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The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, Italy. It is among the best-preserved ancient amphitheatres to have survived into the modern era. This remarkable state of preservation is largely due to systematic restoration efforts that began in the 16th century..
During the summer months, the Arena hosts the Arena di Verona Festival, with opera seasons that have run uninterrupted except by wars since 1913.Excluding the years of the First and Second World Wars. Throughout the rest of the year, it serves as a concert venue.
To more accurately date the Arena, scholars have compared it to the Pula Arena, which shares similarities with Verona’s in both stylistic and technical aspects. Both belong to a common geographical and cultural region, and some historians have hypothesized that they may have been designed by the same architect and constructed by the same workforce. The Pula amphitheatre is generally dated to the Augustan period, suggesting that the Arena of Verona may have been built around this time.
Additional clues aiding in the dating process include the amphitheatre’s decorations, particularly a tuff sculpture depicting a life-sized gladiator’s head encased in a helmet. This helmet features two round openings revealing the fighter’s eyes, with a visor composed of two sections meeting precisely at the face’s midline. The cheek guards, starting narrow at the ears, widen to cover the entire face except the eyes and appear to be fastened by two crossed straps beneath the chin. This helmet style emerged at the end of the Augustan era, around 10–20 AD. This narrows the construction window to the late reign of Augustus and the early reign of Claudius. Given that statues were typically crafted at the end of a building’s construction, Pirro Marconi inferred that the Arena was completed by approximately 30 AD,.
The amphitheatre were part of the monumentalization projects in Verona during the Julio-Claudian era, which also included the Forum of Verona and the embellishment of the city’s gateways. Both the Verona and Pula amphitheatres predate the construction of the Colosseum, representing new developments in the evolution of this architectural form.
Emperor Gallienus faced prolonged conflicts to repel the 3rd-century barbarian invasions, employing Verona in his innovative elastic defense strategy, which relied on key cities such as Mediolanum, Verona, and Roman Aquileia. In 265, he refurbished Verona’s late Republican walls and construct a new 550-meter section of curtain wall to encompass the Arena, resolving the issue of its dominant position outside the earlier Republican defenses.. In 1874, Antonio Pompei conducted excavations around the Arena, uncovering the foundations of the Gallienus walls, which ran 5 meters from the amphitheatre. It was also discovered that these walls intersected the rainwater drainage channels, though the Arena remained usable for spectacles thanks to an alternative solution: a large central well, identified in the 18th century. However, the drainage system became less efficient, marking the beginning of the amphitheatre’s decline..
Though unconfirmed, it is possible that the amphitheatre was used for the martyrdom of Christianity. The Marquis Scipione Maffei speculated that Firmus and Rusticus were martyred here in 304, on the same occasion that Bishop Proculus asked to be martyred, but was instead mocked and sent away because he was old..
In 312, Verona played role in the war between Constantine I and Maxentius, when the latter barricaded himself in the city, and Constantine’s forces laid siege. The assault focused on the amphitheatre, which served as a bastion for the defenders due to its height surpassing the Gallienus walls. Two critical clashes of that campaign occurred in front of the Arena: the sortie by the besieged, enabling Ruricius Pompeianus to seek reinforcements, and the nocturnal battle, where Constantine faced attacks from both the defenders and arriving reinforcements yet emerged victorious.. This battle is documented in a panegyric to Constantine Panegyris IX, 8. and depicted in a relief on the Arch of Constantine, showing Verona under siege. In the square relief, Constantine is depicted on the left, shielded by a guard and crowned by Victory, while on the right, his army assaults the city as the defenders hurl arrows and javelins from the walls and towers. The rightmost section of the wall, lacking lower-level windows, likely represents the portion enclosing the Arena.
The rise of Christianity and the subsequent end of Gladiator, coupled with the inefficiency of public institutions in maintaining the monument, were factors in its abandonment.
From this letter, it can be inferred that Pliny’s friend offered Verona a hunting spectacle, a venatio, as a funeral tribute to his wife. Pliny deems this choice particularly fitting, noting that such spectacles originated as funerary games of Etruscan or Campanian origin..
