Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (8196). The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia).Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games.Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined due to damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-
avenues, and towering temples became the stage set for an e n o r m o u s collective re-enactment of creation, a great battle between gods of order and chaos, or the death and rebirth of the god-king. T h e Greeks adopted the general patterns of these seasonal dramatic rituals and made them part of their yearly calendar of religious festivals, built around the doings of gods like Apollo and Dionysos. T h e great Greek tragedies and comedies evolved slowly from ritual re-enactments and recitations of poems about the gods and heroes, and originally were conceived as religious ceremonies, sacramental acts designed to have a beneficial effect on the spirit. T h e magnificent outdoor theatres of ancient Greece were originally built as temples dedicated to the god Dionysos, one of the dying and rising gods. T h e plays enacted there were intended as the dramatic climax to vast religious pageants, and they were carefully designed to bring about the
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