Chapter III: Part 3

The remains of Aqueducts and _Piscinæ_ have already been mentioned[156], but some further account of them seems to be requisite. A _piscina_ always consists of four vaulted chambers, two above and two below, and the middle wall of the two lower chambers has small holes in it, for straining the water as it passes through. The lower chamber of a _piscina_ is also known by having no windows in it, and the lining being of the water-cement (_opus signinum_). The lower chambers of two _piscinæ_ only remain; of the northern one the middle wall between the two lower chambers is the only part now visible, this is faced with _opus reticulatum_ of the time of Nero, and has the usual small holes for water-pipes through the wall. The southern one is of brickwork of the third century, of the time of Alexander Severus; of this there is much more remaining, one end with the usual boldly projecting buttresses to support the weight of water, and part of two other chambers of the reservoir.

The excavations which had been made in the time of the first Napoleon and of Pope Pius VII., 1810-1814, were filled up again after drawings and plans had been made of them. They were not considered satisfactory by scholars because the excavations had not gone deep enough, having been stopped by water, as very often happens in Rome at certain periods of the year, when the springs are high. They were again suspended by the same cause in the spring and summer of 1874, but Signor Rosa, with his usual energy, obtained machinery and a steam-engine to pump the water out[157]. The whole area was found to be undermined by chambers and passages, with walls chiefly of brick, but some of tufa, with indications of several different periods[158].

When the Pontifical Government returned to power in 1815, Pope Pius VII. ordered the enormous buttress to be built, for supporting one end of the wall then left broken, and preventing the ruin from extending further. We have already lost forty-seven out of the eighty arches, which have been destroyed for using the materials by previous Popes to build their family palaces, or monasteries and churches, so that there remain only thirty-three of the external arches of travertine. The other end of the wall, near the Meta Sudans, was left in a dangerous state until that was also supported by the great buttress of Leo XII. In 1828, Gregory XVI. followed the example of his immediate predecessors, and rebuilt in brick some arches of what had been the internal corridors, but had become external, owing to the demolition of the great outer arcades in earlier ages. In 1852, Pius IX. repaired the principal entrance from the Esquiline side, and some more of the arches of the inner arcade.

Under the arena was all the machinery usual under the stage of a large theatre; and much space was required for it. When the boards had to be cleared off the central part, to leave open the four long channels of water, which are seen in the view of the Colosseum taken in 1812[159], and the space between them which was probably flooded to the depth of a few feet for effect, the boards removed from the centre must have been piled up at the sides, and on the large corbels before mentioned[160]. Apollodorus, the architect, in his celebrated reply to the Emperor Hadrian, told him that _he ought to have_ prepared a place for the machinery of the great amphitheatre under the platform, and in such a manner that the great building should have been visible from the Forum Romanum. The site intended by him for the temple evidently was the large level platform on the Summa Sacra Via, on which S. Francesca Romana now stands; and the place for the machinery intended by him was obviously that excavated in the spring of 1874, under the south-east end of the platform immediately opposite to the Colosseum, a very convenient place for the purpose. There still remains a rude rubble vault, of the time of the Republic, with a small aqueduct introduced in the time of the early Empire to carry water to the fountains at each corner of the Porticus Liviæ, which must have been on this site, but which did not extend to the end. There is an excellent place for a temple at the end of the _porticus_ or colonnade; and the platform could easily have been extended several yards nearer to the Colosseum: it is evident that this is what Apollodorus said that Hadrian _ought to have done_, but that he had not done so.

At the south-east end, under the old entrance, at the present level of the ground, a long passage has been found, with a series of square-topped arches, at about fifteen feet below that level. This has been traced further to the south, beyond the limits of the building; it must have led from the great foss-way in that direction. There is a large and deep drain extending from the south end of the Colosseum, turning at an angle and passing at the foot of the Claudium to the Meta Sudans, near the arch of Constantine. It was continued under the present Via di S. Gregorio, and the south-east end of the Palatine[161].

In one part, near the south end, on the western side of the central passage at the lowest level, which is twenty-one feet below the present level of the ground and the top of the walls of the substructure, the two ancient tufa walls (before mentioned) remain nearly perfect, with the vertical grooves opposite to each other, evidently for lifts to slip up and down, and in each instance in the wall on one side a hollow is cut, for the counter-weight to work up and down[162]. These lifts are very near together in the outer passage, in front of the _podium_, but far below the bottom of it. Behind each of them is a small square chamber under the passage in front of it, with a narrow entrance to it, and a small stream of water running in front for the use of the animals, as these are plainly the dens for the wild beasts to be placed in temporarily, and there is just space enough for the animal to pass through into the wooden cage (_pegma_[163]), which had two doors, one at the side, the other at the top. When the cage on the lift was pulled up to the level of the floor of the stage or arena, under one of the trap-doors, the upper part was pulled up by a cord from below along with the trap-door, and the animal thus placed at liberty sprang out on to the stage. In the original pavement, which remains round a great part in the passages, behind the place for each of the lifts, is a round hole for the socket of a pivot to work in, evidently for the windlass for winding up the cord[164]. It is calculated that there was one of these lifts in front of each arch, and a den behind each, all round the _enceinte_ of the building, so that all the wild beasts could spring on to the stage at once with tremendous effect. The persons in the lower gallery were protected by strong nets, and by bars that turned round on pivots, so that the claws of wild beasts had no hold upon them.