Several funerary inscriptions of gladiators who died fighting in the Arena have also been discovered in Verona. The least informative is a damaged slab bearing the phrase familia gladiatoria; a second mentions the secutor Aedonius, who fought eight times in Verona before being defeated and killed at the young age of twenty-six;. another pertains to a retiarius named Generosus, from the gladiatorial school of Alexandria, who fought twenty-seven times without defeat and died of natural causes; yet another belongs to Pardon, a Tortona, who perished in his eleventh bout.
The most intriguing inscription, however, belongs to a certain Glaucus:The inscription can be translated as: “To the divine spirits of Glaucus, originally from Modena. He fought seven times and died in the eighth. He lived twenty-three years and five days. Aurelia dedicated this tomb to her dear husband, along with his fans. I advise each of you to consult your own horoscope and not trust Nemesis: I trusted her, and I was deceived, as you see. Farewell, be well.” From this, it appears that Glaucus made a vow to Nemesis, a deity revered by gladiators, for his safety, but to no avail. He warns readers not to place too much faith in Nemesis, as a gladiator’s fate also hinged on skill and chance. Glaucus, whose inscription features depictions of a retiarius’s weapons (indicating he was likely a retiarius),. must have been a skilled fighter, as his tomb was funded partly by his supporters.
In a house in Verona, just outside the ancient Roman walls, a mosaic depicting gladiatorial games was uncovered, dating from the Flavian dynasty to the early 2nd century. The mosaic features a central panel with geometric patterns, dolphins, and plant motifs within circles. Surrounding these are panels portraying gladiators, particularly the three central ones. As a purely decorative piece, it is unlikely to depict specific games held in the Verona amphitheatre, yet it includes inscriptions with gladiators’ names, possibly famous local figures. The mosaic shows a retiarius versus a secutor, with the retiarius on the ground and a referee intervening. Above, the gladiators’ names are nearly faded, but a V (for vicit, “he won”) appears over the secutor, and ISS—likely once MISS for missus, “spared”—over the retiarius. The central panel depicts a Thraex triumphing over a murmillo lying bloodied on the ground, with the referee raising the victor’s arm; the defeated gladiator’s name, Caecro, is visible. The third scene shows a retiarius defeating another gladiator, who rests his shield on the ground in surrender..
The existence of a gladiatorial barracks in Verona is confirmed by an inscription housed at the Maffeian Lapidary Museum, though some scholars suggest it may refer to an enclosed, open-air area for youths’ physical and recreational activities, not necessarily ruling out a barracks in the classical era..
However, it was under Theodoric that the amphitheatre suffered its most severe damage. The discovery within the Theodoric walls of a block inscribed with the number LXIII from the amphitheatre indicates that much of the outer ring was demolished during the construction of this defensive wall, which extensively reused salvaged materials. This partial demolition was necessary both to procure building materials and to reduce the Arena’s height, deemed too vulnerable if captured during a siege. Nevertheless, the structure retained the functionality of its cavea and the ability to host spectacles, as the height reduction of about 12 meters affected only the upper gallery, not the seating tiers..
Subsequent damage to the amphitheatre resulted from natural disasters, including the Adige flood of 589, the earthquake of 1116, and the catastrophic earthquake of January 3, 1117.. During the reign of Berengar, the first devastating invasions by the Magyars forced defenders to bolster fortifications, using the Arena as a stronghold. In those years, Verona’s bishop Ratherius created the so-called Raterian Iconography, depicting Verona as it appeared in the mid-10th century, with its churches, gates, bridges, and walls. The Arena is shown with its outer ring still intact, accompanied by verses describing it as a labyrinth of dark galleries..The iconography can be translated as: “From the hilltop, the Castle gazes toward the city, crafted with Daedalus-worthy skill, with dark galleries, the noble, distinguished, memorable, grand theatre the, built for your honor, sacred Verona. Great Verona, farewell, live through the centuries, and may all peoples celebrate your name worldwide.”
