Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/114

110 COLOSSI COLOSSEUM depth of the stratum, or by diluting the stronger-colored liquid with water till equal col- umns of the two exhibit the same color. COLOSS E, an important ancient city of S. W. Phrygia, on the river Lycus, an affluent of the Maeander. Xenophon speaks of it as being a large and flourishing place at the close of the 6th century B. 0. At a still earlier period (481) Xerxes passed through it on his way to Greece. Colossae was famous for beautifully dyed wool, and carried on an extensive trade in that article. After the time of Cyrus the Younger it seems gradually to have fallen into decay. It was the seat of one of the earliest Christian churches, to which one of St. Paul's epistles is addressed. During the middle ages it was called ChonaB. Khonos, a modern town on its site, is 120 m. S. E. of Smyrna. COLOSSEUM, Coliseum, or Colisaenm, an im- mense amphitheatre in Rome, the largest per- manent structure of the kind ever built, stand- ing near the centre of the ancient city, upon the spot once occupied by the reservoir of Nero, about 500 yards S. E. of the Roman forum, and 200 S. W. of the baths of Titus. Its ruins are still sufficiently complete to show the form of almost the entire structure, and are among the best preserved and most mag- nificent remains in modern Rome. The build- ing was at first called the Flavian amphitheatre, the name Colosseum being first used some cen- turies later with reference to its immense size. It was begun by Vespasian, built by him as far as the top of the third row of arches, and fin-, ished by his son Titus, by whom it was dedica- ted in A. D. 80, with games, gladiatorial shows, and scenic exhibitions of unprecedented splen- dor, a great number of gladiators and several thousand wild beasts being killed in contests in the arena. The building, which covers nearly five acres, and in its complete state had ac- commodation for 80,000 spectators, is in the The Colosseum. form of an ellipse ; its longer diameter is 615 ft., its shorter 510 ; the height of its outer wall, where it is still entire, is 164 ft. The arena within is 281 ft. in length and 176 in breadth. The exterior wall of the edifice consists of four stories, of three different orders of architecture ; the first (lowest) is Doric, the second Ionic, the third and fourth Corinthian. The ma- terial was chiefly travertine for the principal walls, the spaces between being filled in with brick. The part of the Colosseum designed for spectators is in its leading features arranged like that in other ancient structures of the same design (see AMPHITHEATEE) ; but the fact that in the ruin no traces are to be found in- dicating that the ranges of seats ever rose higher than at present, i. e., to the bottom of the third story, or half the whole height, has perplexed all antiquaries. It is hardly to be supposed that the whole upper part of the building, erected at immense expense, was added for no object but to increase the exterior height ; yet, if the places for spectators never extended to a higher point than would appear from the remains now existing, the upper stories would seem to have been only useful for that purpose. Various theories have been advanced on this subject; one of the most plausible is that the extra stories were in some way rendered necessary by the machinery of the velarium (awning or temporary roof) some- times spread over the whole ; another, that narrow galleries ran round the inner circum- ference of these upper walls; but this must remain a matter of conjecture. What was the position of the dens for the wild beasts used