[125] Dionis Cass. lib. lxxviii. c. 25.
[126] “Opera publica ipsius præter Æden Heliogabali Dei ... et amphitheatri instauratio post exustionem ... nulla extant.” (Lampridius, Antoninus Heliogabalus, c. 17, ap. Script. Hist. Aug.)
[127] “... sumptibus publicis ad instaurationem theatri, circi, amphitheatri, et ærarii, deputavit.” (Lampridius, Alexander Severus, c. 24.) There are coins of this emperor with the amphitheatre on the reverse. See Plate XXV.
[128] “Fuerunt sub Gordiano Romæ elephanti triginta et duo, quorum ipse duodecim miserat, Alexander decem: alces decem, tigres decem, leones mansueti sexaginta, leopardi mansueti triginta, belbi, id est hyænæ, decem, gladiatorum fiscalium paria mille, hippopotamus et rhinoceros unus, archoleontes decem, camelopardali decem, onagri viginti, equi feri quadraginta, et cetera hujusmodi animalia, innumera et diversa: quæ omnia Philippus ludis sæcularibus vel dedit vel occidit.” (Jul. Capit. Gordianus Tertius, c. 33.)
[129] This celebration shews that the chronology then accepted by the Roman people is the same as that of Livy, which is used as the chronological table of buildings prefixed to this work.
[130] Suetonius in Gordiano III., c. 33.
[131] Herodian, lib. i. c. 8. Ammianus Marcellinus mentions the same exhibition, and the same number of lions leaping out at once, lib. xxxi. c. 19. See Plates VI. and VIII.
[132] “Centum jubatos leones.” (Vopiscus in Vita Probi, c. 19.)
[133] “Eam autem denunciationem adque interpretationem, quæ de jactu amphitheatri scripta est, de qua ad Heraclianum Tribunum, et magistrum officiorum scripseras, ad nos scias esse perlatum.” (Codex Theodosianus, lib. xvi. tit. x. lex 1. Imp. Constantinus ad Maximum, A.D. 321.)
[134] “Amphitheatri molem solidatam lapidis Tiburtini compage, ad cujus summitatem ægre visio humana conscendit.” (Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xvi. c. 10.)
[135] SALVis . dd. NN. THEODOSIO . ET . PLACIDO . valentiniano . augg. RVFvS CAECINA . FELIX . LAMPADIVS . VC. et . inl. praef. vrb. HAReNAM . AMPHITEATRI . A . NOVO . VNA . CVM . Podio . et . portis . postiCIS . SED . ET . REPARATIS . SPECTACVLI . GRADIBVS restitvit.
[136] Paulus Diaconus, Miscell., lib. xiv.; ap. Murat. Rer. Ital. Script., vol. i. p. 96, c. 1, A.
[137] This appears from another inscription found in 1813:—
DECIVS MARIVS VENANTIVS BASILIVS V̅ C̅ et INL̅. PRAEF V̅RB PATRICIVS CONSVL ORDINARIVS ARENAM ET PODIVM QVAE ABOMINANDI TERRAEMOTVS RVIN PROSTRAVIT SVMPTV PROPRIO RESTITVIT.
[138] “Muneribus amphitheatralibus diversi generis feras, quas præsens ætas pro novitate miraretur, exhibuit. Cujus spectaculi voluptates etiam exquisitas Africa sub devotione transmisit.” (Cassiodori Chronicon, A.D. 519; inter opera ejus, ed. 1679, fol., tom. i. p. 195, col. 2.)
[139] “Quamdiu stat Colysæus, stat et Roma; quando cadet Colysæus, cadet et Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus.” (Bedæ Opera, Basileæ, 1563, fol., vol. iii. col. 651.)
[140] Card. de Aragonia, Vita Innocentii II. apud Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. iii. p. 1, p. 435 B.
[141] Cort. de Senatu Romano, lib. vii. c. 1, §. 168.
[142] Delle Memorie Sacre, e profane dell’ Anfiteatro Flavio di Roma, &c., dal Canonico Giovanni Marangoni Vicentino. In Roma, 1745, 4to. Cap. l. p. 49, Codice pergameno, Scritto dal celebre Onofrio Panvino inedito ed intitolato, de Gente Fregepanica.
[143] Card. de Aragonia, Vita Alexandri III. ap. Muratori, Rerum Ital. Script., tom. iii. p. i. p. 459.
[144] Albertino Mussato, Hist. Aug., lib. v.; ap. Murat. Rerum Italic. Script., tom. x. c. 454. Nibby, Roma nell’ anno MDCCCXXXVIII, parte i. p. 413.
