1 September 2026 · /p/2026-09-01
You Can Still Walk In
The Colosseum still has to stand, work, and hold together.
Nearly 2,000 years later, you can still walk into the Colosseum. The seats face in so a crowd can watch one event. Even today the exits have to work when that crowd leaves: Romans then, visitors now. That is not a caption. It is what the building still does.
A Roman architect named Vitruvius wrote the test for that job. In De Architectura 1.3.2 he says public works must be built with due reference to durability, convenience, and beauty. Durability when foundations reach solid ground and materials are chosen with care. Convenience when the plan presents no hindrance to use. Beauty when the members are in due proportion. Britannica still describes the Colosseum as a freestanding amphitheatre of stone and concrete. The three checks are on the page. The building is still open to them.
A visitor running those checks does not need a slogan. The stone either stands or it does not. The exits either empty the bowl or they fail. The members either belong together or they look like a heap. The Colosseum still has to meet all three.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Vitruvius, De Architectura 1.3.2, Morgan 1914: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0073%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D2
SECONDARY SOURCES
Britannica, “Colosseum”: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Colosseum