Under the long passage which comes in at the south end is a large drain at a considerably lower depth; there are gratings in the paved floor of the passage above opening into it, which had unfortunately been stopped up in some of the great floods, but was partially cleared out as far as the Meta Sudans in 1875. The paved floor of the passage over the drain under the arena is three feet above the level of the pavement, which is of herring-bone brickwork (_opus spicatum_), and the passage before mentioned goes all round the building nearly under the edge of the _podium_. Modern iron steps have been placed for people to descend to the bottom of the building, and under these is seen the ancient iron grating to prevent anything being carried off by the rush of water[165]. From this it is evident that the great drain was to carry off the water used in the canals for the _naumachia_, when the Emperor “ordered the water to be let off and the boards to be replaced.” There are evident marks of a great flood-gate or sluice drawn up, as a portcullis, at the entrance to this drain. It also appears that the vessels were floated down on the wooden framework on which they were dragged along, now made visible, but it does not appear that they could have been floated up also to the level of the canals. The space between the wooden floor of the _stage_, called the arena, and the original pavement being twenty-one feet, the canals were ten feet deep, and yet room is left for the passages and machinery under them. Possibly, but not probably, the whole central space could be floated, excepting just at the south end, where room was left for the machinery. The vessels were probably never removed from the building, but left under the vaults, and dragged out when required.

The tufa walls with the grooves for lifts belong to the earliest part of the building, and must be earlier than the time of Nero[166], as has been shewn; and his _stagnum navale_, or _naumachia_, his _venationes_, or wild-beast hunts, and gymnasium, which are recorded as belonging to his great palace, could have been nowhere else but on this spot.

We now see distinctly the large corbels[167] all round the building at a certain height, about six feet below the present level of the soil, for carrying the boards of the great floor covered with sand called the arena, upon which the athletes wrestled, the wild beasts were killed, and the persons condemned to death were torn to pieces by wild beasts; so that the martyrdom of the early Christians who were condemned to death in this manner took place on the sand of the _arena_, and not on the soil of the _area_. These corbels, in some instances, at the south end of the building, have the ends of them built into the old tufa wall, which is cut away to receive them. This old wall is not so regular in plan as the great work of the Flavian Emperors, the architect of which probably intended to destroy these old walls ultimately. Dio Cassius (himself a Roman senator) gives a vivid description of scenes which took place in this Amphitheatre[168] in his presence, in the time of Commodus (as has been said), which leaves no doubt about the matter. Similar scenes are described in the time of Nero. The whole of the arena was, in fact, supported in all directions by the walls of the chambers or passages not more than ten feet apart; one object of which, no doubt, was to carry the great boarded floor, that could be removed at pleasure by the order of the emperor, and replaced as readily[169].

The excavations of 1874 and 1875[170] very much astonished the people in Rome, and more especially the English visitors, who had been long accustomed to consider the _area_ and the _arena_ to be the same thing; they were amazed to see the whole of the area undermined with walls[171]. The walls that were first seen are for the most part brick walls of the fifth century, and the inscription[172] found there in 1814 records that they had been repaired by Lampadius, prefect, A.D. 442. This was after they had been much damaged by an earthquake. Another inscription records repairs of the _arena_ and the _podium_ by Basilius, prefect and consul, A.D. 508, after another earthquake. A long subterranean passage[173] at a considerable depth, leads out at the south-east end in the direction of the church of S. Clement; this passage passes under a number of square-topped arches or doorways, and has rather the appearance of having been a state entrance at the time that the level of the street was as low as that passage, that is, before the filling-up of the foss-ways, which began in the second century. On each side of this passage is a long narrow vaulted chamber parallel to it, under the corridor, and in the pavement of each of these chambers is a series of six round holes lined with hard copper or bronze, for a pivot to work in; they are somewhat worn, and in a straight line one behind the other. The most probable use for these was for a windlass or capstan to be worked in each, and by these means to drag along the vessels in the canals before mentioned, as extending down the centre of this colossal building.

It has also been mentioned that a very ancient wooden frame, calculated for the keel of a vessel to slide upon, remained on the ground in 1875, just within the passage at the south-east end of the building, as if the vessels used in the sham fights could be placed out of sight in the lofty central passage. This is said by those accustomed to dockyards to have all the appearance of a dry dock, or a cradle for vessels to stand upon[174]. We read of the vessels being divided into two nations or sides, there were probably six on each side, and each nation occupied one of the canals. It is probable that the surface between the two canals on either side of this central passage, just under the level of the arena (which was twenty-one feet above the brick floor), was flooded with two or three feet in water, but the keels of the vessels were in the canals. On either side of the passages before mentioned[175] are remains of other walls of tufa, with vertical grooves in them, as if for lifts; the brick walls, between those of tufa, have been introduced at a later period, and in these instances the grooves are not opposite each other. This shews that great alterations have been going on at different periods in these subterranean works, some of which are earlier than the existing building, and others considerably later[176]. In one place, near the south-east entrance, the two old stone walls, with the vertical grooves, remain in their original places facing each other, so that lifts might work up and down in them.

