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The archæology of Rome, Part 7 cover

The archæology of Rome, Part 7

Chapter 54: Description of Plate XVIII.
By John Henry Parker
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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 XVIII.

VIEW IN THE SUBSTRUCTURES.

VIEW IN THE SUBSTRUCTURES.

Description of Plate XVIII.

VIEW IN THE SUBSTRUCTURES[248].

E. The consoles, for placing the planks of the arena upon.

E*. Consoles, now enclosed in the older tufa wall, in which holes are cut to insert them.

F. The podium.

X. Level of the arena.

a. Doorways of the small descending passages, for feeding the wild beasts in the dens below.

b. The dens for the wild beasts.

c. Blocks of travertine, to support the lower end of the masts for the awning.

d. Recesses for lamps.

e. Small drain for water, which runs round the building in front of the dens.

f. Sockets for the pivots of the capstans.

g. Brick pavement of the second century, in herring-bone pattern.

h. Line of the profiles of ancient tufa piers of arches. (These are represented by dotted lines only, as if transparent, to shew the consoles of the Flavian Emperor inserted in them.)

i*. Line of second arcade of tufa.

A. Plan.

B. Section.

The same letters of reference are used in the plan of this section.