A labyrinth of men, beasts and props
To put it simply, the Colosseum Underground consists of the vast network of rooms, tunnels, and elevators (yes, elevators) which led up to the main arena floor.
Over the centuries, the arena's sand floor was subjected to fires, earthquakes, and even lightning strikes, all of which took their weathering toll on the colossal monument. But not on the Colosseum Underground, which remains remarkably intact.
The Colosseum Underground originally spanned two levels. One was home to a complex water and drainage system. Designed by the best Roman engineers of the time, its purpose was to wash away the blood and excrement of the dead human and animal participants above. Grim, right?
The stench would have been appalling, and the darkness would have only amplified it. Because little natural light filtered through from above, so its workers had to light their rooms and tunnels with lamps.
Reconstruction of the Colosseum's many layers
The Colosseum Underground's main area was the hypogeum, which essentially served as a holding pen for man and beast alike. Ready to entertain the 50,000 - 80,000 spectators above, the Romans constructed 32 animal pens below, the remains of which you can still see.
At any given moment, these animals could appear anywhere on the arena floor, winched up on elevators pulled by the slaves working below. We're not talking about the odd tiger, bear, leopard, or even elephant. We're talking about thousands of animals - 9,000 just for the Colosseum's inaugural games.
Animals of the Arena: 'Venationes' and 'Condemnatio ad bestias'
Typically, after the imperial pomp and ceremony at the beginning of the day's events, the games would start with a display of the wild and exotic animals sourced from all across the empire. Released from their holding pens in the Colosseum Underground and winched up on the elevators built beneath the stage, they would appear on the sands to be paraded in front of an awe-struck populace.
Then came the venatio - the hunt. Trained gladiators would put these animals to the sword - bears, lions, tigers, goats, leopards. Whatever exotic beasts the Romans could capture. The scale was sickening. Even before the Colosseum was built, during the Age of Augustus (31 BC - 14 AD), some 3,500 elephants were slaughtered in the circus. The Roman Empire's further reach after the completion of the Colosseum served only to amplify the bloodshed.
The next part of the matinee performance of the Colosseum would be given over to the executions of slaves, criminals, and anyone else condemned in the law-courts of the
Roman Forum. Some were burnt at the stake; others crucified for the mob's pleasure. But the crowd's favourite mode of execution was
condemnatio ad bestias: the pitting of unarmed men against wild beasts.
Mosaic showing condemnatio ad bestias (3rd century AD Tunisia)
The mosaic above shows a man being executed in precisely this way. His condemnatio ad bestias has pitted him against a leap of leopards, a couple of which circle him while another mauls his face and gouges his torso.
We don't know how the beasts would have been brought into this particular Tunisian amphitheater. In the Colosseum, however, they and their victim would have been brought from the depths of the Colosseum Underground.
The element of surprise for appearing on stage was not only restricted to animals. The Roman Colosseum was home to entire stage sets: trees, buildings, even manmade mountains.
Reconstruction of the Colosseum stage floor
Stored in the labyrinthine corridors and cells of the Colosseum Underground, such props were hoisted from the depths and erected on the arena floor, ready to surprise and delight the masses watching on from above.