The archæology of Rome, Part 7

Chapter 51: THE COLOSSEUM. PLATE XVII.

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About This Book

The author reports on late 19th-century excavations that revealed extensive substructures beneath the arena, showing earlier origins than commonly supposed and multiple construction phases from Scaurus and Nero to the Flavian emperors. The work describes underground features such as a movable boarded arena with corbels, animal cages with vertical lifts and trapdoors, canals and reservoirs for staged naval displays, and wide passages for scenery, and examines reused timber and stone, masonry of tufa, brick, and concrete, plus coins and graffiti as documentary evidence. It also traces repairs from earthquakes and argues the amphitheatre evolved over more than a century rather than being completed in ten years.

THE COLOSSEUM.
PLATE XVII.

VIEW IN THE SUBSTRUCTURES.

Description of Plate XVII.

VIEW IN THE SUBSTRUCTURES.

E. The Consoles, for placing the boards of the arena upon when not in use.

F. F. The Podium.

X. The level of the arena.

a a a. Doorways to small chambers, to descend to feed the wild beasts in their dens.

b b b. The dens for the wild beasts.

c c c. Blocks of travertine to support the foot of the masts.

d d d. Aperture at the foot of the small chambers, for feeding the wild beasts; these are ten feet from the ground.

e e e. Small water-course in front of the dens.

f. Socket for the pivot of a capstan.

g g. Original pavement of bricks, arranged herring-bone fashion.

h h. Sites of piers of tufa, (removed in the drawing to shew what is behind them).