entry Oct 2015
The Campanian Amphitheater of
Capua (now Santa Maria Capua Vetere) was
built at the end of the first century AD and
the beginning of the second. It was the
second largest Roman amphitheater after the
Colosseum in Rome, which was built between 70-80
AD) and was modelled on it.
(While we're on the subject, The large amphitheater in Pozzuoli was started in 79-80 AD. There is also an almost totally unknown amphitheater in —under, really!— the heart of the historical center of Naples. Back in the day, it hosted such luminous songbirds as Nero, himself. It was built around the end of the first century AD.)
The one in S. M. Capua Vetere measures 165 meters on the long axis and 135 m on the shorter one. It replaced a smaller structure, the remains of which have been identified to the south-east. The provincial museum of Campania holds a plaque dedicated by emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned from 138 to 161) that mentions restoration of columns and new sculptures put in place by his adoptive father, emperor Hadrian. The Capua structure was the home of the first and most famous of all gladiator schools. (Amphitheaters, themselves, in Italy seem to have been a Campanian invention. The earliest one is in Pompeii (from 70 BC).
Indeed, the amphitheater was
built to host gladitorial games and followed
classical specifications just like the Roman
Colosseum in terms of the architectural “orders”
—that is, the established proportion and design
of stories and columns, etc. There was internal
and external access to various levels in opus
latericum brick work, the dominant form of
wall construction in the imperial era. Three
levels bore, together, 80 arches, each with an
ornate keystone bearing likeness of divinities,
mythological personages and theatrical masks.
Some of them are now in local museums and
elsewhere.
In 456 AD, the waning days of
the western Roman empire, the amphitheater was
sacked by Genseric, king of the Vandals. It was
rebuilt in 530 by the Goths; this would be
slightly before the devastating Gothic wars
broke out in Italy (the period in which
Justinian regained at least for a while, Italy
for the empire.) Both the Goths and the later Longobards
used the amphitheater for gladitorial combat.
That did not cease until 841 when Saracens
destroyed the town of Capua and the amphitheater
was turned into a fortress. When the
Hohenstaufen dynasty of Frederick II took over
in 1200, the amphitheater became a ready-made
quarry for stone for the construction of urban
dwellings. The site was partially excavated
between 1811 and 1860, and between 1920 and 1930
it was finally completely dug out from the great
masses of earth accumulated over the centuries.
Since then it has been through numerous episodes
of restoration.
The Campanian
Amphitheater
There is confusion about the names of Capua and Santa Maria Capua Vetere. The Campanian amphitheater was built in a place called Capua. In the Christian era, that town became Santa Maria Maggiore and, in 1861, Santa Maria Capua Vetere (ancient); today's Capua was built nearby in the 800s. See Capua, A Short Tale of Two Cities.
The Campanian Amphitheater of
Capua (now Santa Maria Capua Vetere) was
built at the end of the first century AD and
the beginning of the second. It was the
second largest Roman amphitheater after the
Colosseum in Rome, which was built between 70-80
AD) and was modelled on it. (While we're on the subject, The large amphitheater in Pozzuoli was started in 79-80 AD. There is also an almost totally unknown amphitheater in —under, really!— the heart of the historical center of Naples. Back in the day, it hosted such luminous songbirds as Nero, himself. It was built around the end of the first century AD.)
The one in S. M. Capua Vetere measures 165 meters on the long axis and 135 m on the shorter one. It replaced a smaller structure, the remains of which have been identified to the south-east. The provincial museum of Campania holds a plaque dedicated by emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned from 138 to 161) that mentions restoration of columns and new sculptures put in place by his adoptive father, emperor Hadrian. The Capua structure was the home of the first and most famous of all gladiator schools. (Amphitheaters, themselves, in Italy seem to have been a Campanian invention. The earliest one is in Pompeii (from 70 BC).
Indeed, the amphitheater was
built to host gladitorial games and followed
classical specifications just like the Roman
Colosseum in terms of the architectural “orders”
—that is, the established proportion and design
of stories and columns, etc. There was internal
and external access to various levels in opus
latericum brick work, the dominant form of
wall construction in the imperial era. Three
levels bore, together, 80 arches, each with an
ornate keystone bearing likeness of divinities,
mythological personages and theatrical masks.
Some of them are now in local museums and
elsewhere.In 456 AD, the waning days of
the western Roman empire, the amphitheater was
sacked by Genseric, king of the Vandals. It was
rebuilt in 530 by the Goths; this would be
slightly before the devastating Gothic wars
broke out in Italy (the period in which
Justinian regained at least for a while, Italy
for the empire.) Both the Goths and the later Longobards
used the amphitheater for gladitorial combat.
That did not cease until 841 when Saracens
destroyed the town of Capua and the amphitheater
was turned into a fortress. When the
Hohenstaufen dynasty of Frederick II took over
in 1200, the amphitheater became a ready-made
quarry for stone for the construction of urban
dwellings. The site was partially excavated
between 1811 and 1860, and between 1920 and 1930
it was finally completely dug out from the great
masses of earth accumulated over the centuries.
Since then it has been through numerous episodes
of restoration.
(photos:
top-left, Rico Heil; all others by Napoli
Underground)
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