Architects had long wondered where the builders could possibly have obtained such an immense mass of materials in so short a time, it was therefore evidently natural that they should make use of anything that served their purpose. It appears that in some parts the galleries for the spectators of the old Naumachia were thus made use of as they stood, without actually rebuilding them. The great tufa blocks of the second wall of Rome were also used as old materials for the substructure of the great stone arcades; but the builders, who had to add the upper gallery, were afraid to trust the soft tufa to carry so great a weight[177], and therefore built piers of travertine about four feet wide[178]. These piers to support the upper gallery go right through the walls of all the lower galleries, from the top to the bottom of the building (as has been said on p. 12).

The architectural details of the Colosseum are much admired by architects; the cornice-mouldings of the lower storey are good examples of the style of the latter part of the first century[179]. The supply of water for the naval fights must have been from the Aqueducts; the water was brought from the Cœlian in a shallow channel, carried upon a lofty double colonnade, or arcade[180]. It has been mentioned[181] that there are slight remains of three reservoirs to receive it, which can be traced by remains of the particular cement used only for the aqueducts[182]. The continuations of the shallow channel along the corridors can be seen in many places, and are shewn in the photographs[183].

In the upper storey of the third century, on the exterior, the corbels for the masts to rest upon, and the holes in the cornice for them to pass through, have been mentioned[184]. On the interior of this wall, now that it has been stripped of plaster, and the wooden gallery that had been built up against it has been destroyed, we see clearly how hastily it has been built of old materials[185]. In other parts it has been cased with modern brickwork, but the corbels for fastening the masts on the inside are preserved[186].

THE EVIDENCE OF THE CONSTRUCTION, AND COMPARISON.

It is well known that the first principle of the modern science of archæology is comparison. To compare small remains of one place with more perfect remains of the same kind, and as far as may be, of the same period, in other places. By these means, what has been destroyed in one is frequently supplied by the corresponding part in another. This is remarkably the case with regard to the amphitheatres, which are very numerous; there was one to every Roman town of importance, and such large buildings have almost invariably left remains visible[187]. It appears nearly certain that the Colosseum in Rome was the earliest, and that this was the type generally followed more or less closely by the others. This was a gradual development, and not merely one original design; the magnificent front and stone corridors of the Flavian emperors, which constitute what is usually considered to be the amphitheatre, were in fact built round a theatre previously existing[188]; that the names of theatre or amphitheatre were used indifferently is implied in many instances, and is distinctly shewn by an inscription found in the Colosseum itself, and preserved on the spot, in which it is called _theatrum_, and not _amphitheatrum_[189]. The theatre, or amphitheatre, round which the corridors were built, has been shewn to have been in parts of the time of Nero[190], and other parts earlier, most probably the work of Scaurus in the time of Sylla[191]. This colossal building was finished and consecrated by Titus in the year 80[192].

CAPUA.

The great amphitheatre at Capua is almost of the same size as the Colosseum in Rome, and a remarkably exact copy of it; some say that it was called by the same name, but this is rather doubtful, as persons who have resided at Capua for years say they have never heard it so called; the name is not of much importance: the plan and arrangements are identical, and although the superstructure has been almost entirely destroyed, the substructures at Capua are far more perfect than in Rome; and here we have the mouth of an aqueduct perfect in these substructures, and remains of canals for water, with the very massive walls to support them, exactly as in Rome. The great drain to carry off the water also remains, but on rather a different plan; instead of being carried under a low arch at the end of the great central passage, as in Rome, the water is conveyed into a large and deep well in the centre of the building, with four small channels running into it, beside the great central opening. From this well there is a large and deep drain leading to the river. There are the same dens for wild beasts under the _podium_, and in the pavement the same sockets for pivots to work in, to pull up the cages, or _pegmata_, or lifts. The arena, instead of being a boarded floor, is of brick, carried on vaults, with numerous square apertures for the trap-doors. The central passage is vaulted at the two ends, but open in the greater part. Round each of the openings there is a deep groove, as if a wooden cover had been fitted tightly over each and made water-tight, so that the surface of the arena might be flooded for naval fights; but there is reason to believe that only rowing-boats, drawing little water, were used in this instance, and not galleys.

The earliest part of the building at Capua is of the time of the Emperor Hadrian, but only a small part of that period remains, as shewn by the construction (reticulated work with a framework of brick). Most of the walls in the substructure are faced with brick of the second or third century, with later repairs[193].

PUTEOLI OR POZZUOLI.

