Gladiator Colosseum Found in Tuscany

Discovery News

Italian archaeologists have unearthed remains of an oval structure that might represent the most important Roman amphitheater finding over the last century.

The foundations of the colosseum, which is oval-shaped like the much larger arena in the heart of Rome, were found in the town of Volterra and might date back to the 1st century A.D.  Amphitheaters like these were used during Roman times to feature events including gladiator combats and wild animal fights.

The archaeologists estimate this structure measured some 262 by 196 feet, although only a small part of it has been unearthed.

“This amphitheater was quite large. Our survey dig revealed three orders of seats that could accommodate about 10,000 people. They were entertained by gladiators fights and wild beast baiting,” Elena Sorge, the archaeologist of the Tuscan Superintendency in charge of the excavation, told Discovery News.
By comparison, the Colosseum in Rome could seat more than 50,000 spectators during public games.
“The finding sheds a new light on the history of Volterra, which is most famous for its Etruscan legacy. It shows that during the emperor Augustus’s rule, it was an important Roman center,” she added.
Photos: Bronze-Age Battle Frozen in Time
One of the most powerful Etruscan cities, Volterra fell under Roman rule in the 1st century B.C.
The most striking monument dating to the Roman period is a theater built in the Augustan age, which is one of the finest and best preserved Roman theaters in Italy. It stands about a mile from the newly discovered arena.
With the help of ground penetrating radar and a digital survey by Carlo Battini, of the University of Genoa, Dicca Department, the archaeologists were able to estimate that much of the amphitheater lies at a depth of 20 to 32 feet. So far the survey dig has been funded by the Cassa di Risparmio bank of Volterra.
“We are hoping to find more sponsors and funding to excavate this wonder. We believe that within three years it could be fully brought to light,” Sorge said.
Roman Gladiators Drank Ash Energy Drink
The amphiteater was made from stone and decorated in “panchino,” a typical Volterra stone used since Etruscan time to build the town’s walls. It features the same construction technique used to raise the nearby theater.
The archaeologists have so far brought to light a large sculpted stone and the vaulted entrance to a cryptoporticus, or covered passageway. Such corridor would have possibly housed the gladiators just before they entered the arena
“It’s puzzling that no historical account records the existence of such an imposing amphitheater. Possibly, it was abandoned at a certain time and gradually covered by vegetation,” Sorge said.
by Rossella Lorenzi 

5 facts about the Colosseum

History Extra

The Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome, better known as the Colosseum, c1865. (Photo by Sean Sexton/Getty Images)

The Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum, is both a marvel of architecture and engineering, as well as a powerful symbol of Ancient Rome’s might and brutality.
Here are 5 facts about the Colosseum, a place of spectacle and slaughter.…
1) It was the largest amphitheatre ever built, taking ten years to construct and able to hold 50,000 spectators at its peak. From its dedication in AD 80 until the fall of the Empire, the rich and poor, noble and plebian flocked to the Colosseum to watch gladiatorial games, executions and animal hunts.
2) The seating reflected the hierarchy of Roman society – the lower a person’s tier, the higher their position. So Senators sat in the bottom level, closest to the action, while women, the poorest men and slaves could only sit on the top level. Not everyone was welcome in the Colosseum. Actors, the grave diggers and former gladiators couldn’t attend.
3) It is thought 1 million animals died fighting either men or other creatures. Elephants, lions, bears, crocodiles, giraffes, rhinos and hippos were brought from around the known world. There are also records from the early years of the Colosseum claiming that the arena was flooded with water so that historic naval battles could be reconstructed.
4) Much like modern stadiums, spectators were given tickets (made of pottery), which led them to a specific gate and staircase so they could find their level. The 76 public entrances were numbered I to LXXVI. The many passageways into the arena were called vomitoria (after the Latin word for ‘spew forth’). There were so many that, even when filled, the Colosseum could empty in minutes.
5) Following the downfall of the Roman Empire, the Colosseum fell into disrepair as lightning and earthquakes caused severe damage, including the collapse of one side of the outer wall. Yet, greater damage was done by those stealing the rocks and marble to use on other construction sites. For centuries, the Colosseum became a quarry. Today, we can only get a hint of the majesty and awe-inspiring size of the original Colosseum.

