Editing Amphitheatre (section)

==Roman amphitheatres==
{{main|Roman amphitheatre}}
[[File:The new old amphitheater in Pula Istria (19629095974).jpg|thumb|[[Pula Arena]], [[Croatia]]]]About [[List of Roman amphitheatres|230 Roman amphitheatres]] have been found across the area of the [[Roman Empire]]. Their typical shape, functions and name distinguish them from [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theatres]], which are more or less semicircular in shape; from the [[Circus (building)|circuses]] (similar to [[hippodrome]]s) whose much longer circuits were designed mainly for horse or chariot racing events; and from the smaller [[Stadium|stadia]], which were primarily designed for [[Sport|athletics]] and footraces.<ref name="Bomgardner372">Bomgardner, 37.</ref>

Roman amphitheatres were circular or oval in plan, with a central [[arena]] surrounded by perimeter seating tiers. The seating tiers were pierced by entrance-ways controlling access to the arena floor, and isolating it from the audience. Temporary wooden structures functioning as amphitheaters would have been erected for the funeral games held in honour of deceased Roman [[magnate]]s by their heirs, featuring fights to the death by [[gladiator]]s, usually armed prisoners of war, at the funeral pyre or tomb of the deceased. These games are described in Roman histories as ''{{Lang|la|[[Munera (ancient Rome)|munera]]}}'', gifts, entertainments or duties to honour deceased individuals, Rome's gods and the Roman community.<ref>Dodge, Hazel, ''Amphitheaters in the Roman World'', pp.545-553, Ch. 37 in "Blackwell companions to the Ancient World", edited by Christesen, P & Kyle, Donald, Wiley Blackwell, 2014</ref>

Some Roman writers interpret the earliest attempts to provide permanent amphitheaters and seating for the lower classes as populist political graft, rightly blocked by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] as morally objectionable; too-frequent, excessively "luxurious" ''{{Lang|la|munera}}'' would corrode traditional Roman morals. The provision of permanent seating was thought a particularly objectionable luxury.<ref>See Appian, ''The Civil Wars'', 128; Livy, ''Perochiae'', 48.</ref>

The earliest permanent, stone and timber Roman amphitheatre with perimeter seating was built in the {{Lang|la|[[Campus Martius]]|italic=no}} in 29 BCE.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |date=2017 |editor-last=Edelman |editor-first=Robert |editor2-last=Wilson |editor2-first=Wayne |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sports History |series=Oxford Handbooks Online |first=Donald G. |last=Kyle |chapter=Ancient Greek and Roman Sport |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwJLDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 |page=89 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858910.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-985891-0 }}</ref> Most were built under Imperial rule, from the [[Augustus|Augustan]] period (27 BCE–14 CE) onwards.<ref name="Bomgardner59">Bomgardner, 59.</ref> Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman Empire, especial in provincial capitals and major colonies, as an essential aspect of ''[[Romanitas]]''. There was no standard size; the largest could accommodate 40,000–60,000 spectators. The most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were decorated with [[marble]], [[stucco]] and statuary.<ref name="Bomgardner62">Bomgardner, 62.</ref> The best-known and largest Roman amphitheatre is the [[Colosseum]] in [[Rome]], also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (''{{Lang|la|Amphitheatrum Flavium}}''), after the [[Flavian dynasty]] who had it built. After the ending of gladiatorial games in the 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th, most amphitheatres fell into disrepair. Their materials were mined or recycled. Some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places; in some of these, churches were sited.<ref name="Bomgardner201">Bomgardner, 201–223.</ref>