This amphitheatre is very much smaller than either the Colosseum in Rome, or the amphitheatre at Capua; the superstructure is in a very ruinous state, but the substructure is almost perfect, and the work is much more highly finished than in either of the others. There are considerable remains of rich stucco ornament on the vault over the passage to one of the side doors. The arena is nearly intact, and is of brick, carried on vaults, what the Italians call _pensile_; this word does not mean literally hanging, but hollow underneath; and this brick floor is full of square holes for trap-doors; round the edge of each is a deep groove, as if for a cover to fit into, which may very well have been made water-tight. Signor Scherillo, a native of Pozzuoli, and now a canon of the cathedral at Naples, has published several papers on this amphitheatre in the _Atti dell’ Accademia di Archeologia, Letteratura e belle Arti di Napoli_. He is of opinion that the arena was flooded to the depth of about three feet, or about half way up the _podium_; the water would only cover the two or three lower steps, and there were probably also water-tight doors at the foot of them. At a short distance in front of the _podium_ is a channel about a foot deep, in which probably a beam of wood has lain, and at intervals of ten or twelve feet is a square hole, evidently for a beam of wood to have stood in, no doubt the lower part of the frame for the netting to keep off the wild beasts from the people in the lower gallery, as in the Colosseum, and probably carried up as poles or masts to receive the lower ends of the cords to carry the awning; there are also remains at the top of the outer wall of the same arrangement of fixing the masts there as in the Colosseum, and the same thing can be seen in many other amphitheatres where the outer wall remains perfect. This amphitheatre is entirely of the time of Hadrian, a beautiful piece of construction. It seems to have been a favourite show-place of the Emperors on state occasions, for the upper classes and foreigners, when the fleet was assembled in the Bay of Naples, in which the Cape of Misenum is one of the promontories near this spot. The enormous reservoir of water for the supply of the fleet, called the _Piscina Mirabilis_, is also not far off; and the amphitheatre belonged to the great imperial villa, originally of Nero, in the bay adjoining.

This amphitheatre has been shamefully used in the Middle Ages, the arena having been made into a cabbage garden, with a deep bed of earth upon it. The upper parts of the walls had probably been damaged by the great earthquake, and in order to get rid of the numerous broken columns and capitals lying about, the gardeners threw them down the openings into the vaults below, where they are stacked up under the arches like so many mere blocks of stone, to put them out of the way. Fortunately it is owing probably to the vaults having thus been made use of, that they have been so well preserved, and also because there was not much call for building-stone in the neighbourhood, as the ruins of the villa and the temples had supplied as much as was wanted.

VERONA.

In many of the Italian cities, as well as in Gaul and Britain, the amphitheatre was made of earth and wood only, the seats cut out in banks on the slope of a hill or of an _agger_, in districts where stone was scarce. In the Circus Maximus also the seats for the _plebs_ on the Aventine seem to have been made in that manner, the stone galleries were on the Palatine only.

At VERONA, as in many other instances, the outer wall has been almost entirely destroyed; two bays, or four arches of it only remain, but these are sufficient to shew the plan, and that it was three storeys high, the Tuscan order of columns being used throughout. The upper storey seems to have been for the passage round the seats over the corridors; the two lower ones with the seats remain nearly perfect, forming a fine double arcade on the outer side without columns, now made visible by the demolition of the outer corridor and wall. In its present state it is one of the finest buildings of its class. There seems to be no historical evidence of its date; in Murray’s Handbook it is said to be of the time of the Flavian Emperors, but no authority for this is given, and it is not probable. The measurements given by Maffei do not _quite_ agree with those taken by Alvino[194], but the variations are not great; and as one is taken in Neapolitan palms of ten inches, the other in Veronese feet, the apparent variation probably arose only from the different mode of calculating. None of them agree with those in Murray’s Handbooks, which are taken from the Lectures of Mr. Woods. The general proportions may be judged of by the number of persons that each would contain; Publius Victor states that the Colosseum had 87,000 places, and Maffei states that this at Verona had 77,000, this would make it one-eighth less. The variations are not of much importance. The outer wall was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 1184, and the stones were then used as building material, as in other places, but this was soon stopped. The unusually perfect state of the seats arises from the care taken of them in the Middle Ages, very much to the credit of the inhabitants at that period. As early as 1228, it was agreed that each _podesta_ (or mayor) should expend 500 lire (about £20[195]) on the repairs of this building; and in 1435 penalties were inflicted on any one who removed any of the stone. This shews that the people of Verona were more civilized than the Romans at that period. In 1545 a special officer was appointed to take charge of it. The restoration of the seats has been carefully done, and is not perceived without some examination. This restoration was begun by voluntary subscription as early as 1568, and continued as late as 1805. The arches were numbered on the exterior, as in the Colosseum; the four that remain have the numbers LXIIII to LXVII over them. The arrangement of the masts and poles for the awning are the same as in Rome, and were managed in the same manner. The plan of the _vomitoria_ is also nearly the same. No excavations appear to have been made _under_ the arena; a plan and section of the substructures under the galleries is given by Maffei, they are similar to those in Rome. He does not appear to have been aware that there was likely to have been anything under the arena; he mentions the conduits of aqueducts, and drains for carrying off the water, which seem to shew that _naumachia_ were held here, but we have no information as to how they were managed.

