chariots in public; and, sometimes, having slain wild beasts,
and having suddenly introduced water into the area, he made a
naval battle; and then withdrawing the water, he introduced
the gladiatorial strife. Then again introducing it, he gave
in public a sumptuous supper. Tigellinus was the prefect (or
overseer) of the supper, and it was a supper of the grandest
magnificence, arranged in this manner. In the middle of the
amphitheatre and in the water great wooden wine-casks were
placed, and upon them a floor of planks[53] was laid, and
around this, booths and small chambers were erected[54].”
“Nero had various kinds of shows in the amphitheatre, sometimes
filling it with sea-water, in which fishes and sea monsters
swam, and made a naval fight between the Persians and the
Athenians; then suddenly withdrawing the water, and drying the
ground, he ordered a number of men on foot to rush in, not
singly, but in numbers and close together[55].”
“When he (Titus) dedicated the theatre for hunting, and the
thermæ called after him, he exhibited many wonderful things.
Cranes fought and four elephants, nine thousand wild boars and
other beasts were killed, which women, even some of noble rank,
had brought together. Many contests, also, on foot, and naval
fights took place, for suddenly filling the amphitheatre with
water, he introduced horses and bulls, and other tame animals,
who had been taught to act in the water as on land. He also
introduced men in ships, who, in the guise of Corcyrians and
Corinthians, imitated a naval battle[56].”
In another chapter Dio repeats the same account, with the addition of “a
public supper[57].” This shews that the arrangements in the amphitheatre
were the same in the time of Nero as in the time of Commodus, when
Dio was himself present, and describes what he saw. If the water was
really _sea_-water, it could only have been in the canals. The fact of
three aqueducts having converged to this point to bring water to the
great building, makes it most probable that the water was not _really
sea-water_, but perhaps had _sea-weed_ inserted in it to suit the fishes
and the sea monsters. Suetonius also mentions the _naumachia_ in the
amphitheatre[58] in the time of Domitian, among the magnificent shows
that he provided for the people. Dio clearly distinguishes between the
Amphitheatre of Nero and that of Statilius Taurus in the Campus Martius,
which he also calls _Theatrum Tauri_[59].
The word _stagnum_ is commonly translated _pond_, but it does not
necessarily mean _only_ a pond; any reservoir of water might be so
called; the _castellum aquæ_, or large cistern for the water supplied
by the aqueducts, was also a _stagnum_. The “Stagna Neronis[60]” are
mentioned by Martial, as well as by Tacitus[61], who also mentions a
_stagnum navale_ among the games in the public theatre of Augustus[62].
Suetonius[63] compares the Stagnum of Nero to a “sea” surrounded by the
buildings of a city: a strong expression, which shews that there were
some buildings immediately round it. The Claudium on the Cœlian, the
Porticus Liviæ on the Summa Sacra Via, and Porticus of Nero himself on
the Esquiline, would be visible on three sides of it. The representation
of this great building on the coin of Titus was evidently taken from the
design of the architect. It represents a building of two storeys only,
with gigantic statues under each of the arches of the corridors.
The _new naumachia_ made by Augustus in the Trastevere were larger
reservoirs for the same purpose; this _naumachia_ is also called a
_stagnum_ by Tacitus[64], who describes a similar scene in the _stagnum_
of Agrippa[65] (which was in his _thermæ_, near the Pantheon), with
the letting in the water suddenly for a naval battle; and then letting
it off again as suddenly, and having a supper in the same place; he
also mentions the _stagna_ of Nero[66], and the _stagnum navale_ of
Augustus[67]. The _stagnum_ of Agrippa was supplied with water by his
aqueduct (the Virgo), and it has been mentioned that those of Nero
were supplied by three aqueducts, two from the Cœlian and one from the
Esquiline. The remains of the _specus_ and of the _piscinæ_ have been
already mentioned[68]. There are slight remains of three reservoirs in
the gallery, lined with the peculiar cement used only for the aqueducts,
called _opus signinum_. From the Esquiline the water was brought to
the Amphitheatre in leaden pipes, after serving the Thermæ of Titus;
a quantity of these leaden pipes have been found in excavations at
different periods[69], as recorded at the time by eye-witnesses, and
some of them are still preserved as mementoes in the office of the
Municipality.