On certain occasions, the Arena’s cavea was quarried for marble to support new constructions, particularly after the fire that ravaged the city in 1172.. In the 13th century, the first efforts to halt the amphitheatre’s destruction emerged through restorations and commitments outlined in the municipal statutes of 1228. During the communal and Scaliger periods, legal battles reminiscent of ancient gladiatorial games were held within the Arena: to settle uncertain trials, litigants could hire professional fighters, known as champions. These contests drew crowds cheering for their favored combatant, with the oiled, naked fighters determining the trial’s outcome through their strength.. Even Dante Alighieri attended at least one such event, describing it in a canto of the Inferno:
In 1278, at the behest of Alberto I della Scala, nearly 200 Catharism heretics captured in Sirmione by his brother Mastino I della Scala were burned at the stake within the Arena. It was also Alberto I who introduced regulations on the amphitheatre’s use: the 1276 statute decreed that prostitutes could reside solely within the Arena, Statuti Veronesi, Book III, Chap. 128. while the 1310 update mandated its closure and imposed fines for breaking the gates or relieving oneself inside. Statuti Veronesi, Book IV, Chap. 217. These provisions seem contradictory—mentioning prostitutes inhabiting the arcades while simultaneously ordering closure—but this reflects a distinction, persisting until the 1800s, between the inhabited outer arcades and the enclosed inner cavea. Exceptions occurred, such as in 1382, when 25 days of festivities, including jousts and spectacles, were held inside for the wedding of Antonio della Scala to Samaritana da Polenta..
In 1337, the city, indebted from a war against an anti-Veronese league, ceded the Arena’s rental income to the University of Citizens (a consortium of municipal creditors) with the consent of Mastino II della Scala. The monument would not be fully redeemed until 1586..
The same statute also reaffirmed that prostitutes were required to live in the Arena. Statuti Veronesi, Book IV, Chap. 57. This is the earliest official document describing the building as memorable, sparking its celebration by literati and a growing interest during the Renaissance in its critical and historical analysis. In Verona’s 1400s cultural milieu, architects and artists like Giovanni Maria Falconetto and Fra Giovanni da Verona rediscovered the Arena’s architectural significance, fundamentally shifting its medieval perception as a labyrinthine relic. Subsequently, figures such as Giovanni Caroto, Sebastiano Serlio, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and Andrea Palladio studied and surveyed it,. proposing solutions to ensure its preservation..
The amphitheatre thus began to hold great importance for the civic community. Indeed, Verona was the first city, as early as the 1500s, to initiate a series of efforts prioritizing the protection and restoration of antiquities. A key step was the partial redemption of the mortgage from the University of Citizens, enabling the expulsion of prostitutes from the arcades in 1537, which were then leased to artisans and merchants. By the mid-16th century, amid widespread concern for the city and its main monument, a gradual renewal of Piazza Bra, the large square facing the amphitheatre, commenced. On May 24, 1568, a restoration of the amphitheatre—then in a state of neglect—was approved, based on a plan inspired by the studies of architects such as Giovanni Caroto and Andrea Palladio. The restoration, focusing on the cavea, began but was halted in 1575 due to a severe plague afflicting the Scaliger city. By 1586, however, the municipality fully redeemed the Arena from the University of Citizens..
Further restoration resumed in 1651 but paused in 1682, with additional significant interventions in 1694 and 1699, including partial repairs to the seating tiers. In the early 1700s, major maintenance ceased to allow for archaeological excavations within the Roman amphitheatre. These began in 1710 with Ottavio Alecchi, who uncovered the central well and an elliptical channel facing the first step, noting it was once covered by stone slabs with central circular holes 7 cm in diameter.. In 1728, Marquis Scipione Maffei, a pivotal figure in the study and restoration of the monumental structure, published Degli Anfiteatri e singolarmente del Veronese, marking a significant shift toward a scientific and archaeological approach to the monument, prioritizing its preservation.. In this work, he criticized excavations in the cavea that altered its original internal configuration.. For this text, Maffei conducted thorough historical research and monument surveys, including excavations that yielded several finds. He identified key archaeological issues:. the division of the seating tiers into sections and wedges; the crowning of the upper interior with a loggia; the placement and height of the podium, which he calculated at 1.53 meters and later reconstructed; the purpose of underground conduits, which he argued could not have flooded the Arena; and the central well, previously thought to support the velarium, but which he interpreted as a rainwater drainage system.