The proportions of the three principal amphitheatres, as given in the work of Alvino[196], in Neapolitan palms[197] of ten inches are:—

| Colosseum. | Verona. | Capua.
+------------+---------+--------
Length of interior | 639 | 522 | 645
Breadth of interior | 527 | 417 | 530
Length of arena | 298 | 252 | 289
Breadth of arena | 186 | 149 | 174
Height of first order | 35 | 29 | 36
Entire height of interior | 174 | 91 | 169
No. of orders[198] | 4 | 3 | 4
Actual height of ruins | 171 | 62 | 75
No. of arches | 80 | 72 | 80
Circuit | 170 | 134 | 178
Gates | 2 | 1 | 2
Width of arches | 15 | 12½ | 15
Breadth of pilasters | 8 | 6⅓ | 8

THE AMPHITHEATRE AT POLA, IN ISTRIA.

This fine structure is built of beautiful white stone, almost marble, in large blocks without mortar, but it had metallic fastenings, which have all disappeared, and left their marks behind them. There are two rows of arches, and above a line of square windows; also a curious stone parapet, with very distinct indications of arrangement for spreading the _velarium_ or _vela_ (the awning). There is only one line of columns, but there was originally a second, and most of the bases of them are still _in situ_. The amphitheatre is built against a rocky mountain, which causes the northern part of the ellipse to be much lower than the outer one. There are numerous passages and substructures, except on the rocky half of the building. There are two principal entrances facing each other, and in a line with them is a trench exactly similar to the one in the Colosseum, and at Capua, &c. These canals for conducting water into the arena can still be seen, and there seems no doubt of its having been used for _naumachia_. There are but few remains of the seats, except a large accumulation of _débris_, and traces of the stairs and _vomitoria_. The whole line of the _podium_ is also perfectly preserved, but no trace of the concentric _euripus_ found in other amphitheatres. The most puzzling parts of the structure are four rectangular towers, which appear to have had no special staircases leading to them from the ground; antiquaries, with all their ingenuity, have not yet given any satisfactory explanation of these objects. They were most probably for the music, as in the circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia, near Rome, where one tower remains at each end of the _carceres_[199].

The amphitheatre at Nîmes, in Aquitaine, still has a wooden floor with trap-doors in it; the present floor is not ancient, but no doubt replaces an old one; there is no staircase, and the only access to the passages below is by a step-ladder, and the arrangement of the substructures is quite different from that in Rome, or at Capua, or Puteoli. There are large masses of stone at intervals to support the floor, and wide passages between them. On two of these massive piers are inscriptions, with the name of the architect, the same inscription repeated twice, in characters of the third century. There are no signs of _naumachia_, or of aqueducts; the seats and the superstructure are more perfect than usual, and have a very fine effect.

At Arles the superstructure also is very grand, but there are no substructures under the arena visible. It is partly cut out of the rock, the lower part supported by massive substructures, but no passages in them are visible. Excavations have not been made there, and the doorways appear to be filled up to half their height, as at the Porta Tiburtina in Rome.

At Bordeaux the ruins of the amphitheatre are called the (_arènes_) arena, and it evidently had a boarded floor covered with sand, as in the Colosseum; and the superstructures, with the seats, are more perfect than in Rome. There is a great general resemblance, but the details are not the same. The Colosseum is the only amphitheatre which has _double_ corridors round it, and the absence of this outer passage makes a different arrangement of the stairs to the _vomitoria_ necessary in this and other amphitheatres, where the people went straight out through each archway.

SUBSTRUCTURES COMPARED.

In treating of the amphitheatres in general, and corroborating the account given in this work of the Colosseum, it must be borne in mind that in every theatre a considerable space is required behind the scenes for the use of the actors. The performances in an amphitheatre would equally require such space for the performers when off the stage, and the only space to which they could possibly retire is under that stage which is called the _arena_, because it was covered with sand; and it has been shewn that in these substructures there are numerous passages and contrivances for the machines to send up the wild beasts to be hunted, the men and the dogs to hunt them, and the athletes for the wrestling matches; we have also canals for water for the keels of the vessels, in some instances, but not in all; in some cases, the vessels employed could only have been rowing-boats, _rates_. We have also mention of battles with swords in the _naumachia_, and of many men being killed. This seems to make it clear that the principal amusement consisted in the crew of one vessel trying to board the other, and the defendants preventing their doing so in every way that they could, either by throwing them off into the water, or with swords and spears.

At Pozzuoli, where the substructures are nearly perfect, there are remains of an intermediate passage, as if for men to run along; and this has been traced to communicate with the Emperor’s seat, and is thought to have been for messengers to go with orders, and to give the necessary directions. All that remains of this intermediate passage are the corbels for carrying a wooden gallery upon. There are similar corbels for an intermediate passage between two floors in the Colosseum, but here in the upper part, apparently for the sailors to run along to furl or unfurl the awning, not in the substructures; there also appear to have been separate stairs and _vomitoria_ for that passage, and as we know that several hundred sailors were employed in the Colosseum, such an arrangement would be quite necessary.

