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
A great number of large marble columns and capitals of the Composite
order, rudely worked, as if on purpose to be seen from a great distance
only, have rolled down from the edge of the upper gallery to the arena
below, probably in an earthquake. They must have fallen before the
substructures were filled up with earth, as many of them were found at
the bottom on the old pavement, which they had damaged by falling upon
it, and some have made holes through great walls, and were found lying
with half the column on the inner side of the wall, and the other half
on the outer one. Probably the cords for the awning were caught on the
entablature of this colonnade as they passed, the length from top to
bottom being too great to keep them tight. There must have been at least
a hundred of these columns; possibly there were two colonnades, the
second on the edge of one of the lower galleries, but they are work of
the third century, not earlier, and as the upper gallery was added at
that time, they must have belonged to that period.
The Flavian Amphitheatre and Meta Sudans are represented on four coins
of the emperors, one of Vespasian[109], A.D. 80, with the head of Titus,
and inscription on the obverse. This is a bird’s-eye view, represented
with the walls of the two storeys, and with the Meta Sudans on one
side, and a double range of columns on the opposite side, one over the
other. This medal was used by Fontana in his plans and drawings of a
restoration[110], though he does not give an engraving of it. The upper
storey is very different from the existing building; in the interior the
upper gallery is evidently represented on this medal as of wood; the
colonnade or arcade, of two storeys, connecting the amphitheatre with the
Cœlian, seen on the coin, was most probably to carry the shallow open
channel of water from the Aqueduct[111]. The second of Domitian, nearly
the same as the last, but with a double arcade instead of colonnade; the
third of Alexander Severus, with the Meta Sudans[112] on the right, and
a group of figures on the left. There are two coins of this emperor with
the same subject on the reverse, not of the same size, and not quite
alike. The fourth of Gordianus III., with the legend on the obverse,
IMP . GORDIANUS . PIVS . FELIX . AVG.; on the reverse the view of the
Colosseum, as if looking down upon it, with the masts for the awning,
and a wild-beast hunt going on at a high level, certainly not at the
bottom (as has been said). On the left, standing behind the Meta Sudans,
is a colossal figure about fifty feet high[113]. On the right is a small
building which is just below, and a gable end to the roof, probably
the _piscina_ of Alexander Severus, of which we have remains. Over the
Colosseum is the legend MUNIFICENTIA GORDIANI AVG.[114] In this the upper
storey is represented as of stone.
A.D. 150. By the time of Antoninus Pius the amphitheatre needed repairs,
as we learn that it was restored by him[115].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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