WEBVTT 00:00:01.010 --> 00:00:04.799 These days, there are no good seats at the Colosseum. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:10.230 In fact, thanks to centuries of enthusiastic pillaging, there are no seats at all. 00:00:10.230 --> 00:00:16.660 But when the amphitheater was whole, it had places for more than 50,000 spectators. 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:22.070 During the great imperially-sponsored games, when most of Rome’s million inhabitants 00:00:22.070 --> 00:00:27.550 were competing for those 50,000 or so seats, your chances of getting a good place in the 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:34.289 arena depended on who you were, who you know, and how creatively you exploited both. 00:00:34.289 --> 00:00:38.850 Like the other entries in my time traveler’s guide to ancient Rome, this video provides 00:00:38.850 --> 00:00:44.198 hypothetically practical advice to modern tourists with the wherewithal to visit imperial 00:00:44.198 --> 00:00:45.509 Rome. 00:00:45.509 --> 00:00:50.619 This time, we’ll explore how our hypothetical time traveler could get a seat – and, with 00:00:50.619 --> 00:00:54.878 a bit of maneuvering, a good seat – during the games at the Colosseum. 00:00:54.878 --> 00:00:58.268 First, a bit of background. 00:00:58.268 --> 00:01:03.030 Seating in the Colosseum, like so much else in the Roman world, was regimented by social 00:01:03.030 --> 00:01:04.780 class. 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:10.109 The best seats, closest to the arena, were reserved for the emperor, the Vestal Virgins, 00:01:10.109 --> 00:01:11.250 and Senators. 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:17.439 This section, known as the podium, consisted of marble terraces designed to carry the chairs 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.250 from which the elite surveyed the world. 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:25.030 Every spectator in this privileged tier was attended by at least one slave, who would 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:30.359 carry their chair, shield them from the sun, and serve refreshments. 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:36.230 Above the podium was the Colosseum’s equivalent of business class: tiers of wide marble seats 00:01:36.230 --> 00:01:40.980 where members of the Equestrian order sat in relative ease and comfort, separated from 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:44.380 the masses by a high stone wall. 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:47.560 The main seating section was above the Equestrians. 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:54.939 Here, row after row of narrow marble benches held the bulk of the audience: all male, all 00:01:54.939 --> 00:01:59.379 Roman citizens, all sweating in wool togas. 00:01:59.379 --> 00:02:05.199 These seats were divided into dozens of sections reserved for members of various guilds and 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:06.420 associations. 00:02:06.420 --> 00:02:12.120 The highest and worst seats were located along the rim of the perimeter wall, in the stifling 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:17.610 semi-darkness just below the awning that shielded the arena from sun and rain. 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:23.769 In this section, slaves, women, and other low-status spectators stood shoulder to shoulder 00:02:23.769 --> 00:02:29.259 on tiers of rickety wooden planks, fifty meters and a world away from the senators in their 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:30.899 padded seats. 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:36.560 Having reviewed how seating worked, we can move on to the practicalities. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:42.340 Gladiators only fought in the Colosseum about a dozen times in an average year. 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:47.090 Time travelers who want to see the arena in action should thus plan their visit to coincide 00:02:47.090 --> 00:02:52.250 with Saturnalia, when the emperors almost always put on a series of games. 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:56.829 Those with an appetite for the truly spectacular should point their time machines toward 80 00:02:56.829 --> 00:03:02.329 AD, when Titus dedicated the Colosseum with a spectacular series of events, or toward 00:03:02.329 --> 00:03:08.859 107 AD, when Trajan staged games that lasted four months and featured no fewer than 5,000 00:03:08.859 --> 00:03:10.930 pairs of gladiators. 00:03:10.930 --> 00:03:13.700 Now, how to get tickets. 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:17.738 The tickets used in the Colosseum were known as tesserae. 00:03:17.739 --> 00:03:22.289 Sometimes, tesserae were specially-made tokens of lead or ceramic. 00:03:22.289 --> 00:03:24.828 Often, they were just shards of pottery. 00:03:24.829 --> 00:03:31.269 Whatever form they took, they showed three numbers: gate, section, and row. 00:03:31.269 --> 00:03:35.620 On the day of the games, a spectator showed his tessera to an attendant, who directed 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.009 him to the proper gate. 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:42.959 Ushers in the stands ensured that he sat in the proper section and row. 00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:45.319 The games held in the Colosseum were free. 00:03:45.318 --> 00:03:47.908 Tesserae, however, were in limited supply. 