In Italy, combats of gladiators at first took place in the forums, where temporary wooden scaffoldings were erected for the spectators; and Vitruvius gives this as the reason why in that country the forums were in the shape of a parallelogram instead of being squares as in Greece. Wild beasts were also hunted in the circus. But towards the end of the Roman republic, when the shows increased both in frequency and in costliness as the city grew in power, special buildings began to be provided for them; and when the consolidation of peace under the empire had secured great material prosperity for the provinces, such as they had never enjoyed when separated into small states and often at war with each other, the example of the capital was followed by many other towns in the West; so that nearly a hundred amphitheatres have been identified, either by the existence of their ruins or by being mentioned by old writers. There were even a few in the East, although such cruel games were quite alien to the elegance and refinement of the Hellenic mind.

From their being so admirably adapted for enabling the greatest possible number of people to behold a spectacle, it is natural to suppose that they would be occasionally used for purposes different from those usually intended by them; and accordingly Suetonius relates how Caligula had an impertinent poet burnt alive in the amphitheatre, and how Titus ordered the informers, after having been whipped in the forum, to be led through the arena, apparently that they might be exposed to the execrations of the people. Criminals were also sometimes exposed in them to be devoured by wild beasts, and many of the Christian martyrs died in this way.

The first amphitheatre was that constructed, 59 b.c., by C. Scribonius Curio. The only author by whom it is described is Pliny, whose account of it rather taxes our credulity. He tells that Scribonius built two wooden theatres, which were placed back to back, and that after the dramatic representations were finished, they were turned round, with all the spectators in them, so as to make one circular theatre, in [the centre of which gladiators fought And this was repeated more than once. Thirteen years later, Caesar built (also of wood) the first regular amphitheatre, and exhibited wild beasts in it; and sixteen years after, C. Statilius Taurus built the first one of stone, which was burnt in the great fire of Rome during the reign oi Nero. Probably the outside walls only were of stone.

Several others were constructed under the early em perors, but they were entirely superseded and eclipsed bj that of. Vespasian and Titus, the vast ruins of which strike the traveller with awe. Set on fire by lightning undeι the emperor Macrinus, it was restored by Alexandeι Severus, the shows during the interval being held (as oi old) in the circus. The latest record of its being used if in the 6th century, when Cassiodorus was present; bul Bede in the 8th century speaks of the edifice as still entire. During the Middle Ages many of the stones of this, as of many other ancient buildings, were carried' away foi building purposes; and among the plunderers we regret tc have to reckon the great Michel Angelo, who worked up a large number of its stones into a palace for one oi the Roman noble families. As, however, the Colosseun had been the scene of many of the Christian martyrdoms Benedict XIV., whose name ought never tp be mentioned without an expression of admiration and gratitude for his enlightened patronage of learning and antiquities, tool advantage of this to consecrate the interior by the erec tion of crosses and oratories, thereby preserving it fron further depredations. Of late years considerable excava tions have been made to examine its substructures. Its name is variously written, but on the whole it wouk seem that the most correct orthography is Colosseum (no Coliseum), and that it is. derived from its colossal size which far surpassed any former edifice of the sort. Mam of its minor arrangements are uncertain, but the mail features and general plan are sufficiently intelligible.

The external elevation of the Colosseum consisted o four stages, each adorned with engaged columns of th three orders of Greek architecture. The lowest three wer arcaded, having each eighty columns and as many arches Those of the basement story served as entrances; seventy eîx being numbered and allotted to the general body of spectators, while four, at the extremities of the axes of the ellipse, were the principal éntrances. The higher arcades had a low parapet with (apparently) a statue in each arch, and gave light and air to the passages which surrounded the building. The openings of the arcades above the principal entrances were larger than the rest, and were adorned with figures of chariots. The highest stage was much more solid, being composed of a continuous wall of masonry, only pierced by forty small square windows. The object of this may have been to obtain the necessary solidity and weight for steadying the poles which supported the awning, and must have had to carry a severe inward strain. The alternate arcades were ornamented with metal shields. There was also a series of brackets to support the poles on which the awning was stretched.

The interior may be naturally divided into the arena and the cavea, with their respective appendages.

The arena was the portion assigned to the combatants, and derived its name from the sand with which it was strewn, to absorb the blood and prevent it from becoming slippery. Some of the emperors showed their prodigality by substituting precious powders, and even gold dust, for sand. The arena was generally of the same shape as the amphitheatre itself, and was separated from the spectators by a wall built perfectly smooth, that the wild beasts might not by any possibility climb it. At Rome it was faced inside with polished marble, but at Pompeii it was simply painted. For further security, it was surrounded by a metal railing or network, and the arena was sometimes surrounded also by a ditch (euripus), especially on account of the elephants. Connected with the arena were the dens from which the beasts came, and the rooms where the gladiators met before the show began. In spite of the excavations which have been made, it is not very easy to understand how all the effects described by ancient authors were produced; for after the regular shows were over, the arena was sometimes filled with water, and sea-fights were exhibited with ships.

