# How many people worked in the Roman Coliseum? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733 "2003-05-27T10:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/1 "2003-05-27T10:11:14Z")
…and I don’t just mean the Gladiators. Are there any surviving records of how many people were needed to keep the Coliseum’s “infrastructure” going? Like animal wranglers, sunshade-operators, weapon makers, blacksmiths, food vendors, etc.? Thanks for your time, Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/2 "2003-05-27T10:57:37Z")
I’m pretty sure that there are records, as the Romans were meticulous about these sort of things. Just can’t get my hands on the info right now. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/3 "2003-05-27T11:00:36Z")
Starting point might be the list of sources at [http://www.the-colosseum.net/idx-en.htm](http://www.the-colosseum.net/idx-en.htm), but I can’t find a simple answer to your question at this site … lots of interesting stuff, though. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/4 "2003-05-27T12:36:17Z")
My family went to Fenway this weekend to watch the Red Sox lose (which they did ☹ ). While going for food, my daughter and I were speculating about the Coliseum (properly called the Flavian Ampitheator), noting that the design is more or less the same, with seating above, traffic flow and services below. I know that the contemporary equivilant of the food vendors were there, and I assume that souvenier shops probably existed as well. Question: just WHAT would the souvenier shops sell at the Coliseum sell? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_E\_Dec\_Esq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@Francis\_E\_Dec\_Esq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_E_Dec_Esq)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/5 "2003-05-27T15:18:55Z")
I know that the OP was specifically about the Coliseum, but here is an interesting article about the Circus Maximus, in which supposedly 250,000 people could watch the chariot races. [http://www.historyhouse.com/in\_history/circus\_maximus/](http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/circus_maximus/) Something to keep in mind is that in contrast to modern stadiums, not everyone working in the Coliseum was an employee _of_ the Coliseum (or whatever the parent organization was). For instance, your food vendors were probably mostly independent. Do you include them in your count? ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/6 "2003-05-27T15:23:41Z")
Just supposing what they sold- Bobblehead gladiator figures Elephant ears from real elephants Circus maximus peanuts ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/7 "2003-05-27T20:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Question: just WHAT would the souvenier shops sell at the Coliseum sell? I can’t say what they _did_ sell, but I can think of a great many things they _could_ have sold. Replica weapons and armor, made from wood or other cheap materials, probably topped the list. I can’t imagine that kids’ taste in toys has changed much in 2000 years. Likewise, you could also have had “action figures” of the gladiators and animals, made of cloth or wood. And there were probably things like banners or ribbons that fans could wave around while they cheered. Various sorts of noisemakers would also sell well. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/8 "2003-05-28T06:47:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Francis E Dec, Esq \* > \*\*Something to keep in mind is that in contrast to modern stadiums, not everyone working in the Coliseum was an employee _of_ the Coliseum (or whatever the parent organization was). For instance, your food vendors were probably mostly independent. Do you include them in your count? \*\* Sure, why not? I’ve never been an opponent of free-enterprise. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/9 "2003-05-28T16:47:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > **And there were probably things like banners or ribbons that fans could wave around while they cheered.** You mean like those giant cardboard hands? I can imagine a crowd of rowdy fans waving those babies around, chanting _‘Mortifex Number I est’_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-worked-in-the-roman-coliseum/177733/10 "2003-05-28T20:08:36Z")
Well, the food vendors didn’t sell peanuts. Peanuts are a new-world plant. They might have sold almonds, olives, wine, bread, cakes, etc, but no peanuts and no popcorn. Anyone know if the Mayans or the Aztecs had popcorn vendors in their “to the death” ball games?