Chester History: The Roman Amphitheatre

Looking down into the main fighting area of the amphitheatre
see all photos »

The Chester Amphitheatre was originally made of timbers but was replaced with stone. The dating of the amphitheatre is generally believed to be around the 70s AD.  It measures 193 feet by 164 feet and could hold an amazing 7,000 people. You have to imagine back then there wasn’t as many people as there are now so seven thousand people was a really big deal. The modern equivalent would be a football stadium.  The Roman amphitheatre, unlike its Greek counterpart, did not use hills as a means of building; the amphitheatres themselves were free-standing stadiums.

Into the fighting pit!
see all photos »

The Amphitheatre was used not only for gladiatorial fights but also as a means of execution and military training.  On the north side of the amphitheatre is a tiny chamber in which a stone alter to the goddess Nemesis was placed. The goddess is of Greek origins and represents retribution.

The earliest amphitheatres were used as a means of entertainment—mild entertainment, mind you. Amphitheatres acted like circuses; there was chariot racing, animal shows, mock battles, display of military strength to frighten the native people, and a few executions. The games and executions that went on in the amphitheatre increased in bloodiness and gore and unimaginable cruelty until the fall of Rome. The games and battles in the amphitheatre constituted most of the townspeople’s entertainment. Archeologists determined that the games were similar to our own football and soccer matches of today (except at ours the players don’t get killed). Vendors would set up and sell things like salmon, oysters, lamb, hazelnuts, venison, pork and beef. It is not uncommon to believe that some vendors sold gladiatorial souvenirs.

The alter to Nemesis
see all photos »

Gladiators were not all slaves and criminals; some very low-class men trained to be gladiators for the money and fame. Each gladiator was required to swear an oath before fighting: I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword.

Chester’s amphitheatre today doesn’t look like much but in its heyday it was the second largest amphitheatre in the world (the first being Rome’s Coliseum of course). Archeologists believe that Chester’s amphitheatre had about eighty arches, which makes it look like a smaller version of the Coliseum in Rome.