One day at the Colosseum

Attend a show at the Colosseum, as well as a pastime, often represented an endurance test: both games and fights lasted for a whole day and the audience was exposed to all climatic conditions.

First of all it was important to be able to sit comfortably but, especially in the higher sectors where the space decreased, it was not always possible and the spectators were even used to bring pillows from home not to sit on the hard stone seats.
The Emperor Augustus tried to schedule the performances in the cooler months, but in Rome each occasion was good for a celebration or a commemoration even in the summer months, and then another big problem was the heat.

The Colosseum was then equipped with a device, handled by special staff, which was used to open and close big canvas placed on the perimeter of the upper ledge of the amphitheater that so covered the spectators during the hottest hours: the mechanism was called velario.

Despite the velario, sometimes the air inside became unbreathable, a mixture of hot, smell of sweat and smell of blood, so it was also planned a spray system that refreshed the audience with a mixture of water, wine, saffron and other essences.