Probably the most impressive work of roman engineering, The Colosseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome. With a capacity of fifty thousand spectators the Colosseum was erected by the Flavian dinasty between 72 and 80 A.D. in a valley were previously there was a lake. The Colosseum was the largest amphiteatre in the Roman Empire and for hundreds of years it held games such as the venationes (hunts) and the etruscan origin munera (gladiatorial games). Recreations of natural scenes or sea battles were also possible in the arena.

Painters, technicians and architects would construct a simulation of a forest with real trees and bushes planted in the arena's floor apt to recreate mithological tales. Animals would be introduced to populate the scene for the delight of the crowd. Occasionally used for capital punishments the condemned person was likely to be killed even in one of various gruesome but mythologically authentic ways, such as being mauled by beasts or burned to death. In the middle age the building underwent major changes of use but mostly it was used as a quarry of materials for the construction of other buildings.

In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV made the Colosseum a sacred site where early Christians had been martyred. He forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross. Since there is no historical evidence of christians being sentenced to death for their belief both modern historians and the Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that there are no historical grounds for this supposition.