ABSTRACT
Vespasian was to style himself Augustus’ spiritual heir by claiming that the first Princeps had cherished the ambition of building a monumental amphitheatre in the centre of Rome (Suet. Vesp. 9): ‘[fecit Vespasianus] amphitheatrum urbe media, ut destinasse compererat Augustum’ (‘[Vespasian built] an amphitheatre in the middle of the city, as he had discovered had been Augustus’ intention’). Seduced as we are by the magnetism of the Colosseum, it is almost impossible for us to conjure up a Rome in which plans to build it needed justification. It may prove impossible to establish the veracity of Vespasian’s claim; yet it draws attention to the fact that for more than a century after Actium the topography and amenities of Rome remained devoid of a permanent amphitheatre of monumental dimensions. It has recently emerged that the amphitheatre as a permanent fixture was a feature of Roman colonies at least one hundred and fifty years before the Colosseum was built, and that the design appears to have been predicated on the temporary structures erected in the Forum Romanum at Rome.1 We may well ask why it is that the city of Rome, where the design of the amphitheatre originated, did not acquire a monumental stone amphitheatre of grand dimensions long before the Flavian era. Why, specifically, was such an opportunity not realised by Augustus, that great benefactor who both changed the face of the city and exploited the provision of public spectacle as a major tool of self-promotion?2
