Amphitheaters in Britain

[Medusa]

Inspired by Northern Neil's review of Ancient Warfare mag, Issue 2.III to which I contributed the article about amphitheaters in military context I would like to point out that there are several amphitheaters in Britain. Some are better excavated, e.g. that in Chester, others not so good. But you could see their traces, like Tomen-y-Mur in Wales. There are two good books available on those topics:

 

R. Wilding, Roman Amphitheatres in England and Wales, 2005, Chester

This is more or less a list of all the sites, some have been recently rejected by scholars such as Tony Wilmott, but as a tourist guide to those sites this book is good.

 

T. Wilmott, The Roman Amphitheatre in Britain, 2008, Stroud

This book gives more indepth knowledge about the topic in total. For those interested more in this topic this is definitely a recommended read.

[Klingan]

Going slightly off topic, but does anyone know how many (and where) Roman theatres there are in the UK?

[Northern Neil]

Going slightly off topic, but does anyone know how many (and where) Roman theatres there are in the UK?

Canterbury, Colchester and St.Albans are as far as I am aware the only confirmed ones, although a recent geophysical survey at Caistor-by-Norwich has turned up a 'Large semicircular building'. See this report: http://www.physorg.com/news116766620.html

[Melvadius]

Going slightly off topic, but does anyone know how many (and where) Roman theatres there are in the UK?

Canterbury, Colchester and St.Albans are as far as I am aware the only confirmed ones, although a recent geophysical survey at Caistor-by-Norwich has turned up a 'Large semicircular building'. See this report: http://www.physorg.com/news116766620.html

 

Of possible interest is the fact that at Marcham-Frilford, we keep hoping to be able to finish off excavating what appears to be a semi-amphitheatre (sometimes referred to as the large circular feature) similar to ones found in Northern Gaul. Our ongoing problem is for the last 3 years the feature keeps filling up with water and we haven't so far been able to pump it out long enough to finish excavating the site.

 

Semi-amphitheatres in their Gaulish incarnation appear to have had a combined religious/ theatrical and possibly gladiatorial function. In Marcham/Frilfords case the shape of the semi-amphitheatre is almost a true circle unlike the usual amphitheatre oval shape while similar to the Gaulish sites there is no close nearby settlement but there is proven religious activity at the site.

 

c/r

 

http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/research/research_projects/marcham

Interim report for 2006 pg 2:

 

http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/research/research...nterim%20report

 

Melvadius

Edited June 2, 2009 by Melvadius

[Medusa]

Wilmott states in his book that in Colchester traces of a theater have been found while those buildings in St. Albans (Verulamium) and Canterbury are of the theater-amphitheater (or "mixed edifice") type which is typical for Gaul. For the Colchester theater he states the following source:

 

Crummy, P., 1982 "The Roman theatre at Colchester", Britannia, 13, 299-302

[sylla]

Inspired by Northern Neil's review of Ancient Warfare mag, Issue 2.III to which I contributed the article about amphitheaters in military context I would like to point out that there are several amphitheaters in Britain. Some are better excavated, e.g. that in Chester, others not so good. But you could see their traces, like Tomen-y-Mur in Wales. There are two good books available on those topics:

 

R. Wilding, Roman Amphitheatres in England and Wales, 2005, Chester

This is more or less a list of all the sites, some have been recently rejected by scholars such as Tony Wilmott, but as a tourist guide to those sites this book is good.

 

T. Wilmott, The Roman Amphitheatre in Britain, 2008, Stroud

This book gives more indepth knowledge about the topic in total. For those interested more in this topic this is definitely a recommended read.

Do you consider the Amphitheatres of Britannia were exclusively or predominantly built for the the Army's leisure?

 

Weren't they intended for the local population too? (At least for a pro-Roman elite).

[Medusa]

Do you consider the Amphitheatres of Britannia were exclusively or predominantly built for the the Army's leisure?

 

Weren't they intended for the local population too? (At least for a pro-Roman elite).

 

Wilmott divides them into different categories:

 

Urban amphitheaters associated with towns e.g. London, most of them found in the South of England

Legionary amphitheaters which are located close to legionary forts, e.g. Chester

Auxiliary amphitheaters which are located close to auxiliary forts, e.g. Tomen-y-Mur

 

The type of theater-amphitheater mentioned in an earlier post might be connected to a religious cult similar to that in Gaul where this type of building is more frequent.

[Melvadius]

Do you consider the Amphitheatres of Britannia were exclusively or predominantly built for the the Army's leisure?

 

Weren't they intended for the local population too? (At least for a pro-Roman elite).

 

Wilmott divides them into different categories:

 

Urban amphitheaters associated with towns e.g. London, most of them found in the South of England

Legionary amphitheaters which are located close to legionary forts, e.g. Chester

Auxiliary amphitheaters which are located close to auxiliary forts, e.g. Tomen-y-Mur

 

The type of theater-amphitheater mentioned in an earlier post might be connected to a religious cult similar to that in Gaul where this type of building is more frequent.

 

We may even know which cult the site is associated with if we ever find something with an inscription on it - the site is typical of many in Southern England with a lack of local stone suitable for taking inscriptions:(

 

Melvadius