From September 1728 to July 1729, significant efforts cleared a 120 cm layer of earth covering the arena floor, while from 1731 to 1735, the wing was restored and reinforced. Work resumed in 1761, with tasks including excavation, surveying the ellipse, the euripus, and the podium, as well as creating a model up to the second tier of Vomitorium to accurately reposition the steps, initiating a thorough revision of prior, less rigorous efforts. These works halted in 1772 due to funding shortages, resumed in 1780, and stopped again three years later..
Daytime spectacles within the amphitheatre became immensely popular in the 18th century,. with the last joust held on November 20, 1716, in honor of the Prince-elector of Bavaria, organized by Scipione Maffei, who lamented that Verona’s nobles no longer held such events there. From that year, contracts leasing the monument’s interior shifted from equestrian activities to troupes of actors and dancers, who erected stages within the arena. The first precisely documented performance was Maffei’s Merope, staged in July 1713 by Luigi Riccoboni’s company. Carlo Goldoni attended one such show in July 1733, leaving a description in his Memoirs of the setting and atmosphere, with nobles and the wealthy seated in chairs and the common folk on the tiers.
Among occasional attractions, in January 1751, a rhinoceros stunned spectators, who could scarcely believe such a creature existed.. The most favored spectacle, however, was bull hunting, pitting a bull (or sometimes oxen) against dogs trained by butchers. In September 1786, Goethe visited Verona and marveled at the amphitheatre—the first major ancient monument he encountered—noting with surprise that the popular pallone game was not held inside.
On January 1, 1807, the Deputation for Public Ornament was established, tasked with preserving the Arena. In 1816, following Verona’s transfer to the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, it was renamed the Commission for Ornament. In 1817, excavations outside the amphitheatre traced the continuation of the channel aligned with its major axis, followed as far as Palazzo Ridolfi, as noted by an inscription there, and uncovered the foundations of the Gallienus walls, which intersected the channel.
The year 1820 marked a turning point as the municipality ordered the eviction of residents from the Arena, assigning 42 arcades for storage use. Evicting 36 tenants was a crucial step toward the monument’s reclamation and comprehensive restoration. This met fierce resistance from occupants, some of whom claimed centuries-long tenure passed down through generations.. That same year, Podestà Da Persico met with Austrian Emperor Francis I to outline the monument’s needs, prompting the municipality to develop a work plan. The project focused on the exterior, demolishing houses too close to the Arena and excavating around it to expose its base, buried about two meters deep due to sediment from repeated floods until the construction of retaining walls.. The average level of the Piazza Bra was also lowered by about 70 cm, sloping gently from the Gran Guardia toward the Arena, and the Liston’s elevation was adjusted. Notiziario della Banca Popolare di Verona, Verona, 1990, number 3. This transformed Piazza Bra and the Arena itself: lowering the square restored the monument’s proportions, while demolishing the New Mercy Hospital, fourteen houses toward San Nicolò, and military furnaces abutting the municipal walls, alongside the Gran Guardia’s completion, lent greater space and coherence to the ensemble..
In 1866, Veneto joined the Kingdom of Italy, yet the Commission for Ornament persisted, renamed the Commission for Civic Ornament. In 1876, it was replaced by the Advisory Commission for Monument Conservation, established in each province of the kingdom. During this period, Count Antonio Pompei emerged as Verona’s most active figure in addressing restoration challenges, publishing essays between 1872 and 1877 aimed at reconstructing the amphitheatre’s original appearance. He also oversaw the restoration of the third tier of Vomitorium, though uncertainties during the work prevented a full overhaul of the cavea..
During World War II, the Superintendency for Monuments, led by architect Piero Gazzola, installed temporary buttresses inside and outside the wing to shield it from bombings. After the war, these were removed, and the wing was statically reinforced according to the design of engineer Riccardo Morandi: a post-tensioning system inserted 5 mm steel cables into holes drilled from above, aligned with the pillars, then filled with pressurized liquid cement. This reinforcement of the wing’s five vertical pillars occurred between 1953 and 1956.
