The archæology of Rome, Part 7

by John Henry Parker

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
THE COLOSSEUM.

• Actors, space required for, under the stage, [47].
• Alexander Severus, Piscina of, [5];
• walls of, [6].
• Amphitheatres a Roman invention (?), [4];
• —of Nero not in Campus Martius, [56], [58];
• —represented on coins, [21];
• —described as perfect by Ammianus Marcellinus, A.D. 357, [26];
• —restored by Lampadius, A.D. 445, [27];
• —again by Venantius Basilius, A.D. 508, [ib.];
• —used for shows of wild beasts by Theodoric, A.D. 519, [ib.];
• —again used in 523, the last occasion mentioned, [ib.];
• —again damaged by earthquake, A.D. 1703, [30];
• —consecrated as a church, A.D. 1724, [ib.];
• —north-western side nearly perfect, [ib.];
• —Arch of lower storey restored by Gordianus, A.D. 220-238, [31].
• — at Arles, [46].
• — at Bordeaux, [46].
• — at Capua, [40], [41].
• — at Nismes, [46].
• — at Pompeii, [63].
• — at Pozzuoli, [42], [65].
• — of Scaurus, on this spot, [56].
• — at Verona, [43], [65].
• Animals brought from vivaria in cages, called pegmata, [15].
• Apollodorus told Hadrian he ought to have provided space for the machinery, [34].
• Apuleius mentions pegmata in amphitheatre, [49].
• Arch of tufa shaken by an earthquake, supported by brick wall of Nero, [14].
• Arena, for the gymnasium, [1];
• —of wood covered with sand, and full of trap-doors, [7], [11];
• —no open space under the, [21];
• —criminals torn to pieces upon it, [52].
• Arles, Amphitheatre at, [46];
• no substructures visible, [ib.]
• Augustus intended to build an amphitheatre here, but did not, [15].
• Awning of Nero mentioned by Pliny, [23];
• contrivances for supporting it, [ib.];
• at Pompeii, shewn in a fresco, [24];
• an intermediate passage for sailors to manage awning, [47];
• cords for it, strong enough to carry an elephant, called catadromus, [48].
• Battles of sailors with swords, not with boats, [47].
• Benedict XIII. consecrated area of amphitheatre as a church, A.D. 1728, [30].
• Benedict XIV. erects cross and stations in amphitheatre, A.D. 1749, [30].
• Boards removed from arena placed on corbels provided for them, [34].
• Bordeaux, Amphitheatre at, [47];
• Remains called the Arènes, it had a boarded floor, [ib.]
• Brickwork of Nero here, [6].
• Building apparently perfect in time of Bede, [27];
• —made part of fortress of Frangipani, A.D. 1130, [28];
• —half given to Annibaldi by Frederick II., grant rescinded by Innocent IV. in A.D. 1244, [ib.];
• —much damaged by an earthquake, A.D. 1349, [ib.];
• —made common property as a stone-quarry, A.D. 1362, [29];
• —several palaces made out of this quarry, [ib.]
• Calpurnius mentions pegmata in amphitheatre, [49].
• Canals brought to light in 1812 and 1875, with substructures, [10];
• —great cisterns under boards, [14];
• about 10 ft. deep, but not always the same width, [ib.];
• —walls to support unusually thick, [ib.];
• —lined with lead, one on arches, the other on beams of wood, [ib.]
• Capitals fallen from upper gallery, [21].
• Capstans, sockets for, [7].
• Capua, Amphitheatre almost the same size as that of Rome, [40];
• —Substructures more perfect, [ib.];
• —Aqueduct and drain, [ib.];
• —Remains of aqueduct, [13];
• —Dens under the podium, [40];
• —Sockets for pivots for cages, [ib.];
• —Arena of brick, not wood, but apertures for trap-doors, [ib.];
• —Grooves for covers over them to make them water-tight, [ib.];
• —Building of the time of Hadrian, [ib.];
• —Inscription, [41];
• —Machine for lifting vessels, as in the Colosseum, [47].
• Castra Misenatium, for sailors employed in furling awning, or vela, or velaria, [24].
• Catadromus, cords for awning, [48].
• Cavea, name for an amphitheatre, [3];
• and for vaults under it, [51].
• Chambers, narrow and lofty vaulted, on each side of central passage, [38].
• Circensian games, name retained in amphitheatre, [51].