Suetonius[70] mentions that some of the amusements for the people
provided by Nero were held in the wooden amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus
in the Campus Martius, but he mentions the _naumachia_ separately,
and we have no account of any _stagnum_ having been there, nor is it
probable, as it could only have been supplied with water by the aqueduct
of Agrippa, and it was originally built before that aqueduct was made.
The _naumachia_ were an essential part of the amusements of many Roman
amphitheatres, and there are considerable remains of the canals for them
at Capua and at Tusculum.
Suetonius, in his life of Titus, thus writes:—
“Having dedicated the _Amphitheatre_, and having quickly
completed the Thermæ hard by, he provided the most magnificent
and expensive entertainment [for the people]. He exhibited
a naval fight _in the old Naumachia_, and also a combat of
gladiators; and, in one day also, five thousand wild beasts of
all sorts[71].”
Those _stagna_ were boarded over for the gladiators and for the wild
beasts, but the boards could be moved and naval fights exhibited at
other times, as had previously been done on the same spot in “the
old Naumachia[72].” The account of the scenes that took place here,
described by Dio Cassius, agrees with this. The excavations made in 1814
shewed that there were canals built of brick running parallel to each
other the whole length of the area, as at Capua, and in several other
amphitheatres; these were, no doubt, for the naval fights. The vessels
were probably towed along from the opposite ends, and where they met were
lashed together, and the sailors of one of them tried to board the other:
to prevent this was the naval fight. Probably the space between these two
canals was flooded when the water was let in. These canals, reservoirs,
or _stagna_, were brought out more clearly in 1875, and the substructures
which supported them were then made visible[73].
In the corridors are many remains of the open channels for the water
brought from the aqueducts. They are not more than a foot deep, often
not so much, being frequently much worn: when perfect they are nearly
of that depth, and are lined with the peculiar cement used only for the
aqueducts, called _Opus signinum_, and in Italian, _Coccio-pesto_. This
is an invariable mark of an aqueduct; this open channel must have been
brought across from the Cœlian reservoir on the colonnade, shewn upon
the coin of Titus. The system of drainage for the rain-water is quite
distinct from the channels for the aqueducts.
The floor of the ARENA for the gymnastics and the slaughter of wild
beasts was of wood covered with sand; on one occasion (as we have shewn)
placed upon wine-barrels in the parts that had been flooded; the boards
could be removed or replaced with facility. It was full of trap-doors
with lifts under them, some large for the animals to jump through, these
are over the passage round the outer line, in front of the dens under
the _podium_; others smaller for men and dogs for the hunt; these are on
each side of the central passage. Large corbels, with bold projections
for placing the boards upon when removed from the floor of the stage,
are provided over the stream of water, in front of the _podium_, but
at a lower level; they are in pairs six feet apart, and also served
to stiffen the lower end of the masts or poles for the awning; on the
surface of them a notch is cut to place the boards upon, and ready access
was given by the passage in front of the _podium_. The gymnasium and the
_stagna_ were in one and the same building used for both purposes, and
Nero probably built galleries of brick round it for the accommodation
of the people, according to the fashion of his time. The exterior was
left unfinished for some years, and completed of stone by Titus and the
Flavian emperors on a more magnificent scale. The space for the upper
galleries was afterwards very much enlarged by building them upon the
magnificent double arcades of stone round it, and so completing the great
building known as the Colosseum. The straight vertical joint, which is
plainly seen between the old brickwork within and these stone galleries
and corridors, and the want of any bond between them, is thus accounted
for[74]. The upper gallery for the common people was an addition to the
original design over these arcades and corridors, and was originally of
wood; it was destroyed by fire caused by lightning in the time of the
Emperor Macrinus, A.D. 217, and restored in stone in about twenty-three
years, having been completed by Gordianus III., A.D. 240. To support
this upper gallery of stone at that enormous height vertical piers
of travertine are introduced, cutting through the walls of the lower
galleries from top to bottom[75]; these walls are of tufa, faced with
brick. In several instances portions of these piers of travertine have
been removed for building purposes in the Middle Ages, and the space that
had been occupied by the piers is left empty. The brick facing of the
walls on either side stands just as firm without these travertine piers
as with them, a clear proof that their object was to support the upper
gallery when it was rebuilt in stone, and not to support the brick walls
of the lower one through which they were cut, although they appear to do
so. This accounts for the fact that in the brick arches of construction
(as they are called), the bricks, originally two feet square, are cut
down to a few inches[76].
