It was built by the emperors of the Flavian dynasty: Vespasian, who began construction in 72 AD, his son Titus, who inaugurated it in 80 AD, and Domitian, the latter's brother, who completed the construction and decorative furnishings. The function of the amphitheater was to host the munera gladiatoria, the famous gladiator fights (which in the imperial era were added to the ludi circenses, hosted at the Circus Maximus) and the so-called venationes, simulations of hunting wild and exotic animals, coming from the most distant provinces of the Empire.