The Arena

Gladiatorial contests, like chariot races, were originally held in large open spaces with temporary seating; there is evidence that some munera were held in the Roman Forum, for example. As the games became more frequent and popular, there was need for a larger and more permanent structure. Although the Circus Maximus was often pressed into service because of its huge seating capacity, the Romans eventually designed a building specifically for this type of spectacle (called an amphitheatrum because the seating extended all the way around the oval or elliptical performance area, which was covered with sand, harena). Early amphitheaters, both in Rome and elsewhere, were built of wood, but stone amphitheaters proved to be much more durable; the oldest stone amphitheater, built in Pompeii in the first century CE and seating approximately 20,000, is still well preserved. Like Roman theaters, amphitheaters were freestanding; because they did not require natural hills, as Greek theaters did, they could be built anywhere.