Coliseum (Coarelli & Gabucci, 2001 p207). The culture in ancient Rome, all along was also practiced through having many days and nights dedicated to celebrations and festivities. The celebrations were marked with slaughtering animals, drinking and organizing games to be watched by crowds of