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Roman amphitheatre "Arena"

The Roman amphitheatre of Verona has an elliptical shape of 152,4 x 123,2 m and it is conserved for part of its external ring (A), which is visible behind the amphitheatre, for the “cavea” (B), where the spectators sat, and for the arena (C), where the gladiator games and the “venationes” took place. The external ring (A) was made of three levels of arches, each level being of 72 openings. It is characterized by a façade in “opus quadratum” with white and pink limestone blocks and one single architectural order, the Tuscan. At present time the upper part of the ring is missing. However, it overall height must have been 31 metres. Roman numbers were engraved above the arches keystones, towards the road: the ones from 64 and 67 are still visible (LXIIII-LXVII). The “cavea” (B) could contain up to 30.000 spectators and it was made of 44 steps horizontally divided by three corridors into four horizontal sectors which in Latin are called “maeniana” and which are not visible today. Three concentric galleries, which today constitute the visit itinerary, supported the “cavea”. From these galleries the spectators would access the seats through 64 openings also called, in Latin, “vomitoria”. The important spectators accessed the amphitheatre from the entrances on the minor axis of the ellipsis. On the top of the “cavea” there was a further gallery, which has gone lost, where the spectators could stand or where they could seek shelter during rain. It is important to stress the fact that all the steps we can see today are the result of a reconstruction. This is also proved by ancient documents, which describe the arena as “gradibus vacua” (with no steps). The arena, that is the elliptical area in the middle of the building (C), was the place where the gladiator games and the “venationes” took place. The “venationes” were bloody shows during which wild animals were incited to fight one against the other or against hunters, supported by dogs. The arena was separated from the steps by a high podium, which is also visible today as a reconstruction. The two entrances on the major axis of the ellipsis provided access to the arena. They were called the “Triumphalis” and the “Libitinensis” gates, the former for the entrance of the games opening procession, the latter for the exit of the dead gladiators. Under the arena there were the sewers and a rectangular room with possible movable coverage, which was used for specific show tasks.