Engineering Marvels: Series Explores Mysteries of Ancient Buildings

Tanya Lewis,
Live Science

The Colosseum in Rome, one of the subjects of a new NOVA series, was home to bloody spectacles and wild animal fights. Credit: Providence Pictures View full size image

How did the Romans release wild animals into their mighty Colosseum? How did the massive Hagia Sophia cathedral in Istanbul withstand centuries of earthquakes? And how did a desert people carve elaborate tombs in rocky cliffs in Jordan?
These are some of the questions that a new NOVA series on the mysteries of ancient buildings seeks to answer. The three-part series, called "Building Wonders of the World," premieres tonight (Feb. 11) at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT).
"We are contributing to the scholarly and scientific investigation of what the buildings meant to people, and how they actually built them," said series producer Gary Glassman, of Providence Pictures. [In Photos: Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World]

The buildings are like "snapshots in stone," Glassman told Live Science: "They are what the culture at that moment wanted to project."       

Death in the Colosseum
Perhaps the most iconic symbol of the Roman Empire, the Colosseum was built in just 10 years from A.D. 70 to A.D. 80, during the reign of the emperor Vespasian and his successor, Titus. The massive structure was host to deadly gladiator fights, wild animal maulings and epic sea battles, according to historical records.
The first episode of the NOVA series explores the mystery of how wild lions and elephants "magically" appeared in the arena, where they were pitted against each other or human prisoners, as ancient texts describe. To find out, a team of archaeologists and engineers used ancient Roman building methods to create a 25-foot-tall (7.6 meters) lifting machine and trap-door system, and used it to deliver a wolf into the Colosseum's arena.
"We released a wolf into the Colosseum for the first time in 1,500 years," Glassman said.
Ancient texts also depict elaborate mock naval battles in which ships were sunk and thousands of people – mostly slaves and prisoners – met their deaths. To find out how the Romans may have flooded the Colosseum to stage these battles, the researchers traced a system of aqueducts that lead to the arena. [Photos: Gladiators of the Roman Empire]
Lost city of stone
The second episode of the new series explores how the city of Petra, in Jordan, came to be built.
"The people who built Petra, known as the Nabataeans, had probably the greatest unknown kingdom that ever existed," Glassman said. "In a 200-year period, they went from being nomadic tradesmen to building a city in the middle of the desert that rivaled the major cities of the Mediterranean world."

The Monastary has some of the most complicated architecture in all of Petra, relying heavily on Hellenistic and Greco-Roman influences for its style.
Credit: Providence Pictures

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Petra was a major stop on the incense trade route, and the Nabataeans brought in water from everywhere within a 20-mile (32 kilometers) radius via a system of channels, dams and reservoirs. Not only did they have enough water to supply a city of 30,000 people, but they had lavish fountains and pools as well, Glassman said. One of the scholars interviewed on the show called it "the Las Vegas of the ancient world."
But the Nabataeans' most impressive feat was a system of templelike tombs carved into the nearby cliff faces. The tombs were "twice the size of Mount Rushmore," and it was always a mystery how they built them without the aid of scaffolding, Glassman said.
NOVA hired a team of stonemasons, a geoscientist and a restoration expert to create their own tomb in a cliff face. The Nabataeans' secret, Glassman said, was starting from the top of the tomb and working their way down, using debris from the sculpting to make a ramp to other areas.
Istanbul's domed masterpiece
The show's final episode focuses on the Hagia Sophia, a massive stone cathedral in modern-day Istanbul, Turkey, that became a mosque and is now a museum. Built in seven years and completed in 537 A.D., "it was the biggest building on Earth except for the pyramids for over 1,000 years," Glassman said.

Even after 1500 years the Hagia Sophia still stands proudly in the historical heart of Istanbul.
Credit: Providence Pictures

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How has the giant, domed relic withstood 1,500 years of earthquakes that destroyed all the buildings around it? NOVA hired a team of builders to construct a scale model of the Hagia Sophia on a shake table that simulates quakes. The model withstood a lot of shaking before it finally collapsed.
When the real Hagia Sophia was built, people were aware of earthquakes, but they kept trying to build walls that were thicker and more massive, Glassman said. By contrast, the engineers who designed the Hagia Sophia — who had never built anything before — made it light and flexible, he said. This strategy became the foundation of modern seismic engineering.
Through these investigations, the new TV series explores what these buildings meant to the cultures that built them, Glassman said. "If intelligent life from another planet were to come to Earth, these are some of the buildings we would want to bring them to [in order] to represent the height of our achievements."