Colosseo

Il Colosseo (English: The Colosseum), also known as the Anfiteatro Flavio, was one of the most famous landmarks of Rome. It contained one of the Lairs of Romulus, and was one of the locations on which Subject 16 inscribed a Rift.

Construction of the Colosseo began in 72 AD, and finished in 80 AD. During the Borgia family's rule over Rome, the Colosseo had become dilapidated.

Passion Play


By 1503, The Colosseo was used as a place where the Passion play was held, with crosses displayed for the use of actors. Cesare Borgia's personal assassin Micheletto attended the play as one of the actors in an attempt to kill another actor, Pietro Rossi (Lucrezia's latest lover), upon the order of Cesare. However, the plan was foiled when Ezio Auditore disguised himself and his Assassin apprentices as actors, and caused a riot in the arena. Once Micheletto was defeated and Pietro saved, a group of mercenaries sent from fellow Assassin Niccolò Machiavelli appeared to help Ezio to escape.

In an attempt to regain power, Cesare Borgia called a meeting of Cardinals inside the Colosseo. The Cardinals informed him that they had elected Guiliano della Rovere to the Papacy. The meeting was then cut short when Ezio Auditore used the Apple of Eden to further weaken Cesare's support.

Lair of Romulus
Eventually, Ezio ventured to the lower levels of the Colosseo to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the Followers of Romulus and to continue his search for the shrines to Romulus.

Upon arriving, Ezio made his way through a decrepit corridor, and then encountered an individual sitting on a chair. As he reached out to him, the man flung his chair across the room and revealed himself to be a Follower of Romulus, swiping his dagger at Ezio. Just then, a voice bellowed down from a raised platform further down the corridor, and a leader dressed in a jubilee costume ordered a group of followers to kill Ezio.

Defeating the attackers, Ezio then confronted the individual who had ordered his death. The man denied Ezio's demand for answers, and fled through a section of the Colosseo, eventually arriving at a crowded Jubilee. Upon discovering the leader hidden amongst the crowd, Ezio chased him to another large corridor.

Jumping on a horse, the leader made another attempt at escape but was soon followed by Ezio, who commandeered a horse of his own. After a short chase sequence, the pair eventually arrived at another room filled with Followers of Romulus. Ezio defeated his attackers and assassinated the leader. Performing a leap of faith, Ezio arrived at Juno's Temple and entered the shrine to Romulus, claiming a Scroll of Romulus and one of the keys to the Armor of Brutus. He then left the temple and returned to Rome.

A year before Cesare Borgia's death in Viana, in 1506, Ezio hid the Apple of Eden in a vault underneath the Colosseo.

Modern era
By 2012, the modern-day Assassins discovered that the Piece of Eden was located somewhere near the Colosseo. Desmond and his allies hurry to the site after finding the password to open the vault below the ancient structure.

By the time they arrived, a reconstruction project had begun on the Colosseo, indicated by the number of cranes and additional structures within it. The area under the Colosseo - an underground location that used to house the gladiators and transport them up to the arena of the Colosseo - had also been excavated.

To gain access to the vault, Desmond needed to traverse a maze of scaffolding, broken stone, and construction equipment.

Database Entry
''Constructed from 72-80 C.E. under Emperor Titus, the Colosseo held up to 50,000 spectators and is considered one of the greatest architectural achievements in Roman history. The majority of the shows, be they gladiatorial, dramatic or otherwise, were privately funded by rich families to demonstrate their opulence, creating spectacles that were universally adored by the people of Rome. Unfortunately, a massive earthquake in 1349 caused large-scale irreparable damage and the Colosseo was left to ruin.''

''In the mid-16th century, Pope Sixtus V wished to make use of the remaining shell and resolved to convert the structure into a giant wool factory to provide employment for Rome's prostitutes. Sadly, the Pope died before his brilliant idea could become reality.''

Trivia

 * The Colosseo is elliptical (oval-shaped) in real life, but it was made circular for the game, as devising shadows for different sides of the buildings would have been a "nightmare" for Ubisoft.
 * The Colosseo is one of the landmarks that Ezio can purchase after destroying the nearby Borgia Tower.
 * There are many normal citizens on the upper levels of the Colosseo, although it is unknown how they got up there. If any of the citizens are interrupted by Ezio (either through pushing, shoving, or free running next to them), the citizens will start free running down onto the lower platforms of the Colosseo.
 * In the E3 trailer, and when Ezio had hidden the Sixth Apple in the Colosseo, the floor isn't present.
 * The Colosseo looks more immense during Desmond's visit than it does in normal gameplay.
 * When Desmond enters the Colosseo, he sees visions of when Ezio visited the Lair of Romulus, fighting the Followers and chasing the leader on horseback.
 * Inside the Lair of Romulus for this location, the leader that Ezio chases resembles his target in the E3 cinematic for Assassin's Creed II, bearing similar mask and clothing.
 * At the end of the Lair of Romulus mission, there are two statues present. Directly behind them is an elevated platform, which is inaccessible unless you run up the wall beside it and wall jump to the platform. Upon closer inspection on the wall at the top of the platform, it is actually the door to the vault where Ezio later hides the Apple of Eden, and where Desmond finds it in 2012.
 * The Colosseo is one of the territories that can be purchased in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy.
 * The Colosseo is the most expensive landmark that Ezio can buy in Rome.
 * There is a Thief mission located in the Colosseo. In this memory, Ezio must finish a race that begins at the top of the Colosseo and ends by jumping from the view point.