• Circus Maximus, sometimes used instead of amphitheatre, [50].
• Claudian mentions pegmata in amphitheatre, [49].
• Clivus Scauri, Arcade to this amphitheatre, [3].
• Colossus visible from gulf in amphitheatre, [49].
• Columns and capitals fallen from upper gallery on to arena, and into cavea, [21].
• Commodus, acts of, in this building, described by Dion Cassius, [22].
• Comparison and construction, [40];
• —one of the first principles of archæology, [ib.];
• —especially useful for this amphitheatre, [ib.]
• Construction, here made visible by demolition of outer corridor, [30].
• Corbels or brackets for placing boards of arena upon, [11], [36].
• Corridors, open channels for running water, in amphitheatre, [11];
• —water supplied by aqueducts, [ib.]
• Cradle, or dry-dock, in central passage, [18], [38].
• Culprits executed by being thrown to wild beasts in this amphitheatre, [3].
• Dens under the podium have arches of Neronian brickwork, [12];
• —small stream of water in front of them, [17].
• Drain, large, under passage, [35], and in Appendix, [56], [59];
• ancient iron grating at mouth of, [36];
• place for flood-gates visible, [ib.]
• Emperors went to see wild beasts fed, [55].
• Evidence of construction, and comparison, [40].
• Excavations begun by the French, A.D. 1810, [31];
• not deep enough, [33];
• shew channels for water, [32];
• —made in search of treasure, A.D. 1864, 1865, [33];
• —A.D. 1874, 1875, [1];
• results of them a great surprise, [37].
• Exhibitions by Julius Cæsar in circus required a separate building, [5].
• Framework, curious wooden, on floor of central passage, a cradle, or dry-dock, [18].
• Frangipani make amphitheatre part of fortress, A.D. 1130, [28].
• Front of three periods, upper storey added a century later, [19].
• Gallery, upper, of wood, destroyed by fire, [12];
• restored in stone, completed A.D. 240, under Gordianus, [ib.]
• Games on arena, [55];
• great importance attached to them, [ib.]
• Gates, usually four to each amphitheatre, [53];
• names of, not easily ascertained, [ib.];
• one called sandapila, [ib.];
• others called Porta Prætoria, Porta Sacra, Porta Cochlea, [54].
• Gaudentius employed upon it, not the architect of it, [20].
• Gladiators often killed, [52];
• —called for by the people, [ib.]
• Gordianus completed the building, and restored arch of lower storey, A.D. 220-238, [31].
• Grooves in walls for lifts, [7].
• Gulf, or central passage, in all amphitheatres, [47].
• Gymnasium on the arena, [1];
• of Nero also here, [6].
• Hadrian and Apollodorus, [34].
• Herodian mentions 100 lions leaping on to the arena in amphitheatre, [50].
• Icarus, an actor playing part of, fell dead at feet of Nero, [48].
• Inscriptions record dates of later walls, [7];
• —give the word Theatrum for Amphitheatre, [ib.]
• Jerusalem, view of, century xvi., [29].
• Joints, straight vertical, between the brick galleries and stone corridors, [6].
• Josephus mentions pegmata in amphitheatre, [49].
• Julius Cæsar, Amphitheatre of, [2].
• Julius Capitolinus mentions 100 lions in amphitheatre, [50].
• Lampadius restores amphitheatre, A.D. 445, [27].
• Lampridius mentions 100 lions in amphitheatre, [50].
• Lifts for men and dogs on both sides of central passage, [14];
• grooves for, remain in walls, [7].
• Lions, 100 killed at once in the shows, [26].
• Machine for raising stones for walls, [21].
• Machines required, numerous and large, [48].
• Martial’s first book, De Spectaculis, relates to this amphitheatre, [4];
• —mentions pegmata in amphitheatre, [49].
• Martyrdom of early Christians on sand of arena, not on soil 21 ft. below, [36].
• Mass celebrated in amphitheatre by Cardinal Vicar, A.D. 1756, [30].
• Masts, or poles, and corbels for awning, [24].
• Miracle plays performed in amphitheatre, A.D. 1540, [29].
• Mixture of stone and brick in construction, [19].
