Reasons and Rules.

 First, I have a longstanding interest in buildings, cities, civilisations and what shapes them, and an appetite for history in general. Secondly, Roman Amphitheatres are amazing, fascinating and evocative places that should be visited, rediscovered, preserved and enjoyed and I want to spread the joy. Thirdly, I know a man named Suj who has long been a member of something called the 92 Club, a society you can only get into if you attend a game at the stadium of every current Premier and Football League club in England and Wales (of which most of the time there are 92).

There are in the region of 252 sites (of which more later) containing remains of Roman Amphitheatres, he is therefore partly responsible for planting the idea in me of visiting and writing about as many of them as possible and of becoming a founder member of the ‘100 Arenas Club’, and possibly even the ‘200 Arenas Club’ if I live that long and can afford the travel. When I started writing this in 2019 I had visited 12 Amphitheatres and I’m now at 43 in total so there’s a way to go and the chances of safe travel to some parts of Israel or Libya are not great right now.

 Unlike the 92 Club you can’t see these venues in use for their original purpose, fights to the death or people being savaged by beasts don’t really pull in the crowds these days, so a personal visit is all that’s needed to add it to your list.

 Some of them have had a rough time over the last 2000 years to the point where they have been quarried, ploughed, redeveloped out of all recognition or demolished into complete invisibility. Their siting and history is of course interesting, and even where there is little or nothing to see, that special ‘I’m in a 2000 year old entertainment venue’ feeling, can still be inspired by an obvious dip in the topography of the land, an odd angle in a wall, a range of buildings (which replaced buildings which replaced buildings…) that follow the line of some sturdy old stonework and saved money on digging foundations. There are also frequent giveaways in street names… ‘Place des Arenes, Avenue des Arenes, Impasse Courtine des Arenes, Rue de Cirques, Fosse, Rue du Puits des Arenes, Ozad Arene…..’

 252 is of course by no means a completely accurate figure. There are sites subject to debate as to whether they ever were amphitheatres at all, and some are possibly unfinished or dual function structures. My aim has been to make a decent list of all the sites where there is/was definitely a Roman Amphitheatre. What is on show and whether it is worth visiting is really up to you. In terms of a desktop study I aim to give an opinion of whether there is anything to see. I may of course revise this as and when I visit,  or when other information or excavation comes to light.

 The Wikipedia ‘List of Roman Amphitheatres’ is a good start but by no means comprehensive or perfect, it lists sites, some of which are not amphitheatres, some of which are known to have had amphitheatres but of which no visible trace remains above ground, and others where  history suggests there were amphitheatres but no one has been able to dig up any hard evidence or establish the exact site. If you are a linguist, or a dab hand with a translation site, the individual wiki pages in French/Italian are more comprehensive and accurate for the countries in question. In the page footer are links to other websites and details of publications.

 So ‘my’ list will cover everything from grand ruin to a few stones in a field or an oval dip in the ground or a street pattern or name. If there’s little or nothing visible, the site has never been excavated or the existence of the amphitheatre is unconfirmed, it will be indicated as (i) Invisible. If the location is unknown, it will be in a separate list as ‘Lost’ , if it’s not definitely an amphitheatre it will be listed under ‘Apocrypha’ - a holding pen for dodgy, disputed and ambiguous structures.

Archaeology didn’t stop conveniently at the point I started writing this. Amphitheatre sites are still being discovered, excavated, adapted, repaired and damaged. Satellite photography has been instrumental in recent discoveries, as have various techniques for scanning underground remains. The number continues to rise.  

 The Rules

 1.      I make the rules

2.      An Amphitheatre is an oval or circular venue constructed during the period of the Roman Empire. It would have had raised banked spectator seating (Cavea) surrounding it. It has no stage.

3.      A ‘D’ shaped structure with a stage on the flat side is a theatre, based on the Greek tradition, it is not an amphitheatre. (As my son put it..  ‘O shaped, seats all round, Gladiators, Lions and shit = Amphitheatre’.)

4.      Any amphitheatre with a page in the Site Visits section has been visited by me. All those on my  list feature a What3words location.

5.      If (no cheating) you can demonstrate that you have visited 20, 50 or 100 of these sites you can apply for a badge and life membership of the 200 Arenas Club.

6.      All views and assessments are my own personal opinion. If you disagree with any of it then please go and write your own Blog/Book/Diary and share it with anyone who is interested.

7.      To assist with visiting sites I am using the what3words system. This app can be downloaded on a ‘phone and can identify any point on the globe down to a 3m square with a unique signature consisting of three random words separated by two full stops. For example if you put in the signature things.postcard.gets it will find the centre of the amphitheatre of Pompeii. Where I think it useful I provide one code for the location itself and one for the best point of entry.

8.      Enjoy.