A Roman Gladiator Arena That Could Host Up To 20,000 Spectators Was Discovered In An Ancient City
During the summer of 2020, archaeologists found the remains of an arena from the Roman era in Turkey.
The arena must have hosted up to 20,000 spectators who were betting and cheering on gladiator and wild animal fights.
The 1,800-year-old arena was discovered in the ancient city of Mastaura, located in Turkey’s western Aydın province. Over the centuries, its large central area has been filled with dirt and vegetation.
Most of the amphitheater is buried underground. The visible parts are covered with wild shrubs and trees.
After receiving permission from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism to conduct excavations in the ancient city, the research team encountered large stoneworks rising from the ground.
They immediately began clearing and studying the site, cutting down all the trees and bushes. Soon enough, they saw that the structure was an arena dating to about A.D. 200.
It was built during the Severan Dynasty when five emperors ruled successively from A.D. 193 to 235.
“During this dynasty, the city of Mastaura was very developed and rich,” said the researchers. “There is a great increase and variety of Mastaura coins during this period.”
Roman administrators helped the city’s economy grow, facilitating the construction of new stonework and masonry.
Fxquadro – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Most of the arena’s underground structure has been well-preserved. It is still solid, as if it was recently built.
Many of the aboveground constructions had crumbled throughout the years, but the researchers were still able to detect some rows of seats, the space where the gladiators fought, and the supporting walls outside the building.
About 15,000 to 20,000 people could fit in the arena, making it smaller than the Colosseum in Rome, which could hold 50,000 people.
The Colosseum was built in roughly A.D. 70. Its outer walls still stand at approximately 157 feet, while its central arena was 285 feet by 180 feet.
In comparison, the arena in Mastaura had walls that reached 82 feet tall and a smaller arena space of 131 feet by 98 feet.
The gladiator battles and animal fights that took place at the Mastaura arena were likely just as bloody and gory as those at the Colosseum.
Additionally, the arena contained specialized areas, such as gladiator waiting rooms and private entertainment rooms for important spectators.
“There is no previous example of such an amphitheater in Anatolia [also known as Asia Minor] and its immediate surroundings,” said the researchers.
The arena likely attracted spectators from neighboring towns, including the ancient Western Anatolian cities of Magnesia, Miletus, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, and Priene.
The research team worked with the Aydın Archaeological Museum and the Nazilli Municipality to preserve the arena. They performed laser scans of the structure to create a digital three-dimensional image of it.
Afterward, they planned to conduct geophysical surveys above the building to better understand what the underground sections were like.
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