DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49928#0099
PLATE XXIX.
Figs. 1-4.—The Colosseum, as restored by Due.
Due, Bibliotheque de VEcole des B. Aris, Restauration du
Colisee.
Daremberg et Saglio, Did., figs. 269, 272-3-4.
Smith, Did. Ant. i., pp. 109, m.
Guhl and Koner, Life of Greeks and Romans, figs. 438, 440.
Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii., figs. 59, 60.
Cf. Baumeister, Denkmdler, figs. 71-73.
The Amphitheatrum Flavium was built by Vespasian and
Titus in the valley between the Caelian and Esquiline hills,
where the lake of Nero’s “Golden House” had formerly been.
It was opened in 80 a.d., and an idea of its appearance at that
time may be obtained from the coin of Titus in fig. 5. It was
enlarged in the early part of the third century a.d., by the
addition of the highest seats and a fourth story.
It is an ellipse, covering nearly six acres of ground, the
length of the axes being 620 and 513 feet, while the arena in-
closed by it has axes of 287 and 180 feet. It is built through-
out of stone and concrete with brick facing, in four stories,
showing a fagade of three rows of eighty columns and arches,
surmounted by an unbroken entablature (cf fig. 4). The
arches continue inwards in lines radiating from the arena
and are intersected by concentric passages running round the
whole building (cf. fig. 3). The passages are connected with
one another and also with the seats by numerous flights of
stairs. Access to the seats is gained by sixty-four doors or
vomitoria, some opening on to gangways, others opening at
regular intervals in the centre of each row of seats.
The accommodation provided was sufficient for 80,000 specta-
tors. Admission from without was gained by seventy-six (of
the eighty) numbered arches in the lowest story. The interior,
the cavea, was divided, as has been mentioned above, into
four ranges of seats separated from one another by a gangway
with a balustrade behind (praecindw). These were further sub-.
divided into bands of seats (maeniana), each containing several
rows (gradus') and, by radiating steps, into wedge-shaped com-
partments (cunei). Magistrates and other officials sat in places
assigned to them in the lowest range. In the last row the
thrones of the Emperor and his family, the Vestal Virgins,
the Senators, the Pontifex Maximus, the Flamen Dialis, the
chief Arvai Brothers, the Consuls, the Praetors and other
of the highest officials, stood on a separate platform twelve
feet high, the podium. For ordinary spectators tickets were
issued bearing the numbers of the tier (maenianuni) and com-
partment (cuneus') for which they were available (cf. Pl. 1,
figs. 11-13).
The arena instead of being the natural ground, as at
Pompeii, was a huge stage supported by a complex of walls
and arches, which were excavated in 1872. In this sub- .
structure were the dens for the wild beasts, and lifts by which
their cages could be raised by pulleys through the floor of the
arena. A famous passage in Gibbon (chap. 12) describes the
Colosseum during the games. “ In the centre of the edifice, the
arena or stage was strewed with the finest sand, and successively
assumed the most different forms. At one moment it seemed
to rise out of the earth, like the garden of the Hesperides,
and was afterwards broken into the rocks and caverns of
Thrace. The subterraneous pipes conveyed an inexhaustible
supply of water; and what had just before appeared a level
plain might be suddenly converted into a wide lake, covered
with armed vessels, and replenished with the monsters of the
deep.” This account is based on an eclogue of Calpurnius,
which really describes Nero’s wooden Amphitheatre. How-
ever, the performances in the Colosseum can hardly have fallen
short of Nero’s, so that it remains true in a broad sense.
A row of masts was fixed in the top story and from
these awnings (velaria) could be hung to shade the cavea.
These masts stood on corbels in the entablature and passed
through holes in the cornice above (cf. fig. 4). The awnings
did not stretch across the arena and cover the whole interior,
for this is plainly impossible. They must have followed the
slope of the seats (just as the awning on a modern race-stand
does), and have been supported by many other masts set
among the seats. Corbels to carry the lowest row of masts still
exist in the outer wall of the substructures below the level of
the arena (Middleton). The awnings were worked by a small
army of sailors. The Colosseum was much damaged by an
earthquake in 442 a.d., but was repaired in 445 a.d. It
continued in use until the sixth century, though from 403 a.d.,
57
when a monk called Telemachus sealed his protest against such
inhumanity with his death, no sports involving the sacrifice of
human life had been held there.
