ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE RIMINI

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MONUMENTS PROVINCE OF RIMINI

MONUMENTS RIMINI

The The Roman Amphitheatre of Rimini

The Roman amphitheatre of the city of Rimini, splendid monument which, still today, testifies, with the Arch of Augustus and the Tiberian Bridge, the importance of the city of Rimini in Roman  imperial age, has been build in the II cent. A.D.. Unlike the Roman theater, built during the principate of Augustus, the amphitheatre for gladiatorial exhibitions, as usual, was not sited in the centre of the city, but in an area in ancient times suburban, not far from the harbour, near the coastline,  which was, then,  much more drawn back as it is today. The amphitheatre, sober elleptic brickwork  developed on two superimposed orders, measured 117,5 by 88 meters and consisted of  four concentric circles and a series of  radial walls, on which were imposed the tiers, built in order to accommodate 10,000 spectators. The front circle had sixty arches more than five meters high, which gave access to the internal ambulatory and the entrances. The amphitheatre had two front entrances. The internal entrances were provided with stairs which gave access to the upper tiers.  The arena,  more than 73 by 44 meters, was in the centre. In this arena, very large but without subterranean rooms, bloody gladiatorial fights took place. The gladiators, specialized in using different weapons on the basis of  the  belonging group, fought using a long trident and a  net to immobilize the opponent, as the retiarii  did, or wearing the helmet, the body armor, the shin-guards and the shield and using a gladium, that is, a short sword, like the  so called Samnites did. The audience was sometimes allowed to intervene actively in the performance, deciding the  succumbing gladiator’ s future by raising up the thumb, to save the defeated gladiator’s life, or,  vice versa, by staying with the thumb down, to sentence him to death.