[166] See the evidence of this, p. [13].
[167] See Plates [XIII.] and [XVI.]
[168] Dionis Cass. Hist. Rom., lib. lxxii. c. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
[169] Some scholars say that those scenes could not have taken place on this site, because the Flavian Amphitheatre was not built in the time of Nero. But it has been shewn that an awning in the amphitheatre of Nero is described by Pliny, writing at the time, during the life and reign of Nero, as he uses the expression principis Neronis, which he could hardly have used after his death. No other site but this can be found for such a large building as an amphitheatre, and this is close to the Golden House of Nero. In any case athletes or wrestlers, and naumachia or naval fights, are part of the tradition of many Roman amphitheatres, and there are sufficient remains of the substructures in many places to prove that this tradition is well founded. The corridors of the Flavian Emperors, though splendid additions to this great theatre, were not necessary for the performance of those pantomimes. It has also been shewn that the old tufa walls must be earlier than the time of Nero, and are probably of the time of Sylla.
[170] See Plates [IV. to X.]
[171] They were made at the suggestion of the author of this work, rather sooner than would otherwise have been the case, in order that he might be able to see them. Signor Rosa unfortunately began pulling down the walls of the substructure, calling them “Frangipani walls.” The Frangipani family had possession of the Colosseum in the twelfth century, but the construction of that period is totally different from any of the walls in the Colosseum, either above or below the level of the arena. The Minister of Public Instruction fortunately arrived in Rome in time to stop their demolition, and obtained an Act of Parliament, in 1875, appointing a general Archæological Commission for all Italy, with Signor Fiorelli, from Pompeii, at the head of it; and no individual will in future be permitted either to destroy antiquities, or to build anything new, without the consent of the Commission.
[172] See No. 3202, and p. [27].
[173] See No. 3201.
[174] See No. 3263, and Plate [VII.]
[175] See No. 3203.