The Imperial Capital's Colosseum.
It had originally been built as a place for nobles to settle disputes.
Because nobles represented the interests of entire groups, and the emperor sometimes didn't want to get involved—or couldn't conveniently step in—another way was needed to settle disputes between the two sides.
So Sima I built this Colosseum.
At first, it wasn't called a Colosseum, but a "dueling arena."
After all, nobles cared about appearances.
They couldn't let commoners watch them fight.
Otherwise, how could they maintain their poise and dignity?
Of course.
Since the point was to force a resolution to a dispute, not make it worse,
neither duelist was allowed to kill the other.
Otherwise, they would have to bear the consequences.
But gradually, people realized that this way of settling problems seemed to work quite well.
So someone petitioned the emperor to turn the dueling arena into a Colosseum,
where commoners could enter and duel, too.
They could also charge admission and draw in more commoners to watch, and even give nobles somewhere to spend their free time.
When the emperor at the time heard about it,
he realized it would not only add another form of entertainment, but also increase the Empire's income.
Why pass up such a good opportunity?
And so, the Colosseum grew to the size it was today.
By now, the fights held there were no longer limited to people fighting people. People fought beasts, and beasts fought beasts, too.
This even gave rise to "gladiators," professional combat performers.
They earned money and gained enormous popularity, which could give them a chance to enter government service.
So plenty of people had chosen this path.
Eventually, the demand became so great that fights had to be booked in advance.
Of course.
Such blood-pumping battles naturally gave rise to