• Naumachia, the new, those of Augustus in Trastevere, [9];
• —the old, in this building, [1], [8], [10];
• —none in amphitheatre of Taurus, [10];
• —and Stagna, names used indifferently, [12];
• —the two sides were flooded, not the central passage, [14];
• —vessels employed in usually rates, [47].
• Naval fights held sometimes in Circus Maximus, [50];
• —must have been in canals of Colosseum, as Heliogabalus filled them with wine, [51];
• —called Circensian games, [ib.];
• —Martial distinguishes them, [ib.]
• Nero, substructures part of the time of, [1], [12];
• —gymnasium and naumachia of, on site of this amphitheatre, [5];
• —remains of aqueducts and piscina, [ib.];
• —gymnasium of, on the arena, [6];
• —brickwork of time of, [ib.];
• —supper of, in the amphitheatre, [7];
• —exterior of brick unfinished by him, and finished by Flavian Emperors in stone, [11];
• —two small chambers of brick, of his time, enclosed in travertine walls, [15];
• —awning of, mentioned by Pliny, [23];
• —amphitheatre of, not in Campus Martius, [56];
• —his Stagna were canals of aqueducts, [8].
• Netting to protect lower gallery of gold (or gilt) wire, called retia, [50].
• Nismes, amphitheatre still has a wooden floor with trap-doors in it, [46];
• arrangements below quite different, [ib.]
• Palaces, several made out of amphitheatre, [29].
• Passage, great, found at S.E. end, [34].
• Passages, small special, for messengers, intermediate between the great ones at Pozzuoli, and in Colosseum at Rome, [47];
• —central, or gulf, in all the amphitheatres, [ib.]
• Pavement, original here, 21 ft. below level of arena, [35].
• Pegmata, cages for wild beasts, [15];
• —described by Seneca, [16];
• —not only cages, but wooden machines, [49].
• Piers of travertine, introduced to support floors, [12];
• —from top to bottom, to carry upper gallery, [39].
• Piscinæ, remains of two, [11].
• Pit for a man to descend to feed the animals, [17].
• Plan, general, is oval, with galleries, vomitoria, &c., [18].
• Pliny mentions Scaurus and his insane works, [56].
• Podium protected by wire netting and bars, [16].
• Pola, in Istria, Amphitheatre at, [45], [46];
• —built of white stone, [ib.];
• —two tiers of arches remain, [ib.];
• —A curious stone parapet, with indications of awning, [ib.];
• —Built against rocky mountain, [ib.];
• —Substructures in lower part, [ib.];
• —Canal for water visible, [ib.];
• —Square towers (for musicians?), [46].
• Pozzuoli (Puteoli), Arena of brick full of trap-doors, [13], [42];
• —Surface there flooded for naumachia, [13];
• —An intermediate passage for messengers, [47];
• —Building much smaller than those of Rome and Capua, [42];
• —Substructures more perfect and more highly finished, [ib.];
• —Arena of brick, with apertures for trap-doors, [ib.];
• —Arrangement for fixing masts for awning, as in Rome, [43];
• —Building also of time of Hadrian, [ib.];
• —Vaults preserved and used, [ib.]
• Rhodope, mountain of, represented as a scene here, [4].
• Scaurus, Family of Æmilius, [56];
• —name means club-footed, [ib.];
• —one of the family built Basilica Æmilia, [ib.];
• —insane works of, so called from their enormous cost, [ib.];
• —his theatre to hold 80,000 people could only be on site of Colosseum, [ib.];
• —no other theatre three storeys high, [ib.];
• —extract from Pliny, [ib.];
• —walls of, [15];
• —buildings of, parts temporary, other parts eternal, according to Pliny, on site of present amphitheatre, [3];
• —Clivus of, leads to this site, [ib.]
• Sea-water (?) used in canals, [8].
• Seneca, pegmata described by, [16].
• Severus, Alexander, piscina of, [5];
• wall of, [6].
• Sockets in the pavement for pivots of capstans, [7], [35].
• Stagna, or old naumachia, under the arena, [1], [12];
• —of Nero supplied by three aqueducts, [9];
• —boarded over for gladiators and wild beasts, but boards removed easily, [10];
