Athena Review Image Archive ™
Rome: Colosseum interior (1890s photo)
Roman Colosseum interior (Anon. photo 1890s)
The Colosseum's floor or arena (76 x 46 m) was covered with sand (Latin arena, source of the English word arena), and surrounded with a 5 meter-high wall to protect spectators from wild beasts.
On
top of the wall was the podium, a wide terrace for the emperor and
other dignitaries, surrounded by the cavea or stands, divided into 3
tiers. The floor was sometimes flooded for mock naval battles called naumachiae.
In the 1810-1820 period, excavations by Carlo Fea and others had evealed a labyrinth of underground passageways beneath the colosseum. These included storage rooms for scenery and stage props as well as gladiator rooms, and cages for the animals used in the spectacles
Later they were reburied, and not exposed again until about 1900. This photo from the late 1890s shows the floor shortly before it was reexcavated.
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