The Roman Amphitheatre: From Its Origins to the Colosseum

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Cambridge University Press, Sep 10, 2007 - Architecture - 355 pages
This is the first book to analyze the evolution of the Roman amphitheatre as an architectural form. Katherine Welch addresses the critical period in the history of this building type: its origins and dissemination under the Republic, from the third to first centuries BC; its monumentalization as an architectural form under Augustus; and its canonization as a building type with the Colosseum (AD 80). The study then shifts focus to the reception of the amphitheatre in the Greek East, a part of the Empire deeply fractured about the new realities of Roman rule.
 

Contents

INTRODUCTION
1
The Imperial Interpretation of Arena Games
5
ARENA GAMES DURING THE REPUBLIC
11
The Etruscan Hypothesis
14
Gladiatorial Games during the Republican Period
18
The Venatio and Damnatio ad Bestias in the Republican Period
22
Other Forms of the Death Penalty
26
The Arena and the Roman Army
27
Conclusion
100
THE AMPHITHEATRE BETWEEN REPUBLIC AND EMPIRE MONUMENTALIZATION OF THE BUILDING TYPE
102
Statilius Taurus and Romes First Stone Amphitheatre
108
Conclusion
126
THE COLOSSEUM CANONIZATION OF THE AMPHITHEATRE BUILDING TYPE
128
Greek Architectural Orders and Sculptural Decoration
130
Fabulous Executions
145
The Colosseum and Neros Domus Aurea
147

Conclusion
28
ORIGINS OF AMPHITHEATRE ARCHITECTURE
30
Evidence for Spectator Arrangements in the Forum Romanum in the Republican Period
31
The Middle Republic
32
The Late Republic
38
The Shape and Form of the Seating Construction Spectacula in the Forum Romanum
43
Constructional Aspects of the Spectacula in the Forum Romanum
55
Conclusion
71
STONE AMPHITHEATRES IN THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
72
The Amphitheatre and Sullan Colony at Pompeii
74
105 BC and After
79
Geographical Distribution and Dating of Republican Amphitheatres
82
The Ludi of Capua
91
The Amphitheatre and Campus at Pompeii
95
Conclusion
161
RECEPTION OF THE AMPHITHEATRE IN THE GREEK WORLD IN THE EARLY IMPERIAL PERIOD
163
Athens
165
Corinth
178
Conclusion
183
CONCLUSION
185
AMPHITHEATRES OF REPUBLICAN DATE
189
Republican Amphitheatres in Italy
192
Republican Amphitheatres Outside of Italy
252
Notes
265
Bibliography
329
Index
351
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About the author (2007)

Katherine E. Welch is Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She is a scholar of Roman art and archaeology and has held fellowships at the American Academy in Rome and the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

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