Amphitheaters in the Roman Empire — Where Gladiator Events Were Held | Early European History And Religion

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AMPHITHEATERS IN THE ROMAN WORLD

Design of a Roman amphitheater

Gladiatorial venues were set up in and around cities throughout the Roman Empire. Purpose-built amphitheaters dominate the western provinces, while in the east often times older Greek theaters were converted to host gladiator battles and animal displays. All played an important role in urban life. [Source: Andrew Curry, National Geographic, July 20, 2021]

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “In contrast to the Roman theater, which evolved from Greek models, the amphitheater had no architectural precedent in the Greek world. Likewise, the spectacles that took place in the amphitheater—gladiatorial combats and venationes (wild beast shows)—were Italic, not Greek, in origin. The earliest secure evidence for gladiatorial contests comes from the painted decoration of a fourth-century B.C. tomb at Paestum in southern Italy. Several ancient authors record that gladiatorial combat was introduced to Rome in 264 B.C., on the occasion of munera (funeral games) in honor of an elite citizen named D. Iunius Brutus Pera. By the mid-first century B.C., gladiatorial contests were staged not only at funerals, but also at state-sponsored festivals (ludi). Throughout the imperial period, they remained an important route to popular favor for emperors and provincial leaders. In 325 A.D., Constantine, the first Christian emperor, prohibited gladiatorial combat on the grounds that it was too bloodthirsty for peacetime. Literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence indicates, however, that gladiatorial games continued at least until the mid-fifth century A.D. [Source: Laura S. Klar, Department of Greek and Roman Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2006, metmuseum.org \^/]

“As in the case of theatrical entertainment, the earliest venues for gladiatorial games at Rome were temporary, wooden structures. As early as 218 B.C., according to Livy, gladiatorial contests were staged in the elongated, open space of the Roman Forum, with wooden stands for spectators. These temporary structures probably provided the prototype for the monumental amphitheater, a building type characterized by an elliptical seating area enclosing a flat performance space. The first securely datable, stone amphitheater is the one at Pompeii, constructed in 80-70 B.C. Like most early amphitheaters, the Pompeian example has an austere, functional appearance, with the seats partially supported on earthen embankments. \^/

In a review of the book: The Colosseum by Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard, Nigel Spivey wrote The Guardian, “To Romans it was the amphitheatre - a model for imitation throughout the provinces. From north Africa to south Wales, essentially similar structures were raised. El Djem, Verona, Nimes, Arles, Caerleon - these are among the hundreds of Colosseum-clones that appeared. Only in the eastern Mediterranean did problems arise. For in these parts, where Greek cultural values still prevailed under Roman rule, most cities already had institutional spaces of public entertainment. Such areas primarily took the form of the stadium, where athletes strove for glory; or the semi-circular theatre. In both locations there was contest, but contest pitched as virtual reality. Wrestling was a sweated mimicry of war, tragedy the shadow-play of mortal disaster. But what was to be done with the spectacle of sheer violence -men and animals fighting to the death? [Source: Nigel Spivey, The Guardian, March 12, 2005]

Development of Amphitheaters in Ancient Rome

Up to the time of Caesar those that provided government-sponsored shows had either used the circus or hastily rigged up in the Forum palisades which were removed on the morrow. In 53 or 52 B.C. Curio the Younger, whose candidature for the office of tribune Caesar surreptitiously supported with Gaulish money, hit upon a new campaigning scheme. On the pretext of rendering honor to the manes of his lately deceased father, he announced that he would give scenic games supplemented by a government-sponsored show. Ingeniously he ordered not one but two wooden theafres to be constructed, both very spacious and identical in shape but set back to back with their curves touching, and mounted on a swivel. Up to noon they were left in this back -to-back position, so that the noise of the one representation should not disturb the other. [Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

The government-sponsored show was scheduled to take place in the afternoon an arrangement of the program which indicates that people who had been at work in the morning would forego their afternoon comedy for a gladiatorial show. Suddenly the two theaters turned on their axes and came face to face to form an oval, while their respective stages vanished to give place to one arena. This ingenious manoeuvre roused the curiosity of the public, more thrilled by taking part in such a magic transformation than disturbed by any possible incidental danger to themselves.

A century later Pliny the Elder was still exasperated by the imprudence of the proceeding: "Behold this people, conquerors of the earth and masters of the universe, poised in a machine and applauding the danger they incur." The form, however, was not new, for the amphitheater at Pompeii probably goes back to the time of Sulla and may originally have come from Capua. When Caesar offered a government-sponsored show to the plebs in 46 B.C. to celebrate his quadruple triumph, he adopted the plan of -the wooden double theater. It was reserved to around Augustan Age to translate it into the more durable medium of stone and to coin the word which was to denote this new type of monument amphitheatrum.

