Flooding the Colosseum for Naumachiae

In its earliest years, the Roman Colosseum was flooded for water-based spectacles

inspired by Roman naval battles, known as naumachiae. Using Rome’s advanced aqueduct system,

engineers could channel and control large volumes of water inside the amphitheater.

The wooden arena floor was removable at the time, allowing shallow water to cover the

space below. Prisoners or condemned men were then forced to fight in boats while tens of thousands

of spectators watched from the stone seating above. Many participants drowned,

turning the event into a deadly form of entertainment. When the underground hypogeum was later

constructed beneath the arena, flooding the Colosseum became impossible. Elevators,