Colosseum, Rome, Italy Nov. 12, 2025

Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Think modern sports are dramatic? Ancient Romans had front-row seats to spectacles far more intense inside the Colosseum. Commissioned by the Flavian emperor Vespasian in 72 CE and finished by his son Titus in 80 CE, this amphitheatre broke tradition with its predecessors that were built into hillsides for natural support. Instead, the Colosseum was a fully free-standing architectural giant. Crafted from stone and concrete, its arches and vaults supported an arena that could host up to 50,000 spectators. Gladiators, exotic animals and even staged sea battles thrilled the crowds, while hidden elevators and trapdoors created sudden, dramatic appearances.

© Nico De Pasquale Photography/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

A convocation of eagles assembles
Nov. 12, 2023Diwali
Nov. 12, 2024Arches National Park, Utah, United States

More Desktop Wallpapers:

American Red Cross pioneers
Apr. 6, 2024Japan Castle Day
The Rainbow Bridge
A postcard-perfect landscape
Oct. 31, 2025Happy Halloween!
Jan. 6, 2025Flooded crypt, Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna, Italy
Jan. 20, 2024Macaroni penguins, Drake Passage, Chile
A painters palette of natures hues
Sep. 2, 2023Allens Hummingbird
One on land, a million in space
Ever seen garlic bloom?
Jun. 1, 2025World Reef Awareness Day
If these walls could talk...
Jul. 8, 2025Seceda, Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy
Owl be seeing you ... somewhere!
Sep. 16, 2023Oktoberfest begins
Jan. 7, 2025Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand
This lesson is going swimmingly
Getting starry-eyed at the moon
An old bridge in a new light
Sep. 19, 2023Splügen Pass, Switzerland
May 31, 2024Gunnerside, Yorkshire Dales National Park, England
Mar. 20, 2024Cave Dale and Peveril Castle, England
Apr. 14, 2025Atlantic spotted dolphins
Feb. 16, 2024Great Backyard Bird Count
Jul. 3, 2024World Meerkat Day
Rainbow around the sun
Nov. 30, 2025Christmas market in Leipzig, Germany
Jul. 10, 2025Independence Day of the Bahamas
The beauty that lies below