en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum
3 corrections found
Most recently, the Colosseum was illuminated in gold in November 2012 following the abolishment of capital punishment in the American state of Connecticut in April 2012.
This is outdated: the Colosseum was lit against the death penalty again after 2012, including documented events in 2023 and 2025.
Full reasoning
The claim says the most recent gold illumination was in November 2012, but later documented events contradict that.
The Community of Sant’Egidio’s news archive for #Cities for life lists:
- "Hope lights up at the Colosseum: Cities for Life 2025 once again ‘No to the Death Penalty’" dated November 30, 2025.
- "Thursday 30 November: the Colosseum illuminated for the abolition of the Death Penalty worldwide" dated November 29, 2023.
That means 2012 was not the most recent time the Colosseum was illuminated for this cause. The sentence is therefore factually incorrect as written, because it makes a time-sensitive superlative claim that has since been overtaken by later events.
2 sources
- #Cities for life - NEWS - COMMUNITY OF SANT'EGIDIO
The archive lists “Hope lights up at the Colosseum: Cities for Life 2025 once again ‘No to the Death Penalty’” dated November 30 2025, and “From Rome to the entire world. NO to the Death Penalty.” dated November 29 2023.
- #Cities for life - NEWS - COMMUNITY OF SANT'EGIDIO
Under the #Cities for life tag, the page shows multiple post-2012 Colosseum lighting entries, including November 30 2025 and November 29 2023 in Rome, Italy.
The fourth level held the marketplace
This is incorrect: the Colosseum’s upper levels were seating areas, not a marketplace.
Full reasoning
The Colosseum’s official archaeological description identifies the upper levels as part of the cavea (the seating system), not a market.
The Parco archeologico del Colosseo explains that the maenianum summum at the top of the cavea had wooden seats for the plebs, and that visitors can access the 3rd, 4th, and 5th levels from the Belvedere terrace. In other words, these levels belonged to the upper seating orders.
A contemporaneous report on the reopening of the top tiers likewise describes the fourth and fifth tiers as seating for lower-status spectators, not a marketplace. So the statement that the fourth level "held the marketplace" is not just imprecise — it misstates the function of that level.
2 sources
- The Cavea of the Colosseum and the Belvedere Terrace - Parco archeologico del Colosseo
The worst seats ... were the maenianum summum, the colonnaded portico at the top of the cavea, with wooden seats reserved for the plebs ... with access to the terraces of the 3rd, 4th and 5th levels.
- Top tiers of Rome's Colosseum to open to the public - CBS News
"Then the equestrian on the second, the third was intended for the intermediate categories, and the fourth and fifth for plebeians and women."
each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit Catholic "Way of the Cross" procession that starts in the area around the Colosseum
This is too absolute: the Good Friday Via Crucis is held at the Colosseum, but the pope does not personally lead it every year.
Full reasoning
The statement says each Good Friday the Pope leads the Colosseum Via Crucis. Official Vatican records show that is not consistently true.
For example:
- On 18 April 2025, the Vatican Press Office said the Via Crucis at the Colosseum was "presided over by the delegate of the Holy Father, His Eminence Cardinal Baldassare Reina".
- On 7 April 2023, the Vatican Press Office said the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum was "presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Angelo De Donatis".
So while the Good Friday procession is indeed associated with the Colosseum, it is incorrect to say that the Pope personally leads it every year.
2 sources
- Via Crucis at the Colosseum, 18.04.2025 - Vatican Press Office
At 21.15 this evening, the pious exercise of the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross, took place at the Colosseum, presided over by the delegate of the Holy Father, His Eminence Cardinal Baldassare Reina.
- The Via Crucis at the Colosseum, 07.04.2023 - Vatican Press Office
At 21.15 this evening, the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross took place at the Colosseum, presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome.