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Tickets to the Colosseum
The Colosseum
had something that resembled a seating chart. Each ticket
was marked with was marked
with a seat number, a tier number and a sector number which
indicated the correct entrance gate. It was therefore imperative to ensure that the
massive crowds who flocked to the Colosseum were seated
quickly and efficiently.
Tickets to the Colosseum
were Free
The Tickets to the Colosseum
were completely free to the Ancient Romans. However, they
did have to be acquired in advance or face standing in line
on the day of the games and perhaps obtaining a ticket for
standing room only. The areas of
seating reflected the social status of the Romans. There were four
tiers of seating. The closer you were to the action in the
arena, the higher was your status in Rome. If you were a 'Pleb'
there was no way that you would have access to the first and
second tiers which were strictly reserved for the most
important people of Rome. Different classes of people would
be recognised by their clothing and who they arrived with.
The Emperor, his family, noble Patricians, senators,
politicians, magistrates and visiting dignitaries.
 Tickets to the Colosseum -
the Seating arrangements
There were 80 entrances to
the Colosseum which enabled people to be seated quickly and
efficiently. Marble diagrams with the seating arrangements
marked on them were set in the walls by the entrances. The
seats were made of marble, numbered with lines inscribed on
the marble showing the defined limits of each seat. People
sat on wooden planks placed on the marble seats, but the
elite were more comfortable: the senators had cushions at
first, then chairs (folding stools) called curules (sella
curulis). Cushions were accorded to the equites (knights). Marble diagrams with
the seating arrangements marked on them were set in the
walls by the entrances. There
would have been the equivalent to a ticket collector at each
of the entrances. Soldiers from the cohort of the
Praetorian
Guard would have policed the event together with the vigiles
(a type of police) and sorted out any
trouble makers.
Colosseum
Entrances and Exits
Seating at the Colosseum
Tickets to the Colosseum -
the Tessara
The Tessara was the name of the Roman equivalent to a ticket
to the Colosseum. To enter, the spectators had to produce to
the designatores, the ushers, a tessera which was an
invitation or ticket to the games. The Tessara, or ticket, was marked
with a seat number, a tier number and a sector number which
indicated the correct entrance gate. Above the doors of the
Colosseum are numbers corresponding to those stamped into a tessera,
or ticket.
Cuneus - Sector (Latin for
"wedge"; plural, cunei) is also the architectural term applied to
the wedge-shaped divisions of the Roman theatre separated by the
scalae or stairways)
- Gradus -
Row (meaning the rows of marble
seats)
- Locus - Seat (meaning defined
place or location)
The tessara, or
tickets, would therefore be stamped with numbers similar to the
following example:
- CVN II -
Sector number 2
- GRAD IV -
Row number 4
- LOC XII - Seat number 12
The Tessara was not
marked with a date or time. It is therefore reasonable to assume
that a set, or specific number, of Tessara were produced for
individual festivals of gladiatorial games. It is also
reasonable to assume that only one tessara or ticket was
produced for each seat for the whole duration of one specific
festival of games. After this time the tessara would be
discarded.
The games started in the early morning, around 8 a.m. and
continued non-stop until sunset.
Description
of the Tessara (pl. tesserae) - Tickets to the Colosseum
Originally small disks of clay
shards (pottery) were used to stamp seating details to be used
as the tickets or tessara. The small disks were about the size
of a cent. Small disks made of bone were also used for this
purpose.
Distribution of the Tickets to the Colosseum
The tickets to the Colosseum were free but everyone had to
have a ticket or invitation to gain entry. The Romans had an
excellent distribution system. The tessara, we assume, were
produced by the ticket makers for each set of games. These were
then distributed to the Roman citizens via a variety of
different routes. The tickets were distributed to institutions,
companies, organisations, corporations, associations and
fellowships etc. who distributed them to the Roman citizens. The
games were extremely popular and as there were never enough
tickets to go round there was, no doubt, a black market
operating which sold tickets.
Tickets to the Colosseum
The content of this Tickets to the Colosseum
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