OPINION

Sports stadiums echo ancient divisions

Oped, EDWARD WATTS, Published on 20/08/2022

» More than 230 amphitheatres, among the largest and most memorable monuments left to us by the Romans, survive in cities from northern England to the banks of the Jordan River. The Romans built amphitheatres for more than 500 years in a range of sizes -- from a capacity of a few thousand to 50,000 in the Colosseum -- using a variety of techniques. The amphitheatre at Pompeii was built in the first century BCE by workers who excavated hillsides, placed terraced seating on the packed soil, and erected retaining walls to hold the rows of seats in place. The amphitheatre in Bordeaux was built nearly 300 years later as a freestanding oval fashioned out of brick, concrete, and cut stone.