The Flavian amphitheater, commonly known as the Colosseum, was built by emperor Vespasian between 69 and 79 CE. It displayed Rome’s wealth and power while garnering popularity for the Flavian emperors by serving as a place of entertainment and distraction. It could hold over 50,000 spectators and dealt with the enormous crowds easily. A logical system of stairways and passages routed the people who entered from each of the 76 entrances to their designated seating areas. Chemists, like the Colosseum, also cater to a large audience. When people think of chemistry’s contributions they often forget that it is used in entertainment as well as medicine and materials. Every day, chemists are faced with finding solutions to problems, like the designers of the Colosseum solved the problem of moving large crowds. One way that they accomplished this was using groin vaults as the foundation of the Colosseum’s structure. Groin vaults are formed by intersecting barrel vaults and allow for the flow of both light and people on two, perpendicular planes. Architectural elements like these require a knowledge of math and physics to build, both of which are essential to chemists. Another obvious element of the Colosseum is the many ionic columns around the exterior. Each column was built in the style the ionic order prescribed and is identical to the others. In chemistry it is also necessary to have standardized procedures and uniformity. Chemists achieve this by following the scientific method and having regular forms of documentation. This makes it so that each experiment can be precisely replicated, like the columns were.
Colosseum
Rome, Italy
Early Empire (Roman)
Rome, Italy
Early Empire (Roman)