Boy this place was big! And lots of fighting in it, also a lot of animal cruelty, 9,000 animals were killed in the first year alone. They also they flooded every now and then to simulate sea battles! The place was built on the ground of Nero's lake, at his palace, which was drained. Subsequently after 500 years or so the place fell into disrepair and the materials of the Colosseum were plundered to build new places in Rome.