• —two, each 300 ft. long, and about 50 wide, [14].
• Stagnum of Nero, “like a sea,” when surface was flooded, [9], [12].
• — Navale of Tacitus, [9].
• — of Agrippa near the Pantheon, [9].
• Statilius Taurus, Amphitheatre of, [1].
• Storey, upper, an addition and an afterthought, [6].
• Substructures, part of the time of Nero, [1];
• —evidently retained and used when upper part was built, [39];
• —compared with others, [47].
• Suetonius does not mention the beginning of the work, [1].
• Tacitus gives an account of games here under his own direction, [55].
• Taurus, Statilius, Amphitheatre of, [1].
• Theatrum and Amphitheatrum, names used indifferently for this building, [7].
• Theodoric uses amphitheatre for shows of wild beasts, A.D. 519, [27].
• Titus, wall of, [6];
• —exhibitions of, at the dedication, [8].
• Trap-doors in the arena numerous, [7].
• Travertine piers cut through older wall, of tufa and brick, to carry upper gallery, [19].
• Tufa, much used to fill up between piers of travertine, [18];
• —taken from second wall of Rome, [ib.]
• Tusculum, canals in amphitheatre, as in Rome, [14].
• Upper storey, of stone, an addition to the plan, [6], [12];
• damaged by lightning, A.D. 230, [26];
• of wood, burnt, A.D. 217, [25];
• restored by Heliogabalus, Al. Severus, and Gordianus, [ib.]
• Vaults under arena called caveæ, [51].
• Venantius Basilius restores amphitheatre, A.D. 508, [27].
• Verona, Amphitheatre at, [43], [44];
• —Outer wall almost destroyed, [43];
• —Arcade of two lower storeys preserved, [44];
• —Comparison of the number that each amphitheatre would contain, [ib.];
• —Seats remarkably well preserved, [ib.];
• —Dimensions of the three principal amphitheatres, Rome, Verona, Capua, [45];
• —and Capua, remains of aqueducts, [13].
• Vertical joints, open, between brick walls of galleries, and stone walls of corridors, [6].
• Vespasian and Titus, Walls of, [6].
• Vessels employed in naumachia usually rates, [47].
• View of Jerusalem, century xvi., [29].
• Views on coins, and in sculpture on tomb of Aterii, [20].
• Vivaria outside walls of Rome, [15];
• —one at Prætorian camp, [16];
• —the other at Sessorium, [ib.]
• Vopiscus mentions pegmata and 100 lions in amphitheatre, [49].
• Wall, the outer, of three periods, Vespasian, Titus, and Alexander Severus, [6].
• Walls, original, of tufa, interfered with by later work, [7];
• —of tufa in substructure older than time of Nero, [13];
• —of front, and of the corridors in the superstructure, are of travertine, [ib.];
• —of tufa, round edge of substructure for lifts, not for canals, [14];
• —of tufa, probably of Scaurus, time of Sylla, [15];
• —grooves in, for lifts and cages, [15], [35];
• —of tufa, in parts supported by brick walls of Flavian Emperors, [17];
• —part destroyed by being used as a stone-quarry, [18];
• —north side only part perfect, [ib.];
• —weeded by the French in 1812, this repeated 1870, [31];
• —upper, hastily built under Gordianus, [33];
• —lower, of brick, belong to repairs after earthquakes in A.D. 442, and 508, [37].
• Water, shallow open channels for, remain, [33];
• —reservoirs in principal gallery, [ib.];
• —two piscinæ or ——, under Cœlian, [ib.]
• Wild beasts brought to Rome, B.C. 251, [3];
• —number kept for shows, [25].

THE COLOSSEUM.
PLATE I.

SUPERSTRUCTURE.
Exterior, from the Thermæ of Titus.

THE COLOSSEUM IN 1874.

EXTERIOR N.E. SIDE FROM THE THERMÆ OF TITUS

Description of Plate I.

SUPERSTRUCTURE.
Exterior, from the Thermæ of Titus.

This view shews the only part that is at all perfect of the magnificent work of the Flavian Emperors, consisting of the grand front and the splendid corridors, built around the brick theatre of Nero, with the galleries for spectators, which are surrounded by these stone corridors. These are of the best building stone to be had in Rome,—the travertine from the quarries near Tibur, now Tivoli.