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: “The earliest stone amphitheater at Rome was constructed in 29 B.C. by T. Statilius Taurus, one of the most trusted generals of the emperor Augustus. This building burned down during the great fire of 64 A.D. and was replaced by the Colosseum, dedicated by the emperor Titus in 80 A.D. and still one of Rome's most prominent landmarks. Unlike earlier amphitheaters, the Colosseum featured elaborate basement amenities, including animal cages and mechanical elevators, as well as a complex system of vaulted, concrete substructures. The facade consisted of three stories of superimposed arcades flanked by engaged columns of the Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. Representations of the building on ancient coins indicate that colossal statues of gods and heroes stood in the upper arcades. The inclusion of Greek columnar orders and copies of Greek statues may reflect a desire to promote the amphitheater, a uniquely Roman building type, to the same level in the architectural hierarchy as the theater, with its venerable Greek precedents. [Source: Laura S. Klar, Department of Greek and Roman Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2006, metmuseum.org]

Vomitorium

Vomitorium at the amphitheater in Pompeii

A vomitorium is not a room where ancient Romans went to throw up lavish meals so they could return to the table and stuff themselves some more. They were actually part of theaters, so named because it discouraged the audience after a performance. At the 8000-seat marble amphitheater in Aphrodisias in Asia Minor, audiences watched masked and robed actors perform dramas about conspiring slaves and two-timing wives. When the show was over the audience was discouraged out of a gate called the vomitorium .

At the first theaters wooden benches were set up, but later they were replaced by stone or marble seats. The first theaters had a circular orchestra for singers and dancers. This followed the tradition of the early Dionysus festivals when the merrymakers danced around a maypole, altar or image of a god. Theaters built later on had a “ vomitorium”. [Source: "The Creators" by Daniel Boorstin]

Stephanie Pappas wrote in Live Science: As far as pop culture is concerned, a vomitorium is a room where ancient Romans went to throw up lavish meals so they could return to the table and feast some more. It's a striking illustration of gluttony and waste, and one that makes its way into modern texts. Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" series, for example, alludes to vomitoriums when the lavish inhabitants of the Capitol—all with Latin names like Flavia and Octavia—imbibe a drink to make them vomit at parties so they can gorge themselves on more calories than citizens in the surrounding districts would see in months. [Source Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, August 28, 2016]

But the real story behind vomitoriums is much less disgusting. Actual ancient Romans did love food and drink. But even the wealthiest did not have special rooms for purging. To Romans, vomitoriums were the entrances/exits in stadiums or theaters, so dubbed by a fifth-century writer because of the way they'd spew crowds out into the streets. "It's just kind of a trope," that ancient Romans were luxurious and vapid enough to engage in rituals of binging and purging, said Sarah Bond, an assistant professor of classics at the University of Iowa.

The Roman writer Macrobius first referred to vomitoriums in his "Saturnalia." The adjective vomitus already existed in Latin, Bond told Live Science. Macrobius added the "orium" ending to turn it into a place, a common type of wordplay in ancient Latin. He was referring to the alcoves in amphitheaters and the way people seemed to erupt out of them to fill empty seats.

At some point in the late 19th or early 20th century, people got the wrong idea about vomitoriums. It seems likely that it was a single linguistic error: "Vomitorium" sounds like a place where people would vomit, and there was that pre-existing trope about gluttonous Romans.

Classically trained poets and writers at the time would have been exposed to a few sources that painted ancient Romans as just the sort of people who would vomit just to eat more. One source was Seneca, the Stoic who lived from 4 B.C. to A.D. 65 and who gave the impression that Romans were an emetic bunch. In one passage, he wrote of slaves cleaning up the vomit of drunks at banquets, and in his Letter to Helvia, he summarized the vomitorium idea succinctly but metaphorically, referring to what he saw as the excesses of Rome: "They vomit so they may eat, and eat so that they may vomit."

Amphitheaters in Pompeii

Dr Joanne Berry wrote for the BBC: “The amphitheatre at Pompeii is the earliest known permanent stone amphitheatre in Italy (and the rest of the Roman world). It was constructed after 70 B.C., and belongs to the period of the Roman conquest and colonisation of the town. [Source: Dr Joanne Berry, Pompeii Images, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“An inscription tells us that two local officials, Quinctius Valgus and Marcius Porcius built the amphitheatre at private expense. These men would have expected this act to enhance their personal power and prestige, and we know from graffiti found throughout the town that gladiatorial games were extremely popular. |::|

“The amphitheatre could seat around 20,000 people, and served not only Pompeii but also the inhabitants of surrounding towns. In A.D. 59, there was a riot in the amphitheatre, in which spectators from Pompeii and the nearby town of Nuceria fought each other, with the result that the Emperor Nero banned games at Pompeii for a period of ten years. |::|