[145] Rainaldi Annal. an. 1244; Panvin. de gente Frangipani; Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, tom. xii. col. 535, 536. Nibby gives a more complete and accurate version of this occurrence from a better text, though modernized. See Roma Antica, part i. p. 414.
[146] “... et præterea se omnes emendarent de faciendo tiburtinam (travertini) quod esset commune id quod judicitur.” (Fea, Dissertazione nelle Ruine di Roma, p. 398.)
[147] F. Vacca, Memorie ap. Fea, lxxiv. p. 72.
[148] Poggio the Florentine, writing in 1425, says that a large part of the building was reduced to lime by the stupidity of the Romans:—“... atque ob stultitiam Romanorum majori ex parte ad calcem delatum.” (Poggio, de Varietate Fortunæ, lib. i.)
[149] Flaminio Vacca, Memorie, 72; Marangoni, Memorie dell’ Anfiteatro Flavio, p. 57, quoted by Nibby, Roma nell’ anno MDCCCXXXVIII, parte i., Antica, p. 418.
[150] Bellori, Vita di Domenico Fontana. Roma, nell’ anno MDCCCXXXVIII, &c., parte i., Antica, pp. 414-417. (Le Vite de pittori, &c., Roma, 1728, 4to. p. 93.)
The space enclosed within the outer walls is six acres, and there is an extraordinary difference of climate between the northern and the southern side. Dr. Deakin published a work on the Flora of the Colosseum: he found 423 species of plants, belonging to 253 genera.
Over the door now generally used is a painting of the heavenly Jerusalem and the Crucifixion, of the time of Paul III., A.D. 1534-50, in the style of the older pilgrimage pictures. At the time it was painted the passage appears to have been filled up with earth to such a height as to make the picture a conspicuous object in leaving the building; at present it is quite above the heads of the passers-by, and is seldom noticed or seen.
[151] The interior of the building is still grand in its ruins. This is well shewn in the photograph (No. 1195,) with the cross, and the altar, and the stations erected by the pope about 1750, and destroyed in 1874, in order to excavate the whole of the area. A restoration of the interior according to Canina can also be seen in another photograph (No. 724).
[152] Etudes Statistiques sur Rome, par le Conte P. N. C. de Tournon. Paris, Didot, 1821, 8vo., 4 vols., and deuxième edition, 3 Volumes en 8vo avec atlas, Paris, 1858.
The fine set of drawings made for the French Government at that period are now preserved in the British Museum, and fully bear out what I had stated before I had seen them. They clearly shew that the French excavations were not carried down more than ten feet. The tops of the arches of the lower passage are shewn in the drawings, but these excavations appear to have been stopped by water rising to that height. See Plate III.
[154] Probably the aqueduct which passes there had a hole made in it; the same aqueduct goes on from this side of the building to the south-east end. This occurred again in 1874, and a steam engine had again to be employed. This passage, before it turns, goes in the direction of the castellum aquæ of the time of Alexander Severus, of which there are considerable remains between this point and the Cœlian. The specus of an aqueduct of the same period passes along between the Cœlian and the amphitheatre, near the surface of the ground; a portion of this was visible in 1874.
[155] See Photograph, No. 367.
[157] In the summer of 1875 they were again suspended for want of funds to pay for the steam-engine, which costs a pound a-day.
[161] About the year 1865 a new drain was made by the Municipality under that road, and when it was nearly finished the old drain of the Empire (?), or of the time of Sylla (?), was found under it at a considerably lower level. It is fifteen metres below the surface of the ground, and so much filled up with earth that it is considered (in 1876) quite impracticable to have it cleared out and repaired.
[162] Photos., Nos. 3203, 3283.
[168] Dionis Cass. Hist. Rom., lib. lxxii. c. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
[169] Some scholars say that those scenes could not have taken place on this site, because the Flavian Amphitheatre was not built in the time of Nero. But it has been shewn that an awning in the amphitheatre of Nero is described by Pliny, writing at the time, during the life and reign of Nero, as he uses the expression principis Neronis, which he could hardly have used after his death. No other site but this can be found for such a large building as an amphitheatre, and this is close to the Golden House of Nero. In any case athletes or wrestlers, and naumachia or naval fights, are part of the tradition of many Roman amphitheatres, and there are sufficient remains of the substructures in many places to prove that this tradition is well founded. The corridors of the Flavian Emperors, though splendid additions to this great theatre, were not necessary for the performance of those pantomimes. It has also been shewn that the old tufa walls must be earlier than the time of Nero, and are probably of the time of Sylla.