Fig. 5.—The Colosseum.
Bronze Coin Struck in the Reign of Titus, whose
Head and Legend are on the Obverse. In the Cabinet
des Medailles, Paris.
Daremberg et Saglio, Did. des Ant., fig. 270.
Cohen, Monn. frappees sous i Emp. rom. i., p. 461, No. 399.
Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii., p. 80.
There is a bronze of Titus in the British Museum which
seems to be identical with this in all but a few details
(Donaldson, Architedura Numismatica, No. 79. Martha,
EArcheologie ctr. et romaine, fig. 122). There is also a
group of coins struck in the reigns of Vespasian and Domitian,
with the same design on the reverse. They all show the
amphitheatre as it stood originally, before the top story was
rebuilt, with on the right “ the colonnade two orders high
which united the amphitheatre to the Thermae of Titus on the
Esquiline, and on the other side the tall conical fountain
popularly called the Meta Sudans. The three tiers of arches
are represented as they now exist, with a statue under each of
the arches in the two upper stories. Over the wider arch
which contained the Imperial entrance there is a figure stand-
ing in a quadriga; the other arches contain single statues”
(Middleton). The fourth story with its pilasters, and windows
or ornaments between, was probably of wood. In any case it
was rebuilt during the third century a.d.
A bird’s eye view of the interior is given showing the seats
marked off in tiers (maeniana') and wedge-shaped compart-
ments (cunei). The heads of the spectators are represented by
dots, in the centre of which is the imperial box (very badly
shown in the cut as a square). On some of the coins the
figure of the emperor is clearly shown seated in a box.
A later group of coins of Severus Alexander (222-235) ar*d
Gordianus HI. (238-244 a.d.), shows the Colosseum with the
new upper story.
1
Figs. 1-4.—The Colosseum, as restored by Due.
Due, Bibliotheque de VEcole des B. Aris, Restauration du
Colisee.
Daremberg et Saglio, Did., figs. 269, 272-3-4.
Smith, Did. Ant. i., pp. 109, m.
Guhl and Koner, Life of Greeks and Romans, figs. 438, 440.
Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii., figs. 59, 60.
Cf. Baumeister, Denkmdler, figs. 71-73.
The Amphitheatrum Flavium was built by Vespasian and
Titus in the valley between the Caelian and Esquiline hills,
where the lake of Nero’s “Golden House” had formerly been.
It was opened in 80 a.d., and an idea of its appearance at that
time may be obtained from the coin of Titus in fig. 5. It was
enlarged in the early part of the third century a.d., by the
addition of the highest seats and a fourth story.
It is an ellipse, covering nearly six acres of ground, the
length of the axes being 620 and 513 feet, while the arena in-
closed by it has axes of 287 and 180 feet. It is built through-
out of stone and concrete with brick facing, in four stories,
showing a fagade of three rows of eighty columns and arches,
surmounted by an unbroken entablature (cf fig. 4). The
arches continue inwards in lines radiating from the arena
and are intersected by concentric passages running round the
whole building (cf. fig. 3). The passages are connected with
one another and also with the seats by numerous flights of
stairs. Access to the seats is gained by sixty-four doors or
vomitoria, some opening on to gangways, others opening at
regular intervals in the centre of each row of seats.
The accommodation provided was sufficient for 80,000 specta-
tors. Admission from without was gained by seventy-six (of
the eighty) numbered arches in the lowest story. The interior,
the cavea, was divided, as has been mentioned above, into
four ranges of seats separated from one another by a gangway
with a balustrade behind (praecindw). These were further sub-.
divided into bands of seats (maeniana), each containing several
rows (gradus') and, by radiating steps, into wedge-shaped com-
partments (cunei). Magistrates and other officials sat in places
assigned to them in the lowest range. In the last row the
thrones of the Emperor and his family, the Vestal Virgins,
the Senators, the Pontifex Maximus, the Flamen Dialis, the
chief Arvai Brothers, the Consuls, the Praetors and other
of the highest officials, stood on a separate platform twelve
feet high, the podium. For ordinary spectators tickets were
issued bearing the numbers of the tier (maenianuni) and com-
partment (cuneus') for which they were available (cf. Pl. 1,
figs. 11-13).