Mention has frequently been made of the great central passage, which exists not only in the Colosseum, but in all other amphitheatres where substructures were made. This passage appears to have served for several useful purposes; there are traces of machines in it for lifting up some large object, not only in the Colosseum but also at Capua; and the things to be lifted up in all probability must have been the vessels for the naval fights. This central passage is mentioned or implied in several instances in the classical authors; it had the appearance of a gulf dividing the earth or _arena_ into two parts. Apuleius calls it _vorago terræ_ (a gulf of the earth); Martial, the _via media_, or middle way; and Petronius, _ruina terræ_, from the appearance of a swallowing-up the machines and the gladiators.

The machines used for these public amusements were evidently numerous and important, and required a good deal of space to stow them away, more even than was afforded by the vaults and passages under the arena in the Colosseum. This is implied by the celebrated letter of Apollodorus, the architect, to the Emperor Hadrian, in which the architect told the Emperor that he _ought to have_ built the Temple of Roma at the south end of the Summa Sacra Via, and to have made room for this machinery of the amphitheatre in vaulted chambers under it (as before mentioned); _that he did not do so_ is evident, for the excavations of 1874 brought to light rude concrete walls of the time of the Republic, with a small aqueduct of the time of the Early Empire, made to carry water to the fountains at the corners of the _porticus_ above. The accounts which we have in classical authors, of the machinery employed in the amphitheatre, remind us very much of that used for a Christmas pantomime in one of the London theatres, and all these great shows were very much of the character of a pantomime. To begin at the top, the cords which carried the _velarium_, or awning, were strong enough for a rope-dancer, and were called by the name of _catadromus_; and we have an account in Suetonius, in the time of Nero, of an elephant being taught to walk upon these cords with a Roman cavalier on his back[200]. We also have an account of an actor trying to play the part of Icarus, and fly down from the top, falling dead at the feet of Nero, and sprinkling him with his blood[201].

The _pegmata_ have been mentioned as cages for wild beasts, and this was evidently one meaning of the word, as used by Seneca in his Epistles, quoted in a previous page, but this was one meaning only; the same name was applied to a wooden framework of any kind, sometimes evidently what we now call scenery, either fixed or moveable. Josephus mentions _pegmata_ used in the triumphal procession of Titus, one of which was three storeys high, and another four, on which were representations of the capture of Jerusalem. Another is mentioned by Calpurnius as representing the Tarpeian rock[202], and the victims were thrown from the top of it on to the arena, or into the gulf, and killed on the spot. Apuleius also describes one as representing Mount Ida, with trees, and shrubs, and fountains, on which appeared from time to time Paris and Mercury, and the three goddesses, Juno, Pallas, and Venus, with a number of animals to complete the scene[203]. Another is described by Claudian as representing Mount Etna[204], with the flames burning at the top. Others representing Vulcan and Cyclops; these were in the shows of Carinus and Numerianus, and are mentioned by Vopiscus[205]. It is evident that this scenery must have been prepared below and sent up from the central passage, as there was no room anywhere else for sending it up. Martial[206] also mentions _pegmata_ as rising, from this middle way, and that a person could see from thence THE COLOSSUS among the stars. As the Colossus stood on an elevated platform on the Summa Sacra Via, just in a line with this middle way, and was itself 120 ft. high, it is quite probable that the head of it could be seen from below, over the upper gallery.

The dens for the wild beasts in the substructures under the _podium_ are found both at Capua and at Pozzuoli, just as in the Colosseum, and the technical name for such a den was _catabolus_[207]. Besides the mention by Herodian of a hundred lions leaping on to the arena at once, as “if out of the earth,” (mentioned in page 26), the same thing is mentioned by several other authors at different periods, both of lions and of other wild beasts. Vopiscus mentions this in the life of Probus[208], and that all the doorways were stopped for a time; and he distinctly mentions the animals coming out of the caves below. Ammianus Marcellinus[209] also mentions the doorways being often stopped for the wild beasts. Statius mentions the same[210], and Julius Capitolinus, both in the time of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. In each case a hundred lions are mentioned, and in the latter that they were killed with arrows; and in the time of Probus, not only a hundred lions, but also a hundred Lybian leopards, a hundred Syrian ones, a hundred lionesses, and three hundred bears. Lampridius[211] also mentions in the time of Gordianus the almost incredible number of a thousand bears, in addition to a hundred Lybian leopards.

To protect the people in the lower gallery from these wild beasts, a strong netting was provided (as has been mentioned); this was of gold wire, fixed in a wooden frame, and at the top was an ivory rod which turned round, so that if an animal should attempt to cling to it, he would necessarily fall back. This net was called _retia_, and at Puteoli or Pozzuoli it was either of gold, or gilt; and this was the case in the Colosseum also, and in other instances. Our authority for this is Calpurnius in his Eclogues[212].