The names of _stagnum_ or _stagna_, and _naumachia_, are evidently used
indifferently by the classical authors. It has been already mentioned
that in the description of the far-famed palace of Nero, reaching from
the Esquiline to the Palatine Hill, Suetonius also speaks of it having “a
lake (_stagnum_) like a sea surrounded by buildings, after the fashion
of cities[77].” This could only apply to the Colosseum, and from this it
would appear that in the time of Nero the surface could be flooded when
required for theatrical display. Probably in two parts, divided by the
great central passage or the gulf, and these two parts were called the
_stagna_. It must always be remembered that the one object of the whole
building was a theatre for the amusement of the people, very much like
the Crystal Palace for London.
The probability is that some of the walls of the buildings of Nero round
his _stagna_ were used as part of the lower galleries of the Colosseum;
these walls and arches are a mixture of stone and brick, and some of
the brickwork has quite the character of the time of Nero, so well
known to Roman antiquaries as the finest brickwork in the world[78].
The excavations of 1874 and 1875 have confirmed this opinion; there
is a series of arches over the entrance to the dens for wild beasts,
under the _podium_, which are distinctly of the well-known brickwork of
Nero. Some of these walls of the substructure are earlier than the time
of Nero, others are later, with large repairs of the fifth and sixth
centuries. The great external corridors are entirely built of stone, and
are evidently added on to the galleries; there is a straight joint from
top to bottom in all parts, and no junction with ties anywhere in the
original construction. The construction of the walls of the Colosseum
in the interior shews such evident patchwork of different periods, that
it is impossible to believe they were all built within ten years, as is
commonly said.
In many other places besides Rome, part of the amphitheatre was at times
filled with water for the exhibition of naval fights, indeed the actual
remains of the conduit for the water are shewn in more than one place.
At Verona, where the area of the amphitheatre is considerably below the
level of the adjacent ground, the conduit or _specus_ is shewn at the
level of the second gallery, and below that of the upper one, and the
water seems to have gone down a cascade into the end of a corridor or
passage at the lowest level. At Capua the aqueduct for bringing in the
water and a large drain for carrying it off rapidly, are shewn, both at a
low level[79]. In either of these cases, the substructure is to a great
extent filled up with vaulted brick chambers separated by passages, but
the walls and vaults are lined with that peculiar cement that resists
water, and thus a great part of the surface may have been covered with
water to a sufficient depth for the purpose. At Puteoli or Pozzuoli,
near Naples, the underground chambers of the amphitheatre are unusually
perfect, and the brick floor over them, with numerous trap-doors, with
deep grooves round the edge for a cover to fit tight over them when
the surface was flooded[80]; at Tusculum one of the canals has been
excavated, the other is still buried. From these it appears that the
naval fights were represented as in a river, rather than in the sea.
There are two long straight passages, the whole length of the central
space, with no doors in them; and the walls are faced with the peculiar
water-cement. These passages are wide enough for a trireme to pass along,
and it seems more probable that the naval fight took place on this sort
of river than on the whole surface, which would have been necessary for a
sea-fight.