The arena instead of being the natural ground, as at
Pompeii, was a huge stage supported by a complex of walls
and arches, which were excavated in 1872. In this sub- .
structure were the dens for the wild beasts, and lifts by which
their cages could be raised by pulleys through the floor of the
arena. A famous passage in Gibbon (chap. 12) describes the
Colosseum during the games. “ In the centre of the edifice, the
arena or stage was strewed with the finest sand, and successively
assumed the most different forms. At one moment it seemed
to rise out of the earth, like the garden of the Hesperides,
and was afterwards broken into the rocks and caverns of
Thrace. The subterraneous pipes conveyed an inexhaustible
supply of water; and what had just before appeared a level
plain might be suddenly converted into a wide lake, covered
with armed vessels, and replenished with the monsters of the
deep.” This account is based on an eclogue of Calpurnius,
which really describes Nero’s wooden Amphitheatre. How-
ever, the performances in the Colosseum can hardly have fallen
short of Nero’s, so that it remains true in a broad sense.
A row of masts was fixed in the top story and from
these awnings (velaria) could be hung to shade the cavea.
These masts stood on corbels in the entablature and passed
through holes in the cornice above (cf. fig. 4). The awnings
did not stretch across the arena and cover the whole interior,
for this is plainly impossible. They must have followed the
slope of the seats (just as the awning on a modern race-stand
does), and have been supported by many other masts set
among the seats. Corbels to carry the lowest row of masts still
exist in the outer wall of the substructures below the level of
the arena (Middleton). The awnings were worked by a small
army of sailors. The Colosseum was much damaged by an
earthquake in 442 a.d., but was repaired in 445 a.d. It
continued in use until the sixth century, though from 403 a.d.,
57
when a monk called Telemachus sealed his protest against such
inhumanity with his death, no sports involving the sacrifice of
human life had been held there.
Fig. 5.—The Colosseum.
Bronze Coin Struck in the Reign of Titus, whose
Head and Legend are on the Obverse. In the Cabinet
des Medailles, Paris.
Daremberg et Saglio, Did. des Ant., fig. 270.
Cohen, Monn. frappees sous i Emp. rom. i., p. 461, No. 399.
Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii., p. 80.
There is a bronze of Titus in the British Museum which
seems to be identical with this in all but a few details
(Donaldson, Architedura Numismatica, No. 79. Martha,
EArcheologie ctr. et romaine, fig. 122). There is also a
group of coins struck in the reigns of Vespasian and Domitian,
with the same design on the reverse. They all show the
amphitheatre as it stood originally, before the top story was
rebuilt, with on the right “ the colonnade two orders high
which united the amphitheatre to the Thermae of Titus on the
Esquiline, and on the other side the tall conical fountain
popularly called the Meta Sudans. The three tiers of arches
are represented as they now exist, with a statue under each of
the arches in the two upper stories. Over the wider arch
which contained the Imperial entrance there is a figure stand-
ing in a quadriga; the other arches contain single statues”
(Middleton). The fourth story with its pilasters, and windows
or ornaments between, was probably of wood. In any case it
was rebuilt during the third century a.d.
A bird’s eye view of the interior is given showing the seats
marked off in tiers (maeniana') and wedge-shaped compart-
ments (cunei). The heads of the spectators are represented by
dots, in the centre of which is the imperial box (very badly
shown in the cut as a square). On some of the coins the
figure of the emperor is clearly shown seated in a box.
A later group of coins of Severus Alexander (222-235) ar*d
Gordianus HI. (238-244 a.d.), shows the Colosseum with the
new upper story.
1