The archæology of Rome, Part 7 : $b The Flavian amphitheatre, commonly called the ColosseumParker, John Henry
History
The archæology of Rome, Part 7 : $b The Flavian amphitheatre, commonly called the Colosseum
Parker, John Henry
Rome -- Antiquities
In the interior of the building, as we are told in the anonymous
chronicle published by Eccard, which is good authority[49], Vespasian
dedicated the three lower steps, and Titus added two others to the
three placed by his father. The wooden gallery, built upon the top of
the great corridors or arcades (for the plebs), appears to have been an
afterthought, not part of the original design, but an addition obviously
called for. The large space at that height gave accommodation for an
enormous number of people, which could not have been given before, to
see what was going on upon the ARENA or STAGE during the performance.
This had numerous trap-doors in it, under which were lifts for the wild
beasts in their cages to be sent up on to the stage when wanted. The
performance was in many respects like our pantomimes. There are evident
traces of the lifts below, by the vertical grooves in the tufa walls for
them to slide up and down[50]; and recesses remain in these walls for
the counter-weights also to work in, with holes in the pavement for the
sockets of pivots for the capstans necessary to wind up the cords, and
loose them as required. These original walls, with the grooves for the
old machines, are in many parts interfered with by more modern walls
built up between them, probably in the fifth and sixth centuries, when
great repairs were made after earthquakes, or perhaps rendered necessary
by the weight of the water under the wooden floor in the central part.
Two important inscriptions relating to the history of the building have
been preserved[51]: one found in 1810 on the western side, recording
the repairs after an earthquake by the præfect Basilius, A.D. 445; the
other in 1813, recording similar repairs by Lampadius, A.D. 508. Three
of the marble seats were also brought to light, one with the number
XVIII., another with the word EQUITI, the third, with an inscription, the
beginning of which is broken off:—
tr IB IN . THEATR . LEGE . PL . VI
vind ICET . P . X . II.
This is important, because it shews the use of the word THEATRUM[52],
and not AMPHITHEATRUM, for the colossal building; which agrees with the
usage of Dio and other contemporary authors, who always call it THEATRUM
_par eminence_, or the great theatre of Rome, there being no need to
distinguish it further.
The following extracts from Dio Cassius can only apply to the great
amphitheatre:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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