Rome…..
Romans had entertainment by using their amphitheaters. In fact amphitheater
means “double theater” When you think of amphitheaters don’t think of boring
places were formal plays were made. Thinks of really fun entertainment, that is
how they use them. Chariot races were usually done in the circus, the gladiator
fights were the domain of the amphitheaters. The combats between criminals,
prisoners or war, slaves and animals are a testament of the character and life of
the Romans who considered these combats good training for a nation of warriors.
Occasionally, free citizens would even enter the fight to enjoy their 15 minutes of
fame. The first Roman amphitheaters were built in the 1st century BC, made of
wood and designed by rotating and joining two theaters built back-to-back so that
they formed an oval. There were 10 main Roman amphitheaters that were called:
Uthina Amphitheater, Pozzuoli Amphitheater, Leptis Magna Arena, Roman Arena
in Arles, Nimes Amphitheater, Pompeii Spectacula, Pula Arena, Verona Arena, El
Djem Amphitheater, and finally Roman Coliseum.
The Roman Coliseum is the largest and most famous amphitheater in the Rome.
Its construction was started by the Vespasian emperors in 72 AD and was finished
by Titus in 80 AD. During the Coliseum´s inauguration they use 5,000 animals and
2,000 gladiators wich got killed. The Roman Coliseum was capable of having
50,000 spectators. Spectators have the privilege of being protected from the rain
and the sun by some type of roof they called “velarium”. This coliseum is still
visited from people all around the world.
The Roman amphitheater of El Djem in Tunisia is the third largest world
amphitheater after the Roman Coliseum and the theater of Capua. El Djem is
made in one really important town in North Africa called Tunisia after Carthage.
The amphitheater was built in the 3rd century AD; it has 35,000 seats for
spectators. This amphitheater was used for filming some of the scenes from the
Oscar winning film Gladiator. It is now a popular tourist destination in Tunisia.
The Verona Arena is constructed in Italy and it has survived to Roman oldness. It
is constructed in a ring shape. Is kind of white and pink and has survived too many
disasters. For example it was almost completely destroyed during an earthquake in
1117 but the inner part is still amazingly well preserved. The Arena was built in 30
AD and could host 30,000 spectators. The Roman amphitheater has been used for
many centuries to do shows and games like gladiator fights during Roman times,
but right now it is used to do opera presentations.
The amphitheater in Pula is the sixth largest surviving Roman arena and one of the
best preserved ancient monuments in Croatia. This Arena was built in the 1st
century AD; it has around 26,000 seats for spectators. In the 15th century many
stones from the Arena were taken from the amphitheater to build houses and other
structures, this got stopped before the whole structure was destroyed. Today this
amphitheater is used to make a variety of festivals and performances during the
summer months.
At the end of the 1st century AD the Arena of Nimes was built. It contains 24,000
seats for spectators, the Arena of Nîmes was one of the biggest Roman
amphitheaters in Gaul (present day France). In 1863 the arena was remodeled to
serve for public events, actually today they do two annual bullfights as well.
The Roman Arena is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city of Arles
in southern France. It was built around the 1st century BC and was capable of
seating over 20,000 spectators on three tiers. From 1830 until the present day the
arena has been used for hosting bullfights, which the Romans certainly would have
approved as it is only slightly less brutal as the chariot races and bloody hand-tohand battles they themselves enjoyed.
Located in modern-day Libya, Leptis Magna was founded by the Phoenicians in
the 10th century BC and became part of the Roman Empire after the defeat of
Carthage in 146 BC. Under Roman rule the city prospered and became a major
trading post. Leptis Magna was abandoned in 523 AD after it was sacked by a
Berber tribe and quickly reclaimed by the desert. Having been covered in desert
sand for centuries it contains one of the most spectacular and unspoiled Roman
ruins in the Mediterranean. The Roman amphitheater of Leptis Magna dates from
56 AD and lies about a kilometer east of the city center. It was capable of seating
16,000 spectators. Unlike most Roman amphitheaters, it is built below the ground.
The Amphitheater in Pozzuoli is one of the largest Roman amphitheaters in Italy
capable of hosting over 20,000 spectators. Its construction begun under the reign
of Emperor Vespasian who also initiated the construction of the Coliseum in Rome.
Unlike the Coliseum not much remains of the upper ranges of seats but the
subterranean areas are very well preserved, including the cages for keeping
animals and parts of the mechanisms for lifting them to the arena floor. In the late
antique period the arena was abandoned and partly buried under ash following an
eruption of the volcano Solfatarain.