[171] They were made at the suggestion of the author of this work, rather sooner than would otherwise have been the case, in order that he might be able to see them. Signor Rosa unfortunately began pulling down the walls of the substructure, calling them “Frangipani walls.” The Frangipani family had possession of the Colosseum in the twelfth century, but the construction of that period is totally different from any of the walls in the Colosseum, either above or below the level of the arena. The Minister of Public Instruction fortunately arrived in Rome in time to stop their demolition, and obtained an Act of Parliament, in 1875, appointing a general Archæological Commission for all Italy, with Signor Fiorelli, from Pompeii, at the head of it; and no individual will in future be permitted either to destroy antiquities, or to build anything new, without the consent of the Commission.
[173] See No. 3201.
[175] See No. 3203.
[176] The plan of one section of this enormous building (see No. 183 and Plate XIV.), and those of the six different floors or storeys, shew the admirable arrangement of the seats and passages, and vomitoria for the rapid exit of the people, as well as the plan of the whole building would do. The magnificent stone arcades of the Flavian Emperors, A.D. 80, appear in many parts to be built against brick walls and galleries of the time of Nero, originally built for the spectators of the old Naumachia. (See No. 3205, 1762.)
[177] The amphitheatre is 1,837 Roman feet in circuit, 638 long, 535 wide, and 165 high from the ground, besides 21 feet for the substructures, so that the whole height was 186 feet. The Roman foot is not quite so long as the English foot, but the difference is trifling. The number of spectators was 87,000 according to the Regionary Catalogue; modern authorities say that the measurement shews this number to be rather exaggerated.
[178] See Nos. 1081, 1762.
[179] See No. 1346.
[182] See No. 1761.
[183] See Nos. 1758, 1759, 1760, 1763.
[184] They are more clearly shewn in another photograph, No. 827.
[185] See No. 367.
[186] See No. 185.
[187] They were, however, not always of stone or brick; in places where stone was scarce, they were frequently of wood only.
[192] See pp. 1, 8. That the amphitheatres were among the finest buildings of the Romans in all their cities it is hardly necessary to say; it seems clear that they were first built for the favourite amusement of the hunting of wild beasts, and that the first name for them was Theatrum Venatorium; but the gladiators were soon introduced, for the further amusement of the people in the same buildings. Both amusements are believed to have been used in Greece before they were introduced into Rome, but they were in use in Rome before the time of the Empire. At first, the amphitheatres were temporary buildings of wood only (as has been shewn), but there were several of these. After the great Flavian amphitheatre was completed, this seems to have been the only one in Rome; but those of several other cities, such as Capua and Verona (see the learned work of Scipio Maffei, Verona Illustrata, Milano, 1876, parte quarta) must have been nearly equal to it.
[193] The following inscriptions, found upon the spot, agree with the construction, as is always the case when the true date can be ascertained. The first is of the time of Hadrian, A.D. 120, (No. 43 in chapter vii. of the work of Francesco Alvino, which contains the ancient inscriptions found upon the spot); the second (No. 48 of the same collection) appears to be of Septimius Severus and Pertinax, A.D. 192; the third in point of date (No. 16 in the collection) records restorations by Lampridius:—
XLIII.
IMP. CÆS. T. ÆLIO
HADRIANO AVG
PATRI PATRIÆ
SVBLEVATORI ORBIS
RESTITVTORI OPE
RVM PVBLICORVM
INDVLGENTISSIMO
OPTIMAQ. PRINCIPI
CAMPANI
OB INSIGNEM ERGA EOS BE
NIGNITATEM D. D.
XLVIII.
IMP. CÆS. DIVI M. ANTONINI
GERM. SARM. FIL. DIVI COMMODI
FRATRI DIVI ANTONINI PII NEPOTI
DIVI HADRIANI PRONEPOTI DIVI
TRAIANI PARTHICI ABNEPOTI DIVI
NERVAE ADNEPOTI
SEPTIMIO SEVERO PIO PERTINACI
ARABICO ADIABENICO P.P. PONT. MAX
TRIB. POT. I̅I̅I̅I̅. IMP. VIII. COS II. PROC
COLONIA CAPVA
XVI.
POSTVMIO LAMPADIO
V. C.
ET INLVSTRI CON. CAMPANIAE
RESTITVTORI PATRIAE
ET REDINTEGRATORI OPERVM PVBLICORVM
By a singular coincidence, Lampadius was also the name of the Prefect who restored the Flavian amphitheatre in A.D. 445; but though the surname is the same, the prename is not, he was probably of the same family.
[195] This would be at least equal to £200 of modern money.
[196] Anfiteatro Campano illustrato e Restorato da Franceso Alvino terza edizione col paragone di tutti gli anfiteatri D’Italia ed un cenno sugli antichi monumenti di Capua. Napoli, 1842.
