Pompeii, Amphitheater

Since we have visited only 16 of the approximately 70 amphitheaters the Romans built, I thought I would easily recognize any photo we had of an amphitheater. I could easily determine which 15 of the 16 that this was not, but until I went on Google and found nearly the same photo (without the beautiful lady, of course), I wasn't positive this was Pompeii. For a moment I thought I had a photo of one I had forgotten we had visited.

This Amphitheater was built around 70 BC and it is one of the oldest amphitheaters still in existence. It held over 20,000 spectators, so it could hold all citizens of Pompeii plus about 10,000 seats for visitors from other towns. Much like the happenings at soccer stadiums in Europe these days, in 59 AD a violent riot broke out between the "fans" from Pompeii and those from a neighboring town. Nero didn’t like that at all, so unlike the “sports authorities” these days, he canceled all gladiator battles in this arena for 10 years. However, Nero changed his mind, and lifted this ban three years later.

It’s interesting to note that Pompeii’s amphitheater, and Pompeii's Teatro Grande and the Odeum theater nearby, are perhaps more complete than other structures of their type. Since they were buried below the ash of Vesuvius, they did not suffer the destructive power of wind and rain, and stones could not be quarried and stolen for other building projects, as happened elsewhere.