Wooden elevator in the Colosseum
After 1500 years, one of the 28 wooden machines that used to transport wild animals to the Colosseum arena was reconstructed. Such elevators have transported tens of thousands of terrified wild animals that have taken part in bloody battles to the sand arena throughout history.
Over the centuries, scientists have managed to recreate a Roman machine consisting of a wooden cage (the wood comes from the Sabina Mountains), which, using a system of ropes, pulleys and lead weights, was able to pull to the top of the building. This is how experts believe, wolves or big cats were brought into the arena. Scientists managed to build a 7-meter-high elevator shaft in a year and a half, using materials available to the ancient Romans.
The project was presented in a document that shows how the elevator is able to carry an adult male wolf up the mountain. For the first time in 1500 years, the animal did not take part in bloody fights and was awarded a cookie. According to the authors of the project, such an elevator was able to withstand a weight of up to 300 kg. In this way, not only animals and gladiators were brought to the arena, but also scenery elements for the hunting shows. Deer, antelopes and wild boars, are hunted by special gladiators, the so-called venatores. The so-called bestiarii.
