Architecture

The Colosseum could seat around 50,000 people and hosted gladiator fights, wild animal hunts, and even mock ship battles—they flooded the arena with water so ships could fight inside! 

Gladiators were often slaves or prisoners, but if they survived many fights they could win their freedom. Some Romans even sold the sweat of gladiators as an odd souvenir!

Roman roads (sometimes called the greatest engineering achievement) stretched over 50,000 miles in the empire. They allowed soldiers and supplies to move quickly—and helped Rome stop rebellions. From this came the saying, "All roads lead to Rome." The Romans also built aqueducts that carried fresh water from mountains to cities.