The Colosseum: The Arena Of Death with Dan Snow | Preview (Channel 5)

The Colosseum is one of the most recognisable buildings in the world. This ancient wonder was built almost 2000 years ago and it still captures people's imagination today two millennia later.

In this timely two-part special, historian Dan Snow investigates the real story of the Colosseum. As he separates fact from fiction, he’ll discover how the Romans built this magnificent amphitheatre in just 10 years.

Which Emperor ordered it and the high price paid by those forced to work on the project. And he’ll find out the truth about the famous Gladiators who fought in the arena as well as what it would have been like to attend a day at the games.

The Colosseum is one of the most famous buildings in the world...but how and why was this mighty structure created? In this first episode, Dan Snow discovers the extraordinary story of the building of the Colosseum, and the incredible and bloody games that launched it.

69AD: Rome was a mess after the disastrous rule of Emperor Nero. But, out of the fires, a huge building rose unlike any across the entire Empire… the Colosseum!

This new super-stadium would sit right at the heart of Rome, so the new emperor, Vespasian, needed the very best, most ambitious builders to make it. Dan ventures deep into the caverns right beneath Rome that were hollowed out as slaves quarried the vast quantities of rock needed to build the Colosseum, including a powder that could be turned into a key ingredient that enabled the Colosseum to be built in just 10 years: Roman concrete!

To explore the design of the Colosseum, Dan joins fans at a modern football match at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. This state-of-the-art stadium is remarkably similar to the Colosseum, from the uninterrupted views of the action to the wide entrances that literally 'vomit' the crowd in and out of the ground.

Whilst the Colosseum was rising, gladiators were training, Dan visits one of their later training centres, the Ludus Magnus, where the fighters, who were also mostly slaves, honed their violent skills. But, despite all the preparations, the opening games were nearly a disaster - Emperor Vespasian died, leaving his son, Titus, to complete the project.

Dan explores the opening games, especially the fight that started it all: two of Rome's most famous gladiators slugging it out for hours before the baying crowds. Exhausted, they turned to the emperor to decide their fate - Dan discovers his surprising decision…

The Colosseum with Dan Snow begins Thursday 21st November on Channel 5.