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The archæology of Rome, Part 7

Chapter 65: THE COLOSSEUM. PLATE XXIV.
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 XXIV.

REPRESENTATIONS ON COINS OR MEDALS.

REPRESENTATIONS ON COINS OR MEDALS.

Description of Plate XXIV.

REPRESENTATIONS ON COINS OR MEDALS[250].

1. Titus sitting upon a trophy of arms (A.U.C. 823, A.D. 80).

On the obverse the legend is, TIB. VESP. AVG. P.M. TR. P.P. COS. VIII. S.C.

On the reverse is the amphitheatre, with the Meta Sudans to the left, and on the right a double colonnade, one over the other, for the aqueduct (?).

2. Head of Alexander Severus, A.D. 224.

Legend:—IMP. CÆSAR DIVI SEV. ALEXANDER.

Reverse:—The Amphitheatre, with the Meta Sudans on the right, and two figures on the left, with the legend of the dates of his tribuneship and consulate.

3. Obverse:—Head of Alexander Severus (A.U.C. 937, A.D. 224).

Legend:—IMP. CAES. DIVI. SEV. ALEXANDER.

Reverse:—Amphitheatre, with a group of figures to the left, and a building of two storeys to the right[251].

Legend:—Dates of tribuneship and consulate.

4. Obverse:—Head of Gordianus III. (A.U.C. 997, A.D. 244).

Legend:—IMP. GORDIANVS PIVS FELIX AVG.

Reverse:—Amphitheatre, with a colossus on the left, and a small building on the right[252].

Legend:—MUNIFICENTIA GORDIANI. AVG.