The naval fights with the larger vessels were sometimes held in the Circus Maximus, which could be flooded to the depth required by stopping up at the lower end the stream that runs through it, which is in fact a branch of the small river Almo, but was in this part called the Euripus. This name was also given to the canals for the _naumachia_, as in the Colosseum. This must have been the case, because the Emperor Heliogabalus upon one occasion filled these canals with wine, which could not have been done in the Circus Maximus, where the Euripus was a natural running stream of water; but in the Colosseum a canal supplied with water from an aqueduct, which could be let in or drawn off at pleasure, might very well have been filled with wine during an abundant season, when in Rome the wine is sometimes worth less than the vessel that holds it, so that large quantities are frequently wasted for want of casks to put it in. In all wine-growing countries, the same thing occurs from time to time in superabundant seasons. It is true that these naval fights were called Circensian games, because they were sometimes held in a circus (as has been said), but the same name was given to them when they were held in the amphitheatre, as in this instance, by Lampridius[213]. Martial[214] distinguishes very clearly both the one and the other, and makes it evident that the _stagna_ of Nero were used for the _naumachia_ of the Cæsars.

That the vaults under the arena were called _caveæ_, caves (or cavities), has been already mentioned, and is evident from many passages in classical and mediæval authors; as in Tertullian and in Prudentius[215], when describing the scenes that had taken place in the amphitheatre as the wicked rites in which the gladiators were killed on the arena, and the impious games in which the sad spectacles of funereal character were brought up from the caves, worthy only of the infernal Jupiter (whom the Christians call Satan).

THE ARENA.

That one of the modes of putting criminals to death in Rome was to throw them to the wild beasts to be torn to pieces on the arena, to glut the savage taste of the Roman people, is notorious; but that many of the gladiators and other actors were also frequently killed on the arena is not so generally known, and yet the evidence for it is too distinct to be doubted. Seneca mentions distinctly, in one of his Epistles[216], that a number of the bodies were exposed to view, of men who were unable to defend themselves by their swords or their shields. He justly says that the men were as savage as the lions or the bears, and the usual end of these fighting men was death on the arena. There is a representation of them in a fine mosaic picture in the Villa Borghese, with the letter θ, and others on two of the _graffiti_ found in the Colosseum in 1875[217].

It is well known that the Roman people sometimes called upon the emperor to produce the most celebrated gladiators, who had been named in the programme for the show. Horace[218] alludes to this in his Epistles; and Martial[219] speaks of two of these gladiators, one called Myrinus, and the other Triumphus (a name which has misled some of the commentators). Another gladiator of that period was named Columbus, and was called for by the people under Claudius, who promised that he should be exhibited if he could be found, as is related by Suetonius[220]. Under Gordianus we are told that thirty-two elephants, and about a thousand gladiators were exhibited; it is probable that many of these were killed in the fight. It has already been stated that Commodus fought himself with the gladiators on the arena.

There was a particular costume for the athletes, and also for the emperor when he went on to the arena, and Commodus gave offence by not complying with the custom which had been established by Titus at the opening, as is mentioned by Suetonius[221]. The carrying out of the dead bodies from the arena is also mentioned by Quintilian[222] as done with pomp. Lampridius[223] expressly says that Commodus acted contrary to the established custom, and was not dressed in the proper manner; and that his helmet was carried out of the theatre by the gate by which the dead bodies were usually carried out, which was considered a bad omen, and he was murdered soon afterwards. This is also mentioned by Dio Cassius (as quoted on page 23).

THE GATES.

There were naturally four gates to this enormous structure, one at each end, and one in the middle of each side; and the same arrangement was followed in all the other amphitheatres. By what names these gates were called, and whether these names were special for each particular building, or general for all, is a question still undecided, and also which was the state entrance. It is commonly said that in the Colosseum the state entrance was on the northern side, next the Esquiline Hill, because there is no number over that arch as there is over the other arches, but this was probably the case with all the four entrances; the other three gates are destroyed. The excavations in 1875 have been supposed to shew that the passage on the southern side towards the Cœlian did not lead direct to the palace of Commodus, but was carried round the outer line of the building to the south-east end, near S. Clemente; the natural entrance from the palace of Nero would be from the gate at the east end, and not on the north side. The names of the gates are not easily fixed; one was called Porta Libitinensis, and from this door the bodies of those who were killed were carried out, as we learn from Lampridius in the life of Commodus[224]. They were carried out of this gate on a special bier provided for the purpose, called _sandapila_, as is mentioned by Juvenal[225], and explained by the old Scoliast. This name is sometimes written _sanavivaria_, as in the _Acta Martyrum Felicita et Perpetua_[226]. The word _libitina_ signifies death, or a funeral, or a bier; it is used also by Horace in his Odes[227], and explained by the Scoliast in the same manner, and by Martial in his Epigrams[228]. It appears that the name of _sandapilaria_ and _libitinensis_ were synonymous. Another gate was called Porta Prætoria, probably that at the south-east end, opening from the road to the Vivarium at the Prætorian Camp. Another, Porta Sacra, probably that at the north-west end, opening to the Via Sacra. The Meta Sudans was close to this gate, and was supplied with water by tubes, as Seneca mentions in his Epistles[229]. His fifty-seventh letter is full of lamentation for the fate of the athletes.