The part assigned to the spectators was called cavea. In the different amphitheatres whose ruins have been examined, there are some differences in the arrangements, but the general features are nearly the same in all. The cavea was divided into several galleries, concentric with the outer walls, and therefore, like them, of an elliptic form. The place of honour was the lowest of these, nearest to the arena, and called the podium. The divisions in it were larger, so as to be able to contain movable seats. At Rome it was here that the emperor sat, his seat bearing the name of suggestum. The senators, principal magistrates, vestal virgins, the provider (editor) of the show, and other persons of note, occupied the rest of the podium. At Nismes, besides the nigh officials of the town, the podium had places assigned to the principal guilds, whose names are still seen inscribed upon it, with the number of places reserved for each. In the Colosseum there were three moeniana or galleries above the podium, separated from each other by terraces (proednctiones) and walls (baltei). The lowest was appropriated to the equestrian order. Numerous passages (vomitoria) and small stairs gave access to them; while long covered corridors, behind and below them, served for shelter in the event of rain. At Pompeii each place was numbered, and elsewhere their extent is defined by little marks cut in the stone. The spectators were admitted by tickets (tesseroe), and order preserved by a staff of officers appointed for the purpose.

The height of the Colosseum is given as from 160 to 180 feet. The seats in the interior do not rise higher than the level of the third order of the exterior, that is, about half the entire height of the building; and this apparent excess of height beyond what was made available, has led some to suppose that there were upper seats and galleries, of which no trace now exists. The height, however, appears to have been necessary for the ventilation of the building. When such enormous crowds were packed closely together for several hours at a time on an Italian summer day, with an awning drawn over them, the atmosphere would have become quite pestilential if there had not been a considerable space overhead, and at least one range of open arcades, unencumbered by any galleries to prevent the free circulation of air. Scented liquids were at times squirted over the spectators from concealed tubes; but no aroma would have compensated for the want of air, which the arcade all round the building, above the highest spectators, would supply. There may also have been another series of openings serving the same purpose between the top of the wall and the edge of the awning, which was supported upon poles. It has been calculated that the Colosseum contained 87,000 places, and that besides these, 15,000 more spectators could be admitted. The greatest length is about 612 feet, and the length of the shortest axis of the ellipse about 515 feet. The dimensions of the arena are variously stated by different writers, some making it 247 feet by 150, and others 281 by 176.

With regard to the provincial amphitheatres, Maffei, in his account of that of Verona, appears to have unduly restricted their number, with the object of exalting the honour of the one he describes. Besides the Colosseum, he would hardly allow any ruins to be entitled to this name except those at Verona and Capua. But subsequent writers have not followed him in this rigorism; and Friedländer, who is the latest and most complete authority on the subject, gives the measurements and description of fifty-two. Naturally, the early ones would be of wood, like that erected by Atilius at Fidenae in the time of Tiberius, which gave way while shows were being exhibited, on which occason 50,000 persons were killed or injured. One at Placentia is also mentioned, which is said to have been the most spacious then in Italy, and to have been burned in the wars between Otho and Vitellius by the inhabitants of a neighbouring town whose envy it had excited. Such disasters, coupled with the growing scarcity of wood and the greater facilities for quarrying stone, would naturally lead to the construction of more solid buildings. At the same time, the progress of this improvement must have been slow, and the building of at least the great majority of the provincial amphitheatres of stone may be ascribed to the period between the reign of Vespasian and that of Constantine, when the establishment of Christianity threw a discredit on the cruel and bloody shows for which these vast structures were designed. Hadrian is especially commemorated for the numerous buildings he caused to be erected almost everywhere, and this is mentioned in connection with games being held.

In constructing many of the amphitheatres in the provincial towns, advantage was taken of the natural slope of a hill to lessen the labour of construction; and in some cases a narrow ravine between two hills allowed of both sides being formed on the natural slopes, and of the stream at their feet being dammed up for combats on the water. The conformation of the ground and the caprices of local authorities have produced slight minor differences of plan, but the general description of the Colosseum will suffice for all. For details regarding others the reader may consult, in addition to other authorities, the descriptions given in this work of the different towns where their remains are still found. Here it may be sufficient to name that at Pompeii, which is probably better known to most persons by the graphic description in Lord Lytton’s novel than by any of the illustrated accounts that have been published of that wonderful town; that at Verona, which served as a basis to Maffei’s careful investigation of the whole subject; those at Capua and PozzuoH, which almost rival the Colosseum in dimensions; those at Nismes, Arles, and Frejus in France; that at Italica, near Seville in Spain, remarkable for the thickness of its walls and the strength of its masonry—leading Florez to remark that its ruin is due not to the injuries of time and the weather, but to the hand of man; that at the ancient Thysdrus, in the province of Carthage, now called ElrDjemm, which alone resembles the Colosseum in having five galleries or corridors in the first storey; and that at Pola in Istria, whose external shell —the internal fittings, which were probably all of wood, having quite disappeared—forms a striking object as seen from the sea.

A very fair summary of the whole subject will be found in Smith’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities; and a much more minute and elaborate account, by C. Thierry, with good illustrations, in the Dictionnaire des Antiquités of Daremberg and Saglio, which has the further advantage of giving numerous references to larger works on the subject, —its chief defect being one too common in French books, the almost complete ignoring of eveιything published in this country, where Taylor and Cresy’s Architectural Antiquities of Rome, of which a second edition has recently appeared, is entitled to special mention. Nor does it notice that treasure of information about Spanish history and antiquities, the Espana Sagrada, where (vol. xii. p. 228) will be found the most careful account of the amphitheatre at Italica, with several drawings. The following table, abridged from Friedlander’s Darstellung aus der Sittengeschichte Roms (1865, 2d ed. 1867), gives the dimensions, in English feet, of a few of the principal amphitheatres that have been examined:— [table]