Roman Amphitheatre Lucera: An Augustan Arena in Italy
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Roman
- Site type
- Entertainment
- Remains
- Amphitheatre
On this page8 sections
History
The Roman Amphitheatre Lucera is an Augustan Roman arena in Italy, built in the ancient city of Luceria probably before 2 BC. It was constructed during a period of prosperity under Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who ruled from 27 BC to AD 14. The amphitheatre is among the oldest Roman amphitheatres in southern Italy and predates the Colosseum.
Luceria and the Augustan building
Rome conquered Luceria in 314 BC. The city first became a Latin colony and later a municipium, a Roman settlement whose inhabitants held Roman civic rights or a defined form of Roman citizenship. Under Augustus, changes to the urban layout accompanied the construction of new public buildings, including the amphitheatre on the eastern outskirts of the city.
Marcus Vecilius Campus financed the building on land that he owned. He was a duumvir iure dicundo, one of two annually appointed municipal magistrates responsible mainly for judicial and civic administration, as well as prefect of the fabri, an official associated with a corps of craftsmen or engineers, and a military tribune. The inscription above an entrance dedicates the amphitheatre to Augustus and to the colony of Lucera. Because the inscription does not give Augustus the title “Father of the Fatherland,” which he received in 2 BC, the building was probably completed before that date.
Damage, abandonment, and recovery
The amphitheatre was probably damaged in 663, when Emperor Constans II conquered the city. After its abandonment, the structure was used as a source of stone and gradually became buried. Important remains were uncovered on 13 October 1932. Further interventions followed in 1936, and excavation and cleaning began in 1939.
Quintino Quagliati and then Renato Bartoccini directed the excavation and structural restoration. The work was completed during the 1940s, but the extent of the restoration led to controversy between 1955 and 1958. A later recovery and restoration campaign ran from 2006 to 2009 and included the installation of stepped seating in the western curved sector. The amphitheatre forms part of the cultural heritage of the Apulia Region and is administered by the archaeological superintendency, with the Municipality of Lucera responsible for the site.
Remains
Layout and entrances
The amphitheatre occupies a natural depression that was excavated further to create an approximately elliptical plan. It measures about 126.8 by 94.5 metres and covers approximately 1,268 square metres. Part of the seating rested directly on the natural slope, while the upper section was enclosed by two concentric walls and an outer wall joined by partition walls. These divisions created about thirty rooms, and vaulted structures supported the upper seating.
Two monumental entrances stood on the major axis, one facing the city and the other toward Foggia. Ionic columns framed their portals, while the architraves carried the inscription commemorating Marcus Vecilius Campus’s construction and dedication of the building. Two more entrances opened on the minor axis. The monumental northern entrance has jambs made from large blocks of bossed limestone.
Arena and access galleries
The arena measured approximately 72 to 75 metres by 43.2 metres. A drainage channel bordered it, and a podium contained four entrances leading into the arena. Four axial galleries provided access from the surrounding structure. Two chambers called carceres, enclosed rooms associated with animals, equipment, or mechanisms, opened from the gallery on the major axis, while four additional chambers opened directly onto the arena.
The building hosted venationes, staged animal hunts, along with the execution or punishment of condemned people by wild animals and other means. It also accommodated munera, gladiatorial combats. A training ground for athletes, several public buildings, and an infirmary stood near the amphitheatre.
Subterranean pits and drainage
Below the arena, a long service gallery is associated with three rectangular pits. They measure approximately 15.76 by 2.28 metres, 18.04 by 2.82 metres, and 15.94 by 2.62 metres, and each is about 4 metres deep. Their brick walls differ from the construction of the building’s first phase, suggesting that the pits may have been added in the late 1st century AD or early 2nd century AD.
The pits were linked to one another by a gallery and connected with the peripheral drainage channel, which collected rainwater. Their purpose remains uncertain. Jean-Pierre Golvin interpreted them as installations for water spectacles, in which overflowing water could cover the arena with a shallow layer. Franco Schettini instead regarded them as unwatered service rooms used to raise platforms.
Seating and surviving fabric
The western curved sector contains restored stepped seating for approximately 1,000 people. The amphitheatre’s original capacity is estimated at 16,000 to 18,000 spectators. The surviving fabric also includes the arena, other seating areas, access stairs and galleries, monumental entrances, drainage features, and the three underground pits.
