Roman amphitheatre

Roman amphitheatres are amphitheatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, venationes (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire. Early amphitheatres date from the republican period, though they became more monumental during the imperial era.

Amphitheatres are distinguished from circuses, hippodromes, which were usually rectangular and built mainly for racing events and stadia, built for athletics. But several of these terms have at times been used for one and the same venue. The word amphitheatrum means "theatre all around". Thus an amphitheatre is distinguished from the traditional semicircular Roman theatres by being circular or oval in shape.

Components

The Roman amphitheatre is made up of 3 main parts; the cavea, the arena, and the vomitorium. The seating area is referred to as the cavea (Latin for enclosure). Cavea is formed of concentric rows of stands which are either supported by arches built into the framework of the building, or simply dug out of the hillside or built up using excavated material extracted during the excavation of the fighting area (the arena).

Roman Amphitheatre of Cagliari

The Roman Amphitheatre of Cagliari is an ancient Roman amphitheatre, located in the city of Cagliari, southern Sardinia, Italy.

The structure, built in the 2nd century AD, was half carved in the rock, while the rest was built in local white limestone, with a façade surpassing 20 m in height. It housed fights between men and animals, of gladiators and other specialized fighters recruited in and outside Sardinia. It was also the seat of public executions. It could house up to 10,000 spectators, some one third of the Roman Caralis.

The amphitheatre was no more in use starting from the 5th century AD and was subsequently used as a free stone quarry by the rulers of the area, from the Byzantines, the Republic of Pisa, the House of Aragon and others. The area was acquired by the comune of Cagliari in the 19th century and excavated under the direction of a clergyman, Giovanni Spano. It is now used for musical representations, which needed the construction of a structure whose presence has raised criticism due to its size.