The essential features of an amphitheater may be most easily understood from the ruins of the one at Pompeii, erected about 75 B.C., almost half a century before the first permanent structure of the sort at Rome, and the earliest known to us from either literary or monumental sources. Most of the seats lie in a great hollow excavated for the purpose, so that there was needed for the exterior a wall of hardly more than ten to thirteen feet in height. Even this wall was necessary on only two sides, as the amphitheater was built in the southeast corner of the city and its south and east sides were bounded by the city walls. The shape is elliptical; the major axis is 444 feet long, the minor 342. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

“The arena occupies the middle space. It was encircled by thirty-five rows of seats arranged in three divisions; the lowest (infima or ima cavea) had five rows, the second (media cavea) twelve, and the highest (summa cavea) eighteen. A broad terrace ran around the amphitheater at the height of the topmost row of seats. Access to this terrace was given from without by the double stairway on the west, and by single stairways next the city walls on the east and south. Between the terrace and the top seats was a gallery, or row of boxes, each about four feet square, probably for women. Beneath the boxes persons could pass from the terrace to the seats. The amphitheater had seating capacity for perhaps 20,000 spectators. |+|

“The arena was an ellipse with axes of 228 and 121 feet. Around it ran a wall a little more than six feet high, on a level with the top of which were the lowest seats. For the protection of the spectators when wild animals were shown, a grating of iron bars was put up on the top of the arena wall. Access to the arena and to the seats of the cavea ima and the cavea media was given by the two underground passageways, of which 2 turns at right angles on account of the city wall on the south. From the arena ran also a third passage (5), low and narrow, leading to the porta Libitinensis, through which the bodies of the dead were dragged with ropes and hooks. Near the mouths of these passages were small chambers or dens, marked 4, 4, 6, the purposes of which are not known. The floor of the arena was covered with sand, as in the circus, but in this case to soak up the blood as well as to give a firm footing to the gladiators. |+|

outside the amphitheater in Pompeii

“Of the part of this amphitheater set aside for the spectators, only the cavea ima was supported upon artificial foundations. All the other seats were constructed in sections as means were obtained for the purpose; the people in the interim found places for themselves on the sloping banks as in the early theaters. The cavea ima was, in fact, not supplied with seats all the way around; a considerable section on the east and west sides was arranged with four low, broad ledges of stone, rising one above the other, on which the members of the city council could place the seats of honor (bisellia) to which their rank entitled them. In the middle of the section on the east the lowest ledge is made of double width for some ten feet; this was the place set apart for the giver of the games and his friends. In the cavea media and the cavea summa the seats were of stone resting on the bank of earth. It is probable that all the places in the lowest section were reserved for people of distinction, that seats in the middle section were sold to the well-to-do, and that admission was free to the less desirable seats of the highest section. |+

Amphitheatre of El Djem: Gladiatorial Arena of Tunisia

Built in A.D. 238, the amphitheater of ancient Thysdrus — located in modern-day El Djem, Tunisia — once accommodated 35,000 fans. Based on the Colosseum in Rome and once was the third largest venue in the Roman Empire, it is is considered one of the most impressive Roman remains in all of Africa and was used as the setting for the gladiator battles in the Hollywood film ‘Gladiator’. There are actually two amphitheatrer in El Djem. The smaller one is much less famous than the large one, and is not as well preserved. [Source: Ancient Origins, June 25, 2018]

Florence Fabricant wrote in the New York Times, “The amphitheater, in better shape than the Roman Colosseum and considered more advanced in its engineering, is now used for a summer music and theater festival. But in Roman times, this third century arena, an oval nearly 500 feet long that could hold 30,000 spectators on many tiers of seats, is thought to have been used for more bloodthirsty events, involving not only gladiatorial combat to the death but also throwing prisoners and slaves to the lions. [Source: Florence Fabricant, New York Times, October 18, 1998]

According to to UNESCO: “This amphitheatre is built entirely of stone blocks, with no foundations and free-standing. In this respect it is modelled on the Coliseum of Rome without being an exact copy of the Flavian construction. Its size (big axis of 148 metres and small axis 122 metres) and its capacity (judged to be 35,000 spectators) make it without a doubt among the largest amphitheatres in the world. Its facade comprises three levels of arcades of Corinthian or composite style. Inside, the monument has conserved most of the supporting infrastructure for the tiered seating. The wall of the podium, the arena and the underground passages are practically intact. This architectural and artistic creation built around 238 AD, constitutes an important milestone in the comprehension of the history of Roman Africa. The Amphitheatre of El Jem also bears witness to the prosperity of the small city of Thysdrus (current El Jem) at the time of the Roman Empire.

