Facts about circus maximus, colosseum, aqueducts, and the roman forum.

The Circus Maximus - www.ancient.eu/Circus_Maximus/

• The Circus Maximus was a massive arena accommodate 250,000 spectators at one sitting which was about 5 times the number that could be accommodated in the Colosseum.
• The Circus Maximus was first built by Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth Etruscan ruler of Rome c530BC. Various improvements were made to the design of the massive arena which was magnificently adorned. 
• The Circus Maximus was located in a valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills in Rome. The design was oblong in shape, with a long barrier (spina) that ran down the middle of the track containing statues and monuments. 
• The Circus Maximus measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width. Its circumference was a mile.
•  The arena of the Circus Maximus was surrounded with a ditch or canal, called Euripus which was ten feet wide and ten feet deep.

The colosseum www.localnomad.com/.../10-interesting-facts-about-the-colosseum-in-ro...

• Built in 72 A.D, the colosseum has remained the largest amphitheater in the world and is considered to be Rome´s most popular tourist attraction.
• The Coliseum in Rome has over 80 entrances and can accommodate about 50,000 spectators.
• It is thought that over 500,000 people lost their lives and over a million wild animals were killed throughout the duration of the Colosseum hosted people vs. beast games.
• The last gladiatorial fights took place in 435 AD
• Many natural disasters devastated the structure of the Colosseum, but it was the earthquakes of 847 AD and 1231 AD that caused most of the damage you see today.

Aqueductswww.unrv.com/culture/roman-aqueducts.php

• The aqueducts were built from a combination of stone, brick and the special volcanic cement pozzuolana. While their visible remains leave a definite impression, the great bulk of the Roman waterway system ran below ground.
• When water reached Rome it flowed into enormous cisterns (castella) maintained on the highest ground. These large reservoirs held the water supply for the city and were connected to a vast network of lead pipes.
• The bulk of the Roman water system ran below the city, burrowed through 260 miles of rock, and about 30 miles of above ground bridges and crossways (the arches). 
• There are eleven such aqueducts that supplied the ancient city of Rome, dating as early as 140 B.C. and spanning five hundred years. Some emperors were especially interested in the engineering of these structures and their ability to bring water to the city and growing provinces of the empire.

The Roman Forumhttp   ://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/roman-forum.htm

• Forum is a Latin word meaning open space or market place. A Forum was the public space in the middle of a Roman city. Typical Ancient Roman forums might be surrounded by temples, shops, and basilicas.
• The Roman Forum was crossed by the Via Sacra, the Sacred Way, which led to Capitol Hill and the Temple of Jupiter. 
• The forum was initially a market-place in Rome and the site was also used for festivals and funerals. Justice was also administered here and it naturally became a place business, then for politics and popular assemblies, and later on for amusement. The Roman forum consisted of public buildings that were three times as long as they were broad. The Roman Forum was built by Romulus, and adorned with porticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus.
• The original curia (senate house) consisted of a hall 25.20 metres by 17.61 metres, of brick-faced concrete, with a huge buttress at each angle; the lower part of the front wall was decorated with slabs of marble, while the upper part was covered with stucco in imitation of white marble blocks.