How Dangerous was the Front Row of the Colosseum?

foreign [Music] BC Pompey the great staged an elephant hunt in the circus Maximus 20 elephants were released onto the racetrack pursued by spearmen from North Africa the elephants defended themselves tearing away the Hunter's Shields with their trunks but as more and more javelins struck home the huge animals attempted to escape hurling themselves against the iron fences that protected the spectators the barriers bent and shook terrifying the audience only the Swift response of the hunters who surrounded the elephants and brought them down prevented disaster the Roman games must have often been unnerving to watch Beast hunts routinely featured big cats lions leopards and tigers that could leap over High walls and elephants and rhinos tremendous enough to crash through almost any obstacle Beast Hunters threw Spears and shot arrows in every direction so do the Gladiators sometimes whole battles involving hundreds of men were staged with real weapons amid all these leaping cats and flying Spears how often were spectators injured or worse at Roman games let's focus on the Colosseum where the grandest Roman spectacles were staged by most estimates the Coliseum had seats for about 50 000 spectators as I discussed in my old video on finding good seats in the Coliseum the worst seats were at the top where slaves and women stood on rickety benches below were the non-elite sections of the minionum the General Admissions section where Spectators crowded onto narrow Stone benches the lowest part of the minionum separated by a walkway from the rose above was reserved for members of the equestrian order these benches were made of marble and were wider signs of the high social standing of the men who occupied them but the really luxurious seating was in the podium closest to the arena where members of the Senate sat with their wives children and attendants the podium consisted of several broad marble tears there were no benches the Senators brought their own cushioned chairs the best seats in the House were on the minor axes of the podium that is at the middle of the coliseum's long sides on one side was the Imperial box where the emperor and his Entourage sat on the other was probably the pulvenar where images and attributes of the Gods and deified Emperors were displayed on elaborate chairs other special sections were set aside for the Vestal virgins and visiting dignitaries the seats in the podium of the Coliseum had ready access to all the amphitheater's amenities the water fountains and lavatories of the corridors the perfumed Mist that a few is from the walls in hot weather and in all likelihood the vendors of wine and snacks who worked the seats speaking of food a brief word about this video's sponsor ready to feel your best while making the most of your summer Adventures with our partner Factor you can skip extra trips to the grocery store and the tedium of food prep while still getting all the flavor and nutritional quality you need factors fresh never frozen meals are ready in just two minutes so all you have to do is heat and enjoy especially in summer when I never seem to have time for cooking Factor makes it easy to eat both quickly and well I especially enjoyed this spicy poblano beef bowl which I paired with refreshing strawberry banana smoothie had to factor75.com or click the link below and use the code toldenstone 50 to get 50 off your first Factor box again that's 50 off by using total Stone 50 at factor75.com returning to our topic the most important people in Rome including the emperor and his family were seated in the first rows of the Coliseum how are they protected from stray arrows and leaping tigers the arena was ringed by a 13-foot travertine wall which was crowned by a barrier although no Trace survives most Scholars assume that it resembled the fence that protected Spectators in the amphitheater of Nero elephant tusks projecting from the arena wall supported Nets of gilded wire ethernet space were rows of ivory rollers designed to prevent big cats from crawling up the wall in the Coliseum armed guards likely patrolled the walkway between the barrier and the first tier of the podium Sharpshooters armed with bows seem to have also been stationed at intervals along the podium's base ready to react if an animal or Gladiator tried to scale the barrier despite such precautions several disasters occurred in Roman amphitheaters the most notorious took place during the reign of Tiberius when a temporary wooden Amphitheater in the town of fitnai collapsed killing 20 000 spectators in the reign of Nero during a gladiatorial show a brawl that broke out in the stands of pompei's Amphitheater escalated from shouting and stone throwing to a full-scale battle that left dozens dead the Senate wary of future unrest banned Pompeii from hosting gladiatorial games for the next 10 years we also hear about the mundane risks of watching the games heat stroke for example seems to have been a problem in the lower rows which were constantly exposed to the Sun it was probably in response to some dramatic incident that Caligula allowed Senators to wear sun hats during the games the animals gathered for Beast hunts sometimes escaped before they reached the arena we hear for example about a rogue leopard attacking an artist and about a massive Indian python that was rumored to hunt children in the slums of Rome as far as we know however no animal managed to make it over the barrier of the Coliseum nor remarkably are we aware of any fatalities in the stands caused by the arrows and javelins of the Beast Hunters Gladiators normally posed little danger to Spectators partly because their weapons were designed for close combat and more generally because no gladiator who hoped for Freedom was likely to risk his future on a throw wild enough to end up in the stands yes Gladiators did cause spectator fatalities at least outside Rome according to Valerius Maximus writing in the reign of Tiberius an equestrian named Rufus dreamed one night that he would be killed by a gladiator the next day accompanying some friends to the theater of Syracuse Rufus was shocked to recognize the gladiator from his dream persuaded by his friends that he was being ridiculous Rufus took his seat and washed the Gladiator beat his opponent to the ground as the Gladiator prepared to deal the final blow he raised his sword high and skewered Rufus who was seated in the front row through the heart although we have no way of knowing whether this anecdote has basis in truth its setting in the theater of Syracuse lends it some plausibility Greek theaters were not designed for claudiatorial combats and Beast shows only a low wall if anything separated their stages and orchestras from the seats unless temporary barriers or Nets were set up Spectators in the first rows were uncomfortably vulnerable although High walls and Nets protected Spectators in the Coliseum from Gladiators they were still exposed to the whims of the emperors during the reign of domission a spectator sitting near the Imperial box complained that the emperor had rigged the games so that his favorite Gladiators always won Furious division sent guards to drag the man from his seat and feed him to wild dogs in the arena a century later it was rumored that Commodus planned to shoot random spectators at the coliseum in Imitation of Hercules in The stemphalian Birds we don't know how many Spectators were injured or killed over the centuries in the Coliseum our sources are incomplete and only mention such accidents if they happen to involve an emperor or a famous figure but a judge from what we do know it seems that a day at the Coliseum was never free from danger even for those in the stands for more on the Coliseum check out the latest video on tolenstone footnotes which is linked on screen and in the description I have a new book insane Emperors sunken cities and earthquake machines more frequently asked questions about the ancient Greeks and Romans sequel to naked statues fat Gladiators and war elephants and it's available for pre-order now on Amazon Barnes and Noble and through your local bookstore if you're interested in more told and stone content including my podcast check out my channel tolenstone footnotes I also have a channel called Scenic roots to the past which is dedicated to historically themed travel you'll find both channels Linked In the description last but not least please consider joining other viewers in supporting tolton Stone on patreon thanks for watching

Channel: toldinstone

Views: 1,067,911

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Id: V435Le_63Z8

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 28 2023