PART VII. THE COLOSSEUM. [Illustration: JOHN HENRY PARKER C.B. HON. M.A. OXON. F.S.A. LONDON etc. etc.] THE FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATRE, COMMONLY CALLED THE COLOSSEUM AT ROME: ITS HISTORY AND SUBSTRUCTURES COMPARED WITH OTHER AMPHITHEATRES. BY JOHN HENRY PARKER, C.B. HON. M.A. OXON., F.S.A. LOND.; KEEPER OF THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, ETC. [Illustration] =OXFORD:= JAMES PARKER AND CO. =LONDON:= JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 1876. PREFACE TO THE COLOSSEUM. The great excavations carried on in this colossal building in the years 1874 and 1875, have thrown an entirely new light on its history. These were made under the level of the ground, at the foot of the _podium_, which is the same as that of the original _arena_; this large level space had been indifferently called the ground, the floor, the stage, the area, or the arena; no one had any idea that the original pavement would be found 21 ft. below that level, and that the intervening space was filled with walls and passages, dens for wild beasts, places for lifts to send up men, and dogs, and animals: and canals for water, and several other contrivances for the use of the performers on the stage above, for practically the _arena_ was the stage on which the performances took place. These excavations have enabled us to ascertain that this had been a boarded floor covered with sand, or _arena_ (whence its name), and that this floor could be moved and replaced in a short time, at the word of the Emperor[1]. The evidence of this is brought out clearly in the present work. Large corbels, or brackets, are provided for placing the boards upon when removed, and keeping them out of sight of the people in the galleries; they project from the wall below the _podium_, in the passage over the dens[2].