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Encountering the evidence: Colosseum and entertainment venues

Watch Dr Matthew Nicholls and Dr Luke Houghton discuss the poetry and coin evidence when researching the structure and function of the Colosseum.

In our final ‘Encountering the evidence’ video, I rejoin Dr Luke Houghton in Reading’s Ure Museum to discuss what poetry can tell us about the Colosseum and some of the other entertainment buildings in Rome that we’ve seen this week. We also make our last visit to the Heberden Coin Room at the Ashmolean Museum.

In the next Step, you’ll discuss two very different poems. Martial’ poem, as Luke tells us, gives us the Flavian dynasty’s official line on how they are giving Rome back to the people by building the Colosseum, while another poem by Ovid (to join the one that you saw in Step 5.13 gives a different angle – how the city’s entertainment venues make a great place to meet women.

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