Should the Colloseum be a Wonder?

[Centurio]

It's honestly always bothered me to some small extent this great building has erroneously been only an improvement called by its improper name for all of the Civilization series. As any historian will probably tell you, the 'Colosseum' is really the Flavian Amphitheater. This term comes from the Roman gens Flavia, to which the Emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian belonged. The amphitheater was begun by Vespasian the 70's AD and completed during the reign of his son Titus. It was build over the palace of Nero, and was intended as a gift from Vespasian to the people, as an act of goodwill to contrast the greed of previous emperors, like Vitellius, Galba, and the infamous Nero. The Flavian Amphitheater derived its nickname from a large gold statue (colossus) of Nero that stood next to it. The nickname stuck, and so it has been popularly referred to as the Colosseum ever since. However, it would have never gotten that nickname if there weren't a giant golden Nero next to it, so the name is improbable at best.

I think that the Flavian Amphitheater should also be a wonder, since it was the most splendid and largest of all Roman Amphitheaters, and the intricacy of its design was even greater than that of regular ones (and the regular amphitheaters are no jokes themselves). The Flavian Amphitheater's existance signified a golden age in Roman history, where tributes to their grandeur and success as an empire could have been expressed safely, and attract travelers from York to Jerusalem to the Italian heartlands. Some even consider it one of the 'Seven New Wonders of the World', alongside the Great Wall of China. Since the Great Wall is a wonder, shouldn't the Flavian Amphitheater be one, too? Of course, that it would not be taking anything away from the game: the Colosseum improvement could simply be replaced by generic 'amphitheaters' (although I think 'arena' or 'stadium' would be more appropriate, because the amphitheaters were so uniquely Roman for their time) and so the gameplay would not be harmed in any sense.

Well, that's just my opinion. Now, I've seen some responses to similar threads, so before anybody accuses me of obsessing over tiny details and being petulant or ridiculous, I'll close this argument by saying: I acknowledge that this is a minor complaint, and whether or not it is fixed, I'm still going to purchase and enjoy Civilization V as much as I can. I will not be extremely upset if this change is not made, and I do not really expect it to be done; however, I think it would be a nice way to make the game a bit more accurate (Lord only knows, there are plenty of other things they can do for that as well).

 

[civ_king]

I support the Flavian Amphitheater, it was a sign of the Roman Empires apex

 

[Seaman Sample]

I always thought the "Colloseum" [sic] in the Civilization sense was just to be representative of a generic stadium; not the Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome.

 

[Louis XXIV]

The problem is that there is a name for the generic building - an amphitheater.

Then again, is the Colosseum really dramatically bigger or better than other ampitheaters in the Roman Empire?

 

[P-Dubya]

The Roman Colosseum was the largest in the whole of the Roman Empire. While colosseums existed throughout, the "Flavian Amphitheatre" was in fact the largest.

Thus, I'm in favor of keeping the generic colosseums, yet there needs to be a wonder "Flavian Amphitheatre". Perhaps it can create colosseums in all cities, or reduce war weariness, or perhaps increase trade.

 

[Jafendel]

Thus, I'm in favor of keeping the generic colosseums, yet there needs to be a wonder "Flavian Amphitheatre". Perhaps it can create colosseums in all cities, or reduce war weariness, or perhaps increase trade.

I think that colosseum should be renamed as stadium in future CIV games. But maybe it's just one of those legacy things.

And bring on the Olympic Games Wonder - for some cultural and diplomatic bonuses.

 

[Centurio]

I always thought the "Colloseum" [sic] in the Civilization sense was just to be representative of a generic stadium; not the Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome.

True, but the generic building was modeled after the Flavian Amphitheater, at least in Civilization 3 and the icon I saw for it in Civilization 5 looked suspiciously similar to the Flavian Amphitheater. In Civilization 4, the generic Colosseum was clearly modeled after a Roman amphitheater, and if it were to be a generic stadium, then it should be modeled as such.

 

[Sparthage]

To clear up Civ 3...

Ancient and Medieval Ages: Flavian Amphitheatre
Industrial and Modern Ages: Football Stadium

 

[imperiex1]

No, make that Olympic Stadium for modern. But then again it could be confused with the ancient Olympics...

 

[moksheebs]

we really should think about this...
maybe we keep the coliseum as a city building... but make a world wonder called the flavian coliseum... that justifies things right?

 

[Buddhafish]

I'd like that idea. It's just as important as The Great Lighthouse, The Pyramids, and Stonehenge, so it should be there. And I like the effect of it building Colloseums in every city.

 

[Mercade]

The problem is that there is a name for the generic building - an amphitheater.

Then again, is the Colosseum really dramatically bigger or better than other ampitheaters in the Roman Empire?

I'd like that idea. It's just as important as The Great Lighthouse, The Pyramids, and Stonehenge, so it should be there. And I like the effect of it building Colloseums in every city.

The city building should indeed be called an amphitheatre, which is the generic name. The Colosseum should be a world wonder, or a national wonder requiring an amphitheatre in every city. That's fitting because every reasonable city did have an amphitheatre in those ages, and the Colosseum was the grandest of them all and provided an extra boost of happiness to the city where it was built (or at least that was the intention).

 

[Agamemnon582bc]

Amphitheaters can easily be confused with the Greek counterparts, which are actually theaters. Colosseum, or coliseum, is actually an incorrect term for the general building of what is a stadium. The word coliseum was modeled specifically after the Flavian amphitheatre, so the wonder could be called either/or, but I'm a fan of just calling the colosseum city building a stadium instead. Stadiums were built specifically for foot athletic sports, whereas the coliseums were mostly for gladiatorial combat or blood sports. This would make more sense, considering in previous Civ games the unique building for the colosseum for the Greeks was a hippodrome, which is exactly what a stadium was as well.

 

[Lancor]

It shouldn't be a wonder at the moment because...

The wonders they got in Civ V at the moment are all kind of things which somehow more... mhh, "touched" the people or society in a special way. The "Colosseum" in Rome was just like any other arena for the people, just big enough for this big city. If you compare it like this:
The Pyramids or the Great Lighthouse, Great Wall or the Hanging Gardens where things the people talked about in awe and it was a really special building, nowhere else to be found in this extraordinary dimensions.
The Colisseum in Rome surely was extraordinary big, but not like these other things, and it just fullfilled the same purpose a smaller arena would do in smaller cities.