This is an inside view of the Colosseum - It's not as big as you would think. Armed combat at the Colosseum went on for some 500 years. Criminals, slaves & gladiators fought each other or wild animals, often to death. Women & dwarfs also wrestled and mock sea battles were waged (the underground area could be flooded with pipes). Spectators exercised the power of life & death over defeated combatants, by waving handkerchiefs to show mercy or by displaying a down-turned thumb to demand the finishing stroke. Survivors' throats were often cut anyway, and the dead were poked with red-hot iron to make sure they had actually expired.