**The square mile around the Colosseum in Rome** seems a likely candidate.

Coming up with a definite number is impossible, but we can at least begin to make an estimate based on the pieces of evidence we have. For gladiators, Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard in [The Colosseum][1] estimate 2,000 per year (with big fluctuations) for Rome and base this on one in six gladiators dying in combat in the arena. The estimate of one in six is in turn based on evidence from Pompeii; as there is also evidence from Campania that sometimes half were killed, one in six seems fairly conservative. This gives 710,000 gladiator deaths in Rome over the 355 year period the Colosseum was used for such fights. As the Colosseum was by some distance the biggest, most important and most used venue in Rome, it is highly likely that most of these deaths occurred there ([Wiki lists][2] only two other arenas in Rome during the time of the Colosseum, one of which was for training).

To the above we must add executions. Again, it is impossible to give a definite number but sometimes several thousand captives, runaway slaves and criminals were executed during an event. Thus, the estimates given by various sites of a total (gladiators + executions) of 400,000 to 700,000 people killed in the [Colosseum][3] do not seem unreasonable.

[![enter image description here][4]][4]

[*Source:The Colosseum in Rome*][5]

To the above must be added the numerous deaths in ancient Rome from the city being sacked several times, and that political upheavals/purges (e.g. [Sulla's proscriptions][6]) and riots also led to large numbers of deaths. Unfortunately, establishing how many of these were in a specific area is, of course, impossible. Finally, we need to consider the number of homicides in an area (within one square mile of the Colosseum) that has been populated for at least 2,200 years but, again, it is impossible to give a number (though the homicide rate in ancient times in nearby, densely populated [Suburra][7] was reckoned to be very high).

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*Note: [one answer on Quora][8] gives 3,120,000 people killed in the Colosseum, but this is based on a misinterpretation of Hopkins & Beard's calculations.*

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Other sources:

*[6 Infamous Sacks of Rome][9]* 

*[The dangerous streets of ancient Rome][10]*

*[10 Fascinating Facts About the Roman Colosseum][11]*

*[Facts about the Colosseum][12]*

*R. Laurence, Roman Passions: A History of Pleasure in Imperial Rome* (2009)

*[Roman Executions][13]*

*[The Roman Theater of Cruelty][14]*

*[Body Count of the Roman Empire][15]*


  [1]: https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=3p2I2KwlL5UC
  [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_amphitheatres
  [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum
  [4]: https://i.sstatic.net/amaYf.jpg
  [5]: https://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/rome/1-colosseum-bb.html
  [6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulla#Second_march_on_Rome
  [7]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburra
  [8]: https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-were-killed-at-the-Roman-Colosseum
  [9]: https://www.history.com/news/6-infamous-sacks-of-rome
  [10]: https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/the-dangerous-streets-of-ancient-rome/
  [11]: https://www.romewise.com/facts-about-the-roman-colosseum.html
  [12]: http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/colosseum/facts-about-the-colosseum.htm
  [13]: http://www.worldhistory.biz/ancient-history/69309-roman-executions.html
  [14]: https://harvardmagazine.com/2000/09/the-roman-theater-of-cru-html
  [15]: http://necrometrics.com/romestat.htm