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The archæology of Rome, Part 7

Chapter 67: THE COLOSSEUM. PLATE XXV.
By John Henry Parker
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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 XXV.

DIAGRAMS OF COINS OR MEDALS.

COLOSSEUM—REPRESENTATIONS ON COINS

Description of Plate XXV.

DIAGRAMS OF COINS OR MEDALS.

1. Obverse:—Head of Titus.

Legend:—VESP. GENS. T. CAES. IMP.

Reverse:—Amphitheatre, with Meta Sudans to the left, and double colonnade to the right. (Same as No. 1, Plate XXIV.)

2. Obverse:—Head of Domitian, with legend, IMP. CAES. DOMIT. AVG. GERM. P.M. TRP. XIIII.

Reverse:—Amphitheatre, with Meta Sudans and colonnade, probably of aqueduct from the Cœlian.

3. Obverse:—Head of Alexander Severus (same as No. 3, Plate XXIV.), with legend, IMP. CAES. M. AVR. SEV. ALEXANDER. AVG.

Reverse:—Amphitheatre, with group of figures on the left, and a small building on the right (castellum aquæ?).

4. Obverse:—Head of Gordianus III.

Legend:—IMP. GORDIANVS. PIVS. FELIX. AVG.

Reverse:—Amphitheatre, with a colossus and a building.

Legend:—MVNIFICENTIA GORDIANI. AVG.