[197] The Neapolitan palm is ten inches English measure. If the measurements of Signor Alvino are reduced to English measure, they do not agree with those of Messrs. Taylor and Crecy for the Colosseum; as he used the same scale for all three, the proportions are the same.
[198] In Rome these are Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite; at Verona, all Tuscan; at Capua, all Doric.
[199] I am indebted for this clear account of the amphitheatre at Pola to Lord Talbot de Malahide, who was there in October, 1875. The excellent drawings of Mr. Arthur Glennie, who resided at Pola for one whole summer, also agree perfectly with the excellent account of that remarkable building, which further contributes to illustrate the Colosseum at Rome. An excellent account of Pola appeared about the same time in the Saturday Review, but this is more general, not so specially written with this object in view.
[200] “Notissimus eques Romanus elephanto supersedens per catadromum decucurrit.” (Suetonii Nero, cap. xi. Xiphil. lxi.)
“Ego eo vocabulo funem intelligo, qui summo theatro alligatus, declinis ad imum theatri pertinebat solum defigebaturque, per quem descendere maximi periculi et artis atque adeo miraculi erat.” (Turnebo, Adv. xxvii. 18.)
[201] “Icarus, primo statim conatu, juxta cubiculum ejus (Neronis) decidit, ipsumque cruore respersit.” (Suetonii Nero, c. 12.)
[203] “Erat mons ligneus ad instar incliti montis illius, quem vates Homerus Idæum cecinit, sublimi instructus fabrica, consitus viretis et vivis arboribus summo cacumine, de manibus fabri fonte mænante, fluviales aquas eliquans.” (Apulei, Metamor., lib. x. c. 30.)
[205] “Memorabile maxime Cari et Carini et Numeriani hoc habuit imperium, quod ludos populo Romano novis ornatos spectaculis dederunt, quos in Palatio circa porticum statuti pictos vidimus ... centum pantomimos et gymnicos mille pegma præterea, cujus flammis scena conflagravit quam Diocletianus postea magnificentiorem reddidit.” (Vopiscus in Carino, cap. 18, ap. Script. Hist. Aug.)
[207] “Catabolum erat locus, in quo feræ erudiebantur sive ad mansuetudinem sive etiam ad crudelitatem, quam in bestiarios exercerent.” (Papias.)
“Catabolum est clausura animalium, ubi desuper aliquid jacitur.” (Vossii, Lexicon Etymologicum.)
The Catabolensis or Catabolici were the men who fed the wild beasts, and threw down their food from the small passage before mentioned. (See p. 17.)
[208] “Addidit alia die in Amphitheatro una missione centum jubatos leones, qui rugitibus suis tonitru excitabant; qui omnes e POSTICIS interempti sunt, non magnum præbentes spectaculum quo occidebantur. Neque enim erat bestiarum impetus ille, qui esse e caveis egredientibus olet.” (Vopisci Probus, c. 19, ap. Script. Hist. Aug.)
[209] “Ut sæpe faciunt amphitheatrales feræ diffractis tandem solutæ POSTICIS.” (Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. 27.)
[210] “Stat. Cardine aperto—Infelix cavea.” The door opening on a hinge or a pivot.
[211] “Feras lybicas una die centum exhibuit, ursos una die mille.” (Julii Capitolini, i. c. 3, ap. Script. Hist. Aug.)
[213] “Fertur in euripis vino plenis Navales Circenses exhibuisse.” (Lampridii Antoninus Heliogabalus, c. 23, ap. Script. Hist. Aug.)
That is, the stagna in the amphitheatre were supplied by an aqueduct from the lake of Fucino. This lake has been drained in 1874-75 by Prince Torlonia, by carrying out the project of the great engineers of the time of the Emperor Claudius, and making an emisarium, on even a grander scale than the one partially made in the time of Claudius, on a similar plan to those of the lakes of Albano and Nemi.
[216] 2. “Casu in meridianum spectaculum incidi, lusus expectans et sales et aliquid laxamenti, quo hominum oculi ab humano cruore acquiescant. 3. Contra est: quidquid ante pugnatum est, misericordia fuit. Nunc omissis nugis, mera homicidia sunt. Nihil habent quo tegantur; ad ictum totis corporibus expositi, nunquam frustra mittunt manum mittunt. Hoc plerique ordinariis paribus et postulatitiis præferunt non galea, non scuto repellitur ferrum. Quo munimenta? quo gladii artes? Omnia ista mortes meræ sunt. Mane leonibus et ursis homines, meridie spectatoribus suis objiciuntur. 4. Interfectores interfecturis jubentur objici, et victorem in aliam detinent cædem, exitus pugnantium mors est ferro et ignores geritur. Hæc fiunt dum vacat arena.” (Sen., Epistolæ ad Lucilium, 7.)