This obviously applies equally to the Colosseum, where the great
excavations in 1875 shewed that there were _two_ canals on each side of a
great central passage, parallel to it and to each other, with an interval
of about six feet between them, which was flooded when the water was
let in to make two fine sheets of water the whole length of the arena,
each about three hundred feet long and fifty feet wide[81]. These were
just under the boards, which were carried away and placed on the corbels
provided for them in front of the _podium_, but below the level of the
base of it. The walls to support this body of water are unusually thick,
and have buttresses on both sides for greater strength[82]. The two
canals were not of the same width, but of the same depth, ten feet, with
passages, ten feet high, under them. The most narrow canal is nearest to
the centre, and has been supported on great beams of wood resting upon
the massive walls; the places for the ends of the beams are left at short
intervals in the walls. The other and wider canal had brick arches to
support it, which remain, though the great leaden cistern in the form of
a canal has been destroyed.
The two great lofty walls of tufa are independent of the brick walls
supporting the canals. The lifts, or _pegmata_ for the wild beasts,
were placed in the outer passage between the two tufa walls, just under
the edge of the _podium_[83]. On each side of the central passage are
a series of small square closets for lifts, for men and dogs to ascend
from the passages at the lowest level to the floor above, through the
trap-doors. These continue visible for the whole length of the surface
and central passage. The pavement of these passages is of brick in
herring-bone fashion, such as was common in Rome during the first three
centuries. Some persons have imagined that the walls are built upon
this pavement, but if this is the case anywhere, of which there is no
evidence, it would only be a part of the later repairs of the fifth or
sixth century.
There are some portions of a third wall of tufa parallel to the other
two, and within them; this has been much damaged, and very little of
it remains. In one place, near the south-west end, there is an arch in
this tufa wall apparently much shaken by an earthquake, and consequently
supported by two brick arches of Nero, one under it, the other abutting
against it, like a flying buttress in a medieval church[84]. The long,
thin bricks of the time of Nero are perfectly well known to all Roman
archæologists, and are only met with in buildings of his time. Two other
small square chambers, one on either side of the great central passage,
also remain at the south end, with an arch of the brickwork of Nero on
each side[85]. These chambers are enclosed in stone, so that half the
thickness of the wall is of brick, the other half of travertine. This
wall, therefore, affords conclusive evidence that there was a great
theatre on this spot before the time of Vespasian, and that the tufa
walls are _earlier_ than the time of Nero.
We are expressly told that Augustus had intended to build an amphitheatre
here, but had not done so. We have no mention of Claudius having built
one, we are therefore driven back to an earlier period (probably to
the amphitheatre of Scaurus, in the time of Sylla) for the date of the
tufa walls, with the grooves for lifts, or _pegmata_, in them, as has
been mentioned. Outside of these great walls of tufa, and under the
path in front of the _podium_, are a number of dens for lions, or other
wild beasts of that size[86]. And in front of each is an opening large
enough for the animal to pass through into a cage placed on a lift in
the passage between the two tufa walls, and in each of these walls are
vertical grooves cut in them for the lifts to work up and down; also
deeper grooves, about a yard long, for the counter-weights[87]. Behind
the place for each cage, in the passage, is a socket let into the
pavement for a pivot to work in[88], apparently for a capstan or post to
wind the cord upon to pull up the lifts and cages. These cages were of
wood, and called _pegmata_. The word _pegma_ is used in different senses
by Pliny, Martial, and others for a wooden box, cage, or framework; and
the wild beasts were brought in such cages from the places where they
were kept outside the walls, called _vivaria_.
There were two _vivaria_, one on the southern side of the Prætorian Camp,
of which there are some remains. The evidence for this is an inscription
of the time of Gordianus III. (A.D. 241), which mentions a keeper of
the _vivarium_[89] belonging to the sixth Cohort of the Prætorian and
Urban[90] Guards. The other was on the southern side of the Sessorium,
which was both a palace and a Prætorian Camp.
