Rome, The Colosseum

One thing I learned is that this is the only Colosseum. All structures like this are considered amphitheaters, and this amphitheater's name is the Colosseum. I thought calling any Roman arena a coliseum was right, turns out not so much.

It's called the Colosseum because there used to be a colossal statue of Nero nearby. It was a 98 foot tall bronze statue, but like many such things the bronze was later scavenged and all that's left is the pedestal the statue used to be on.

Also, if you notice the holes all over the surface, that's not from time. The travertine blocks were set with iron clamps to make sure they lined up correctly. All those holes are from scavengers drilling into the stone to steal the metal for scrap.