Amphitheatre of El Djem, where gladiator contests were held and parts of the film "Gladiator" was shot

According to Ancient Origins: “Whilst the exact date of the amphitheatre’s construction is uncertain, it has been speculated that work began in A.D. 238. This year is also known as the ‘Year of the Six Emperors’, as there were six people recognised as emperors of Rome during this year. The amphitheatre may have been commissioned by one of these emperors, Gordian I or his grandson (also one of the six emperors), Gordian III. The year A.D. 238 was not exactly a peaceful year for the Roman Empire, and it was an uprising in the Roman-ruled areas of Africa that made Gordian I, who incidentally was nearly 80 years old at that time, the emperor of Rome. [Source: Ancient Origins, June 25, 2018]

Box Seats at a Roman Amphitheater

In July 2023, archaeologists announced that they had what were the equivalent of box seats at a Roman amphitheater in what is now Turkey. Benjamin Leonard wrote in Archaeology magazine,: While excavating the Roman amphitheater in western Anatolia’s ancient city of Pergamon, researchers from the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), the Technical University of Berlin, and the University of Zurich uncovered two blocks of seats inscribed with the names of ancient spectators angling for a prime viewing experience. [Source: Benjamin Leonard, Archaeology Magazine, May/June 2022]

The amphitheater was built in the second century A.D. and could accommodate about 25,000 people. Most of the seats were simple steps made from a cheap, whitish volcanic stone called tufa. The inscribed seats, however, were carved from grayish-black volcanic andesite, which was more expensive. They also had high backs that would have made for a more comfortable day at the arena.

Some names inscribed on these blocks are Greek. Others are Roman names written in Greek letters, such as Λυκιος for the Latin name Lucius. DAI archaeologist Felix Pirson says that a few of the names are chiseled deeply into the stone, suggesting that certain citizens commissioned a stonemason to carve their names, thereby officially claiming the seats. Most of the names, however, are more crudely etched. “People tried to reserve particularly attractive seats for themselves and their family and friends,” Pirson says. “The interesting question is, did other people accept this or not?”

The Pergamon theater is one of the best-preserved amphitheaters in Asia Minor. Live Science reported: All segments of society attended the arena's events, but these VIP inscriptions suggest that elite families "had private seats in special sections with their names engraved on them," Felix Pirson, director of the Istanbul branch of the German Archaeological Institute, told Anadolu Agency. The amphitheater of Pergamon is known for its unique setup; it was constructed "between a mountain slope and the western slope of a hill" when the region was part of the Roman Empire, according to TransPergMikro. "Since this building was built between two slopes, separated by a stream, which is transmitted via a vaulted water channel, it can be assumed that in the arena Naumachia (naval combat) or water games could be performed," TransPergMikro noted. [Source Laura Geggel, Live Science, July 22, 2022]

Anatolian Amphitheater

In spring 2021, archaeologists in Turkey announced the discovery of a Roman amphitheater there. Benjamin Leonard wrote in Archaeology Magazine: During a survey of the ancient city of Mastaura in western Turkey, archaeologists happened upon the stone arches and seats of a large Roman amphitheater, most of which remains underground. Archaeologists Sedat Akkurnaz of Adnan Menderes University and Mehmet Umut Tuncer of the Aydın Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism think the arena was built around A.D. 200, when the city flourished under the largesse of the Severan emperors, who ruled from A.D. 193 to 235. [Source: Benjamin Leonard, Archaeology Magazine, July/August 2021]

Location of gladiator arenas on the Roman Empire, big dots: More than 30,000 spectators; medium dots: 10,000–30,000; little dots: Fewer than 10,000, from National Geographic

With an estimated seating capacity of 15,000 to 20,000 people, the amphitheater was one of the only such grand structures in Anatolia, the researchers say. It probably attracted spectators from nearby cities for the bloody gladiator bouts and wild animal fights that took place there. As at the famed Colosseum in Rome, rooms beneath the building’s outer walls likely served as waiting areas for combatants and private entertainment spaces for elite audience members.

Nick Squires wrote in The Telegraph: “The stone arena was built at a time when the city of Mastaura was becoming increasingly wealthy. Local people, as well as visitors from the surrounding region, would have flocked to the amphitheater to see gladiatorial fights and spectacles involving animals.“It was similar in design but smaller than the Colosseum in Rome, which could hold around 50,000 spectators. Archeologists have also discovered cisterns, graves and a mill, suggesting there were other, smaller settlements in the area. “We believe that there are numerous small settlements around the ancient city of Mastaura,” said Prof Akkurnaz, an archaeologist at Adnan Menderes University in Aydin. [Source: Nick Squires, The Telegraph, April 29, 2021]

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) ; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932); BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, The New Yorker, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com and various other books, websites and publications.

Last updated November 2024