The _podium_ was protected by nets[91]; and there were projecting
bars for rollers, which turned round when touched, so that the claws
of an animal could have no hold upon them: these are mentioned by
Calpurnius. Seneca, in his Epistle (88) uses the word _pegma_ for
“a wooden machine in the theatres,” which raised and lowered itself
_imperceptibly_—evidently what we now call a lift—the machinery of which
was not seen by the spectators. Wooden towers used on the stage in sham
fights were also called _pegmata_[92]. The following account given by
Seneca[93], who wrote about A.D. 20, of these machines, clearly applies
to the Colosseum and the substructures under it. As that was before the
time of the Flavian Emperors, it is probable that the wooden amphitheatre
on this spot was in existence in his time, and that the tufa walls for
the lifts now remaining were then standing and in use. He says—
“There are games that give pleasure to the eyes and the ears.
Among these we may enumerate the machines which cause the cages
to raise themselves, and silently rise to the top of the wooden
floor (or stage), and others in unexpected variety, either
gaping open or coalescing again, others which were distant
drawing together again spontaneously, or those which were near
gradually retiring from each other. The eyes of the silly
people are astonished at all these sudden movements, the causes
of which they do not understand.”
Juvenal, writing about A.D. 100, also mentions the _pegmata_ in the
Colosseum[94], with the _velaria_.
There is a small stream of water in front of the dens, supplied by the
aqueducts, from which the animals could drink. Behind each den is a small
cell, four feet square, descending from above, called _catabolicus_[95],
but not lower than ten feet from the ground, apparently for a man to go
down and feed them safely.
In what seems the earliest part of the two tufa walls, near the
south-west end of the building, the apertures in the inner part are
square-headed doorways, and not arches[96]. These are filled up with
brick walls of the time of the Flavian emperors, or later[97]. In other
parts of these tufa walls there are arches in the inner wall, also
supported by brick arches of the time of the Flavian emperors, in which
the bricks are thicker, and there is more mortar between them than in
those of the time of Nero.
On the floor of the central passage is a remarkable piece of ancient
wooden framework lying on the ground[98], which has the appearance at
first sight of having been burnt, but long exposure to wet will have the
same effect on wood that fire has. (The Irish bog-oak often appears as
if it had been burnt, and wood has been dug from under the foundations
of an Irish round tower that had the same appearance.) This framework is
a good deal worn, as if it had been much used; it has all the appearance
of a dry dock, or a cradle for a vessel to stand upon. When the _stagnum
navale_ of Nero was in use, there must have been some machinery for
lifting up the vessels and placing them on the canals. They must also
have been removed out of the way when the water was let off, and the
boarded floor of the stage or arena replaced[99].
On each side of this wooden framework is a series of slabs of stone
about a yard square, placed upright, with a hole through each for a
water-course. These seem to have been for fixing the wooden frame of a
_cradle_ for the vessels to stand upon, and to keep them upright. This
plan is well shewn in a drawing of a trireme that was made for Napoleon
III., to shew the French people what a Roman trireme was like[100].
It is well known that the general form of the Colosseum is oval, and
that it had four principal entrances, one of which only remains; this
is said to have been the entrance for the emperor and his suite, it is
not numbered as the other entrances and seats were[101]. The theatre,
as we are told in the Regionary Catalogues, was calculated to hold
87,000 people, and was admirably adapted for its purpose. There were
four principal staircases, by which the spectators could ascend to the
highest tier of seats, and these were so arranged that the different
orders could disperse without meeting each other. The numerous places of
egress, called _vomitoria_, and the windows to light the staircases, were
contrived with great skill.
Vast as this amazing edifice still is, the whole of the outer wall
with the arcades and corridors, on the south and west sides, have been
destroyed, having been used as a stone quarry for building some of the
largest palaces in Rome, but on the north and east sides it is tolerably
perfect. A correct idea of the whole can only be formed by mounting to
the top, and surveying the whole extent from thence. The finest view of
the exterior is from the Thermæ of Titus, or the windows or the garden
of the monastery of S. Pietro in Vincoli, on the hill opposite the north
front.