Roman emperor Titus completed the Colosseum and inaugurated it with games in 80 CE.
Construction had begun under Titus’s father, Vespasian, around 70–72 CE, using land cleared after the Great Fire of Rome and Nero’s palace complex. Titus opened the amphitheatre with an enormous public celebration traditionally said to have lasted 100 days.
The building was originally called the Flavian Amphitheatre, after the Flavian dynasty. The name “Colosseum” became associated with it later, probably because a huge statue of Nero once stood nearby. Titus’s short reign lasted from 79 to 81 CE, and he also faced the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.
Domitian, Titus’s brother and successor, completed additional parts of the structure, including much of its underground service area. Thus, Titus is credited with opening the Colosseum, while the finished monument reflects work carried out across the Flavian reigns.