The 2,000-year-old iconic arena is set to have a makeover. 

Rendering of the future floor of the ColosseumMIC Italia/YouTube

We can thank the Romans for myriad useful things, from modern plumbing to sturdy roads, surgical tools, aqueducts, and much more, what they created and built typically withstood the test of time. 

However, Rome's great amphitheatre's, the Colosseum's, flooring has not been so lucky. This historic arena has, for the most part, remained in fantastic condition – especially when bearing in mind it was built some 2,000 years ago in 80 A.D. That said, the main floor of the massive over 50,000-seater arena has mostly disappeared, leaving the rooms and corridors below ground open to the elements. 

The impressive Colosseum, known as the Flavian Amphitheatre when it first opened, measures some 190 by 155 metres, and back in its day, it was the largest amphitheater in the Roman world.

Archaeologists removed parts of the last floor so that they could get a better view of these intricate rooms where gladiators and wild animals were kept before their deadly fights, Reuters reports.

The Colosseum's new floor

In a bid to bring back the Colosseum's former glory with a modern twist, Italy's Culture Ministry announced on May 2 (in Italian) that it was commissioning an engineering firm to carry out the inspiring project 

The firm in question is Milan Ingegneria, who plans to complete the project by 2023. 

The project involves adding a wooden platform that covers the entire arena's main floor, which will enable visitors to walk across it and view the Colosseum as gladiators once did. Images from the 2000 movie Gladiator spring to mind as Russell Crow as Maximus Decimus Meridius battles for his life as excited Roman crowds roar above head.

This wooden platform won't just be placed in the historic amphitheatre, and that's that. Just as exciting as this massive 9,036 LEGO piece of the Colosseum is, the wooden platform will come in the form of hundreds of movable slats that can rotate to allow ventilation and light to the underground rooms. 

Shown in mesmerising detail in the engineering firm's YouTube video, the wooden flooring platform looks to add value to the entire Colosseum's new look, and will certainly entice engineers and designers alike to the arena – not that they needed any coaxing, to begin with.