Should old buildings be changed? Officials in Italy have plans to build a new, hi-tech floor in the Colosseum. It will give visitors the chance to stand where gladiators once fought.
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The plan to update the Roman Colosseum
Should old buildings be changed? Officials in Italy have plans to build a new, hi-tech floor in the Colosseum. It will give visitors the chance to stand where gladiators once fought.
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What's happening?
The year is 120 AD. There are thousands of people in the stadium in the middle of RomeThe city at the centre of the ancient Roman Empire..
The crowd looks down to the floor in the middle. FlammaA Syrian gladiator. He was offered freedom four times but liked fighting so much that he did not give up. is fighting even better than usual. Swords clash. There is a struggle. Suddenly, his enemy is down. Flamma wins again. The crowd roars.
The Italian government have begun plans to build a new floor for the Colosseum.
The idea is to give visitors a chance to experience the building exactly as a gladiator did.
Find out more
The Colosseum was built by the Romans in 80 AD. It was an outdoor theatre used for public events. Sometimes this was a play or a public event. But most commonly, it was used for gladiator fights.
ArchaeologistsSomeone whose job it is to understand what people of the past were like and how they lived. They dig up old buildings and objects to find out more about ancient peoples. got rid of the old floor in the 1800s. They wanted to show the tunnels below where fighters and animals were kept before battles.
The new floor will cover these. But it will be able to move so that tourists can see the tunnels as well.
Not everyone is keen on the idea. Some say it is better to leave ancient monumentsA monument is a building that is meant to remember a person or event. A statue is a monument. alone.
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Should old buildings be updated?
Yes! Historical objects and places are much more interesting when they come to life. The new floor will let us stand where gladiators stood. We will feel how big and scary it was. It will help us understand history much better.
No! Nobody thinks old buildings should be perfect. They visit because it was built by the Romans. We do not have a right to change this.
Keywords
Rome - The city at the centre of the ancient Roman Empire.
Flamma - A Syrian gladiator. He was offered freedom four times but liked fighting so much that he did not give up.
Archaeologists - Someone whose job it is to understand what people of the past were like and how they lived. They dig up old buildings and objects to find out more about ancient peoples.
Monuments - A monument is a building that is meant to remember a person or event. A statue is a monument.
The plan to update the Roman Colosseum
Glossary
Rome - The city at the centre of the ancient Roman Empire.
Flamma - A Syrian gladiator. He was offered freedom four times but liked fighting so much that he did not give up.
Archaeologists - Someone whose job it is to understand what people of the past were like and how they lived. They dig up old buildings and objects to find out more about ancient peoples.
Monuments - A monument is a building that is meant to remember a person or event. A statue is a monument.