Amphitheaters #2of2

The Roman Amphitheater in Siracusa, Sicily, Italy, was hewn out of rock in the 100s AD, rather new compared to some of the other things around here. What is different from the other dozen amphitheaters we remember, is that this one was carved down into a rocky hill, rather than being built by stacking blocks of stone above street level. Now overgrown with grass and umbrella pines, it was once the scene of mortal combat between gladiators and wild animals.

At one time the Roman amphitheater (built in 50 AD) in Nîmes, France, was turned into a fortress surrounded by a moat, and later it became a walled village of 2,000 poverty-stricken people. During our visit one year the refrigeration truck from “Holiday on Ice” was busily making ice on the floor of the arena, preparing for the spectacular ice show. Another year we saw an announcement for a religious meeting to be held in the amphitheater the following week. The poster invited the Christians, but didn’t say a word about the lions.

Verona, Italy, is famous for the operatic presentations in the Amphitheater during the summer. The original Arena could accommodate nearly 25,000 spectators. Five-hundred feet long by four-hundred feet wide, and one-hundred feet high, it is one of the largest amphitheaters remaining from Roman times.

The Amphitheater in Arles, France, is a few years “newer” than the one in Nîmes, but both were designed by the architect, T. Crispius Reburrus. Some spectator seats are still on the original stone terraces, simple wooden bleachers provide the remainder. During one trip there were advertisements for a concert by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, to be held in this ancient arena. Another year the advertisement was for a bull-fight.

We walked around inside the Roman Arena in Fréjus, France. This is the oldest one in France, and held about 10,000 spectators, about half as many as in Arles or Nimes.

The Romans built the Amphitheater in Spoleto, Italy, many years BC, and as happened so many places, enormous quantities of stone were taken from the Amphitheater to build the Papal fortress, and other buildings in town. That is not unusual, uncounted Romans live, work, and worship in buildings (including St. Peter’s Basilica) constructed with building stones from the “Coliseum Quarry.”