资料来源：《英语畅谈世界文化》

每天一分钟，我们一起玩转世界文化。罗马竞技场，原名弗莱文圆形剧场，建于公元72至82年间，是古罗马文明的象征。
童鞋们注意引号不写，是英式拼写哦~~

Hints：
Christians
Coliseum 竞技场
martyrs 殉教者
Emperor Constantine 康斯坦丁皇帝
Christianity
Gladiators 角斗士
fortress 堡垒
Rome
Before, you could watch amazing contests there. I mean, really disgusting things with lots of blood, fights to the death. Yes, just like in the movie. Around 80,000 spectators followed these combats that could go on from sunrise to sunset and sometimes well into the night. Some sports were to kill Christians, too. You know, throwing Christians to the lions and all that. The Coliseum was associated with the persecutions suffered by Christian martyrs, but according to recent studies, there is no documented proof to tell us that these slaughters actually happened. Anyway, in AD 313 the Emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity the official religion of the empire, obviously forbidding the executions of Christians but also the combats between gladiators and the hunting spectacles. After that, they used it as a cemetery, then a fortress and then a place to store building materials, which seems like a waste of such a beautiful piece of architecture. So, a visit to Rome is not complete without making a trip to the Coliseum. I'll go to the bookstore later and get a guidebook.