The Colosseum Coloring Pages

An Oval Building in the Middle of Rome

The Colosseum is a big, round arena in Rome, the capital city of Italy. It looks round, but if you look at it from above, it is actually an oval shape.
Its official name is the Flavian Amphitheatre. It was finished in the year 80, almost 2,000 years ago! Emperor Vespasian started building it, and his son, Emperor Titus, finished it.

Big Enough for 50,000 People

As for its size, the long side is 187.5 meters across, and the short side is 156.5 meters. It is 48 meters high, which is as tall as a 15-story building!
People think that more than 50,000 spectators could sit inside. That is almost the same as the number of people that fit in the Tokyo Dome! It means a building that could hold this many people existed 2,000 years ago.

80 Arches

Let's look at the outer wall. There is a long line of arches! On the very bottom floor, there were 80 entrances all around the building.
They were numbered, and the spectators went in through the entrance with the number written on their ticket. It was designed so that 50,000 people could get in and out in a short time. That is almost the same way modern stadiums work!

Different Pillars on Each Floor

The outer wall is divided into 4 floors. If you look closely, the pillars standing between the arches look different on each floor.
The 1st floor has simple Doric pillars. The 2nd floor has Ionic pillars with spiral designs. The 3rd floor has Corinthian pillars with fancy leaf designs. The designs get fancier as you go up! Only the top 4th floor has no arches and has a flat wall instead.

Why Is Half of It Broken?

A big part of the outer wall of The Colosseum is missing on one side. This was not broken in a war.
It fell down in an earthquake, and the main reason is that people took the stones away to use as building materials for other places. The stones that used to be part of The Colosseum are used all over the city of Rome!

Its World Heritage Name

The Colosseum was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1980.
However, it is not listed under the name "The Colosseum". It is listed as part of a larger area called the "Historic Centre of Rome". This means the city of Rome itself is a World Heritage Site!

Keep the inside of the arches white

This is the most important part of this picture. The inside of the arches looks dark, but you must not color them black.
If you make all 80 arches black, your picture will get way too dark. Just add a little bit of light gray, and keep lots of white. If you make the arches in the back just a little darker, it will give your picture great depth!

Use 3 colors for the stones

The stones of The Colosseum were warmed by the sun, so they have different colors in different places. Try using 3 colors: yellow-ochre, beige, and light gray.
If you use the same color for everything, it will look flat. Just change the colors of stones that touch each other, and it will look like real stone that is 2,000 years old!

Make the broken parts darker

The broken part on the right side is a great spot to look at in this building. Try coloring this part a little darker than the rest.
When the broken edges and inside parts get darker, they pop out with lots of depth. It makes the difference from the nice left side super clear, and your picture will look amazing!

Color along the curves

The Colosseum is shaped like an oval, so the walls curve into the back. When you color, move your colored pencil along that curve.
If you move your pencil straight across, the wall will look flat. Just by following the curves, you can show how it rounds all the way around!

Keep the sky and the ground light

It looks best to keep the sky white. That makes The Colosseum stand out as the star of your picture!
For the stone floor in front, it looks natural if you use light gray and change the color a little for each stone. If you make the trees dark green, they will really pop next to the white stone!

Stones Were Taken Away

The Colosseum is missing a big part of one side, but that was not just because of earthquakes.
After the Roman Empire grew weak, The Colosseum was treated like a place to get stones. People took stones away and used them to build churches and palaces. People even say that stones from The Colosseum were used to build St. Peter's Basilica. So it was not just broken, but taken away little by little!

The Roof Was Made of Cloth

The Colosseum does not have a roof. But it had a giant cloth sunshade to protect the crowd from the hot sun.
They put hundreds of poles at the very top of the building, stretched ropes from them, and spread out the cloth. It is said that sailors from the navy were brought in to do this work. That is because it needed the same skills as setting ship sails!

Secret Tricks Underground

Under the floor of the arena, there was a maze of underground paths.
There were cages for wild animals and rooms to store gear. They even had elevator-like machines to lift animals and gear up from under the floor. A lion would suddenly pop out from an empty floor! It was built to make exciting shows like that.

The Name Comes from a Giant Statue

"The Colosseum" is not its official name. The real name is the Flavian Amphitheatre.
So, why did people start calling it this name? The most popular idea is that a giant statue of Emperor Nero stood right next to it, and that statue was called Colossus. Another idea is that the building itself was huge. Either way, the name comes from a word that means "super big"!