00:03:47.908 --> 00:03:51.530 Unlike modern tickets, they were not sold or otherwise made available to the general 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:52.530 public. 00:03:52.530 --> 00:03:56.318 Instead, they were given in blocks to important individuals and guilds. 00:03:56.318 --> 00:04:02.789 These men and organizations could then distribute them as they wished to friends and clients. 00:04:02.789 --> 00:04:07.709 Time travelers looking to get their hands on a tessera have a few options. 00:04:07.709 --> 00:04:12.609 Short of just stealing one, which would be unwise for several reasons, all these options 00:04:12.609 --> 00:04:16.739 begin with finding a well-connected Roman friend. 00:04:16.738 --> 00:04:20.479 If you’ve chosen your persona well – see the first video in this series for more advice 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:22.777 on that critical topic – this will not be difficult, since many members of the Roman 00:04:22.776 --> 00:04:24.689 elite like to associate themselves with intriguing foreigners. 00:04:24.689 --> 00:04:28.629 After impressing a potential patron, ideally over dinner – a topic that will be discussed 00:04:28.629 --> 00:04:34.600 in a future video – time travelers will usually have to do no more than gently suggest 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:38.310 that they would like to attend the coming games. 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:42.740 The quality of the seat obtained through these tactics will depend on the identity of your 00:04:42.740 --> 00:04:46.790 patron and the nature of your chosen persona. 00:04:46.790 --> 00:04:52.379 Many prominent Romans had access to both guest seats in their own sections and client seats 00:04:52.379 --> 00:04:55.170 in the less desirable stands high above. 00:04:55.170 --> 00:04:59.319 You’ll only be given one of the cherished guest seats if you manage to convince your 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:03.509 host that you are both fascinating and important. 00:05:03.509 --> 00:05:07.909 One way of achieving this would be to hint that you’re on some sort of diplomatic mission, 00:05:07.910 --> 00:05:12.540 since ambassadors were customarily seated with senators in the front rows. 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:17.790 A less risky strategy would be to simply present yourself as a person of wealth and distinction 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:22.220 in your distant native land, and hope that your patron wants to be seen with an exotic 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:24.090 visitor. 00:05:24.089 --> 00:05:28.750 The best case scenario is a seat on the podium beside the senators. 00:05:28.750 --> 00:05:33.091 If you manage to pull this off, you’ll have a superb vantage point both for watching the 00:05:33.091 --> 00:05:38.250 action in the arena and for gawking at the emperor, whose box was located among the senatorial 00:05:38.250 --> 00:05:39.610 seats. 00:05:39.610 --> 00:05:43.680 You can also look forward to a comfortable chair, specially-prepared refreshments, and 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:45.870 fine wine. 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:49.670 If your seat is located in the Equestrian section, you’ll still have plenty of leg 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:50.670 room. 00:05:50.670 --> 00:05:53.400 But you’ll be sitting on hard marble, so bring a seat cushion. 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:59.719 You’ll also have to bring your own food, or be ready to order it during intermissions. 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:04.560 If your host decides that you are not in fact important, and relegates you to the main seating 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:10.381 section with his other clients, you can count on a narrow place on a narrow bench, where 00:06:10.380 --> 00:06:15.969 you will be elbowed, kneed, and jostled for the duration of the games. 00:06:15.970 --> 00:06:20.490 If you value personal space, get ready for a very long day. 00:06:20.490 --> 00:06:25.530 Finally, if the only seat your host cares to give you is located in the wooden benches 00:06:25.529 --> 00:06:31.049 along the rim of the arena, be prepared to stand all day, and know that, unless you have 00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:35.920 exceptional eyesight, the action on the arena will be almost invisible. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.879 If this happens to you, I’d suggest time traveling to a different era, finding a better 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:41.610 patron, and trying again. 00:06:41.610 --> 00:06:44.759 As always, there’s more to say. 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:46.480 But in the interests of time, and since I’m more than a little jet-lagged at the moment, 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:47.790 we’ll pause here. 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:53.050 I have a whole series of exciting videos planned for the coming weeks, so stay tuned. 00:06:53.050 --> 00:06:58.020 In the meantime, check out my forthcoming book, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:02.859 Elephants, which provides prospective time travelers with a great deal of useful information 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:05.970 for navigating the classical world. 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:06.550 Thanks for watching.