The name of _cochlea_ is given to one of the doors of the amphitheatre, which led from the _cavea_ to the arena. This name is used by Varro[230], and has puzzled all the commentators; it need hardly be said that _cochlea_ is literally “a snail,” and the name has been supposed to apply to some narrow doorway; but the name is well known in mediæval Latin as applied to a winding or newel staircase, popularly called a corkscrew-staircase, and there are two such staircases leading from the substructures or _cavea_ to the level of the arena, one on either side, at the south-east end of the great central passage in the Flavian amphitheatre, to which there can be no doubt that this name was applied. Trajan’s column is frequently called _columna cochlea_, because there is such a staircase inside of it.

THE GAMES IN THE ARENA.

The importance attached to the public amusements, both by the people and by the emperors, appears extraordinary to modern ideas. Caligula[231] was present from morning to evening, and had a series of the various kinds of hunting in different countries exhibited, such as the hunts of the Africans and of the Trojans; on these occasions, the arena was strewed with red and green foliage. At this period Suetonius also mentions that the people assembled at midnight for the shows of the following day, when they were gratuitous[232]. The Emperor Claudius himself would go at daybreak to the amphitheatre, and see the wild beasts fed, and again at mid-day[233]. The same practice is mentioned by Pliny as used in the time of Nero[234]. Petronius also mentions the custom for two old negroes to sprinkle the arena with scents from small bottles, which they brought for the purpose[235]. Tacitus gives an account of the games performed under his own direction in the time of Claudius[236].

“During the same consulship, in the year of Rome eight hundred,
the secular games were celebrated, after an interval of
sixty-four years since they were last solemnized in the reign
of Augustus.

“Being at that time one of the college of fifteen, and invested
with the office of prætor, it fell to my province to regulate
the ceremonies. Let it not be imagined that this is said from
motives of vanity. The fact is, that in ancient times the
business was conducted under the special directions of the
quindecemviral order, while the chief magistrates officiated
in the several ceremonies. Claudius thought proper to revive
this public spectacle. He attended in the circus, and, in his
presence, the Trojan game was performed by the youth of noble
birth. Britannicus, the emperor’s son, and Lucius Domitius, who
by adoption took the name of Nero, and afterwards succeeded to
the empire, appeared, with the rest of the band, mounted on
superb horses. Nero was received with acclamations, and that
mark of popular favour was considered as an omen of his future
grandeur.”

APPENDIX.

SCAURUS.

The meaning of the word Scaurus is “club-footed,” and no doubt the first member of the family had that peculiar formation of the foot; but this family was a branch of the great Gens Æmilia, one member of that family built the Basilica Æmilia in the Forum Romanum, and another was one of the second Triumvirate. The Scaurus who built this great amphitheatre was a man of enormous wealth, and a great builder; he is mentioned by several of his contemporaries, of whom one was Cicero; he was an ædile, and was noted for his great liberality in his ædileship. His father was an orator, and was consul in the year of Rome 688 (B.C. 35); his mother, when a widow, married Sylla the dictator. Pliny mentions him several times in his Natural History[237]; he calls his buildings _insane_ works, on account of the enormous sum expended upon them, which must have exceeded the equivalent of two millions sterling of our money. The temporary amphitheatre which he built would hold 80,000 persons, it was three storeys high, and had 360 marble columns in it; these were on the ground-floor, and it is mentioned that those on the first floor were of glass[238], a luxury before unheard of (and apparently not repeated), on the upper storey they were of gilt wood. Pliny thus describes this building of Scaurus:—

“Mosaic pavements were first introduced in the time of Sylla;
at all events, there is still in existence a pavement[239],
formed of small segments, which he ordered to be laid down
in the Temple of Fortune, at Præneste. Since his time, these
mosaics have left the ground for the arched roofs of houses,
and they are now made of glass. This, however, is but a recent
invention; for there can be no doubt that, when Agrippa
ordered the earthenware walls of the hot baths, in the thermæ
which he was building at Rome, to be painted in encaustic,
and had the other parts coated with pargetting, he would have
had the arches decorated with mosaic in glass, if the use of
them had been known; or, at all events, if from the walls of
the theatre of Scaurus, where it figured, as already stated,
glass had by that time come to be used for the arched roofs of
apartments. It will be as well, therefore, to give some account
also of glass[240].”

“It may possibly be observed, that this was because marble was
not then introduced. Such, however, is not the fact; for in
the ædileship of M. Scaurus, three hundred and sixty columns
were to be seen imported, for the decorations of a temporary
theatre, too, one that was destined to be in use for barely a
single month. And yet the laws were silent thereon, in a spirit
of indulgence for the amusements of the public, no doubt. But
then, why such indulgence? or how do vices more insidiously
steal upon us than under the plea of serving the public? By
what other way, in fact, did ivory, gold, and precious stones,
first come into use with private individuals?