ry, which no amount of slaughter in the arena, of the
sufferings of captives and slaves, or of the torments of persecuted
Christians sufficed to assuage. The love of theatrical representations,
which has proved so potent and unceasing with other nations, had but a
brief period of prevalence in Rome, its milder enjoyment vanishing
before the wild excitement of the gladiatorial struggle and the
spectacle of rending beasts and slaughtered martyrs.

It was not in the theatre, but in the amphitheatre, that the Romans
sought their chief enjoyment, and few who wished the favor of the Roman
people failed to seek it by the easy though costly means of gladiatorial
shows. The amphitheatre differed from the theatre in forming a complete
circle or oval instead of a semicircle, with an arena in the centre
instead of a stage at the side. It also greatly surpassed the theatre in
size, the purpose being to see, not to hear.

These buildings were at first temporary edifices of wood, but of
enormous size, since one which collapsed at Fidenae, during the reign of
Tiberius, is said to have caused the death of fifty thousand spectators.
The first of stone was built by the command of Augustus. But the great
amphitheatre of Rome, the Flavian, whose mighty ruins we possess in the
Colosseum, was that begun by Vespasian, and finished by Titus ten years
after the destruction of Jerusalem.

This vast building is elliptical in shape and covers about five acres of
ground, being six hundred and twelve feet in its greatest length and
five hundred and fifteen in greatest breadth. It is based on rows of
arches, eighty in number, and rises in four different orders of
architecture to a height of about one hundred and sixty feet. The
outside of this great edifice was encrusted with marble and decorated
with statues. Interiorly its vast slopes presented sixty or eighty rows
of marble seats, covered with cushions, and capable of seating more than
eighty thousand spectators. There were sixty-four doors of entrance and
exit, and the entrances, passages, and stairs were so skilfully
constructed that every person could with ease and safety reach and leave
his place.

Nothing was omitted that could add to the pleasure and convenience of
the spectators. An ample canopy, drawn over their heads, protected them
from the sun and the rain. Fountains refreshed the air with cooling
moisture, and aromatics profusely perfumed the air. In the centre was
the arena or stag