Venatio
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Venatio was a type of entertainment in Roman amphitheaters involving the hunting and killing of wild animals.
Bronze medallion depicting the fight between a man and a wild animal (venatio).
Venatio, Gladiator and Lion in the Colosseum
Colosseum
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The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is the largest standing amphi
Venatio
…more wild animals). Roman emperors often sentenced serious criminals — who then became known as bestiarii — to fatal encounters with the beasts in the Colosseum — an ancient "death sentence". These were the lowest social class of participants in the games. Atlas bear…
Looking east from the Piazza di Santa Francesca Romana, 2020
Interior of the Colosseum by late nineteenth century photographer Francis Frith
Sestertius of Titus celebrating the inauguration of the Colosseum (minted 80 AD).
The Colosseum in the 1530s, sketched by Maarten van Heemskerck, and used as the model for his later Self-Portrait with the Colosseum and Octo Mundi Miracula.