The seating size was enourmous -- holding perhaps 50,000 spectators. It even seems to have had a tarp rigged over the seats to provide shade.

Here the notorious gladiators fought vicious animals, and sometimes each other. Here also many criminals met their death in front of perverse crowds, including Christians who were criminal by definition, since most of them would not perform ritualistic sacrifices to the Roman panoply of gods.

In all, Roman technology still impresses -- roads, aqueducts and above all, this structure are all now 2,000 years old -- how many of our water systems, roads and buildings will look as good without constant care?

Daily Life in Roman Pompeii