Ceramic, bone, or lead disks known as tesserae served as "tickets" to the Colosseum. Since the imperially-subsidized munera (games) shown in the Colosseum were free, Romans did not purchase these "tickets." Instead, they seem to have received them from patrons, organizations, or (exceptionally) the emperors themselves.

Members of the Senate and those favored by the emperor presumably received their tesserae directly from the imperial court. For everyone else, there seem to have been several methods of distribution...

Thanks to a few literary references, we know that emperors sometimes gave out tesserae personally. Suetonius, for example, mentions that Domitian scattered tesserae into the stands at the Colosseum (Domitian, 4). Frustratingly, he does not specify what these tokens were for (other sorts of tesserae were redeemable for grain and money), though we may reasonably assume (since we have found lead tesserae with pictures of gladiators) that at least some were redeemable for admission to future games.

Well-connected patrons would have distributed tesserae to their clients. Martial mentions a lavish dinner at which the host laid out "nomismata" (tokens) on a table for his guests (12.62.11). Although there is no indication of what those particular tokens were for, tesserae for the games were probably distributed in like manner.

In light of the many occupational and social groups assigned sections of seating in the Colosseum, it is assumed that "blocks" of tesserae were made available to the leaders of various organizations. So far as I can tell, however, nothing is known about the process of distribution.

​

Michael Mitchiner, "Rome: Imperial Portrait Tesserae from the City of Rome and Imperial Tax Tokens from the Province of Egypt" The Numismatic Chronicle 144 (1984), 95-114

Alrighty, let's see how well I can cover this one real fast :)

So tickets! Because you're asking about the Coliseum, it makes my job a bit easier, 'cause we have actual documentation about how things were done! Sort of. There's really not much, and you shouldn't feel bad if you've looked for a good bit of time and haven't found anything - references to tickets in general are sidelong and vague at best.

But those tickets certainly existed - they were called tesserae, small tokens about the size of a penny. They could be made of wood, ivory, bone, or even glass, depending on whom they were being made for and given to, and they were used for all kinds of things that would require a ticket of some sort: the grain dole (being one of the more obvious), debts (though these were often much larger), and, yes, entry to the games.

They were nominally free for the Coliseum. All costs were borne by the editor who put on the show, who may or may not have had to receive financial aid himself. Caesar (of stabbity fame) was pretty infamous for spending beyond his means while he was aedile - the Roman political office that was responsible for such things - and it became almost traditional to spend hard if you were granted a cushy office in the Imperial period. There's actually a record (two, to be quite clear) of one certain gentleman who was given an office and subsequently spent a chunk of change on food and games.^1 That cash requirement, not to mention the mandatory approval of the emperor to put these shows on,^2 made sure that not anyone could put these shows on.

Anyway, so let's go to storytime. You're one of these editores, and you've just gotten permission from whatever Caesar is in charge to put on a show. Woo! Congrats! That's a pretty big step for anyone, and since you've got the cash to do so, you're in good shape and don't have to take out a loan from said Caesar. So, how are you gonna get the word out about your new games and make sure people can get in? Well, two steps.

Step one: You advertise. The best evidence we have for this comes from Pompeii, which offers an unbeatable snapshot of life in the Roman world, to an extent that we can't really get from anywhere else. Things that have since faded away elsewhere are still vibrant in that buried city, and that's what we've got to rely on pretty heavily here. Advertisement certainly took the form of word of mouth, but you also wanted to make sure to reach people who didn't necessarily hear about it - and you wouldn't want to just advertise in your own city, either.^3 So you'd go to the local painters, who you'd hire to promptly paint on some prominent walls. Here's what one of them might look like.^4 So people would know the day, what was going on schedulewise, and, of course, the man who's sponsoring the games in question. That's you, by the way. Schedulingwise, you've probably been worked in with the calendar, so people already know what days to expect games - you just have to tell them that you're doing it and that it's gonna be great.

Step two: You get tickets handed out as much as possible. The Coliseum in particular has a ridiculous number of seats (50-80,000), but it didn't even come close to the actual largest stadium in the Roman world - the Circus Maximus could hold over 250,000. There was a bureaucracy for handing these things out. First you'd get them manufactured - make sure to make some fancy ones for the wealthier bunch! - and then get in touch with the distributors. People would get their tesserae for free (you're footing the costs, remember), and while most were handed out beforehand, some were also handed out at the door for those without connections/ability. Now, when I say that these were free....there were an enormous number of people in Rome, and these spectacles were popular. There would never be enough tickets to sate the demand and so, in true human fashion, it wouldn't be at all unreasonable for a black market to develop.^5 The tickets, generally in the shape of an oblong square, would be marked on each side: one saying which spectacle you were there to see, one saying your seating section, one saying which entrance you were going into, and one saying the date. These could change a little bit depending on what you wanted to put on them, but the seating section and the entrance are constants.

The Coliseum is a magnificent piece of architecture in that way. Every gate is marked, and the entire structure is engineered to provide the most efficient access for spectators to get to their seats quickly and easily, with as little hassle as possible. Seating was relatively easy to parcel out: it was allocated by social status, legally enforced starting with Augustus^6 (for amphitheatres before the Coliseum, which continued throughout). Senators got the very best seats, closest to the action, then equestrians, then other sections allotted to certain guilds and ranks. The worst (highest) seats were given to (poor) women and slaves. Seating was very strictly enforced, with ushers ensuring both at the gate and at the seats that people were who they claimed to be.^7 Seats were inscribed with places that were set aside for certain people, whether they be equestrians, visitors, honoured guests, or senators. You found the seat that matched your ticket if you had one of these - if not, you decided how long you were going to stay before you got there. If you wanted to stay the whole day, it was best to bring something to munch on, or run to take advantage of one of the many vendors that were more than willing to take some of your hard-earned money.

Lemme know if you have any questions :) It'll be a little bit before I get to follow-ups (I need sleep, gotta be up in 4 hours for invigilating), but I'll be sure to get to them as soon as I can!