The Amphitheater of Nero was a wooden
amphitheater
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
built by the Roman emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
around 64 AD.
Location
The amphitheater was situated on the
Campus Martius
The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...
, though its exact location remains unknown. Originally, it was thought to have been constructed on the site of the demolished
amphitheater of Statilius Taurus
The Amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus ( la, Amphitheatrum Statilii Tauri) was an Roman amphitheatre in ancient Rome. The amphitheatre was inaugurated in 29 BC. Earlier arenas were temporary structures that were disassembled after the event. The amp ...
, but it now seems more likely that it was built near the demolished
amphitheater of Caligula The Amphitheater of Caligula (Latin : ''Amphitheatrum Caligulae'') was an Roman amphitheater, built during the reign of the emperor Caligula and demolished only a few years after its construction. It was sited on the Campus Martius in Rome, probabl ...
to the north of the
Saepta Julia
The Saepta Julia was a building in the Campus Martius of Rome, where citizens gathered to cast votes. The building was conceived by Julius Caesar and dedicated by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 26 BCE. The building replaced an older structure, called ...
.
History
According to historian
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
, work began on the amphitheater in 57 AD, the year of Nero's second consulship with
Lucius Calpurnius Piso. Others argue that it was built after the
Great Fire of Rome
The Great Fire of Rome ( la, incendium magnum Romae) occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before ...
in 64 since Nero wanted to replace the amphitheater of Statilius Taurus, then the only stone amphitheater in Rome, which had been destroyed in the fire. It took only a year to complete and Nero held gladiatorial battles to inaugurate it. According to
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
' ''Life of Nero'' (XII, 2–3): "at the gladiatorial fights which he
ero
''Ero'' is a genus of pirate spiders first described in 1836. They resemble comb-footed spiders due to their globular abdomen, which is higher than it is long.
Description
The upper side of their abdomen bears one or two pairs of conical tu ...
gave in a wooden amphitheatre, built on the Campus Martius in less than a year, nobody was left to kill, even criminals. But he made 400 senators and 600 Roman equestrians fight". However, the building's wooden construction meant it did not last long and was probably destroyed in the fire of 80.
Description
Accounts of the amphitheater describe it as modestly sized and constructed entirely out of wood.
See also
*
List of Roman amphitheatres
The remains of at least 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found widely scattered around the area of the Roman Empire. These are large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised 360 degree seating and not to be confused with the more common t ...
References
{{Reflist
Sources
*Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby, ''A topographical dictionary of Ancient Rome'', Oxford University Press, 1929
Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...