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This waterway entrance
into the subterranean corridors was used when mock naval battles were
staged. When the Colosseum was first built, the corridors did not exist,
so water could be diverted via this channel and the entire arena floor was
flooded. It was not very deep, so the ships used in the "battles" had
special flat bottoms. When the event was finished, the water drained away
at the opposite end of the building. The corridors were constructed to
make it possible to create special effects using e.g. trap doors, to organize
large groups to enter the arena quickly, etc. After that, the flooding was
no longer feasible.
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