The Roman amphitheatre consists of three main parts: the cavea, the arena, and the vomitorium. The seating area is called the cavea, which means enclosure in Latin. This structure forms concentric rows of stands supported by arches built into the building framework or dug out of hillsides. Excavated material from the fighting area often built up these tiers. The front row was known as the prima cavea while the last row carried the name cavea ultima. Vertical divisions separated the seating into wedge-shaped sections called cunei. Stairways known as scalae allowed movement between these wedges. Arched entrances at both arena level and within the cavea were termed vomitoria. These openings enabled rapid dispersal of large crowds after events concluded.
Republican Origins And Evolution
Records attest to temporary wooden amphitheatres built in the Forum Romanum for gladiatorial games from the second century BC onwards. Pliny the Elder claims that the amphitheatre was invented during spectacles of Gaius Scribonius Curio in 53 BC. Two wooden semicircular theatres rotated towards each other to form one circular amphitheatre while spectators remained seated in two halves. Earlier stone amphitheatres known as spectacula or amphitheatra have been found despite this claim. Jean-Claude Golvin identifies earliest known stone amphitheatres in Campania at Capua, Cumae and Liternum. Such venues were built towards the end of the second century BC. The Amphitheatre of Pompeii is securely dated to be built shortly after 70 BC. Other early examples include those at Abella, Teanum and Cales dating to the Sullan era until 78 BC. Venues at Puteoli and Telesia emerged during Augustan times spanning 27 BC to 14 AD. Amphitheatres at Sutrium, Carmo and Ucubi were constructed around 40, 30 BC.