Further interventions from 1954 to 1960 cleared remaining arcades of warehouses and shops, demolishing non-original structures such as partition slabs, wooden stairs, internal tiled roofs, and counter-walls. In 1955, about fifty wooden gates were replaced with the current iron ones. From 1957 to 1959, the lower ramps of four internal staircases were restored, arcade floors were paved with pebbles, central stone walkways were laid in the Ambulacrum, underground conduits and the central well were cleaned, the entire outer ring was restored, and cracks between the cavea’s steps were sealed. In 1960, the old central pit cover was demolished, a new slab was built, and an iron railing was installed along the top step to prevent spectators from falling, despite some controversy..
Since 1984, during the Christmas season, a steel comet star designed by architect Rinaldo Olivieri, 70 meters high and 82 meters long, was placed in Piazza Bra, with its tail resting inside the Arena. However, in January 2023, during routine dismantling, part of the star fell, causing irreparable damage to several steps; consequently, from Christmas 2024, only the star’s “head” has been installed, with its traditional tail replaced by light beams.
In May 1815, marking Verona’s return to the Austrian Empire and a visit by Archduke Heinrich Johann Bellegarde, viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a bull hunt was held, followed by corn distribution to the poor—a common blend of entertainment and charity. In March 1816, to celebrate Emperor Francis I and his wife Maria Ludovika, bull hunting was replaced by a jockey race, preceded by corn distribution via carts sent to parishes.
On November 24, 1822, concluding the Congress of Verona, a grand choreography with a lyrical prelude, The Holy Alliance, was staged. The text was by Gaetano Rossi, with music composed and conducted by Gioachino Rossini: the spectacle opened with Fate summoning four chariots from different directions—those of Minerva (with allegories of arts, abundance, and happiness), Ceres (with nymphs and commerce), Neptune (with maritime spirits), and Mars (with strength, valor, and warriors). Four different dances unfolded as the chariots went around in circles, ensuring that all spectators could see the performance, culminating in a collective display around a statue of Concordia..
In the 1800s, equestrian competitions, cycling races, hot air balloon displays, acrobatic gymnastics, comedies, and tombola games were highly popular. Notable events included the 1838 tombola attended by Emperor Ferdinand I, highlighted by thousands of colorful umbrellas opening during a downpour, and the 1857 event with Emperor Franz Joseph, featuring a widely enjoyed tombola and greasy pole spectacle. Rossini’s music returned to the Arena on July 31, 1842, following the success of his Stabat Mater at the Teatro Filarmonico ten days earlier. The first opera season occurred in 1856, with performances of Il Casino di Campagna and La fanciulla di Gand by Pietro Lenotti, the first act of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. The Arena also served civic purposes, hosting the November 16, 1866, celebration of Veneto’s annexation to the Kingdom of Italy in the presence of Victor Emmanuel II. After 1866, as Verona remained a military city, the army grew closer to the populace, occasionally staging carousel spectacles inside. Additionally, the first Sunday of June featured a fireworks display for the Albertine Statute celebration..
From the early 1900s until the 1913 Aida that launched the Arena di Verona Festival, circus performances were the most successful shows. Since 1913, the Verona amphitheatre has become the world’s largest open-air opera venue, preserving its role as a space for popular entertainment while upholding the monument’s dignity. It has also occasionally hosted gladiators, wild beasts, and Christian persecutions for historical film productions..
The Verona amphitheatre hosted the final of the 1970 edition of the television program Games Without Borders.
In sports, the Arena has served as the finish line for the final stage of the Giro d’Italia in the 1981, 1984, 2010, 2019, and 2022 editions. On May 23, 1988, at the twilight of the Cold War, it hosted a historic friendly volleyball match between the men’s national teams of the United States and the Soviet Union. On August 15, 2023, it welcomed the opening match of the 2023 Women’s European Volleyball Championship between Italy and Romania. In 2026, the Arena will host the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics and the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics for the Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo 2026. Preparations for both events included construction to improve the safety and accessibility for Disability. Barry, Colleen. "Verona’s ancient Roman Arena gets a modern facelift for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games," The Associated Press (AP), Thursday 11 December 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
Its location outside the walls suggests that the city’s interior was nearly fully developed.. This placement also necessitated a rethinking of road networks, as the amphitheatre drew tens of thousands from the city, countryside, and nearby towns, potentially overwhelming access gates (notably, the Via Postumia, entering at Porta Borsari, was already very busy). Consequently, Porta Leoni and Porta Borsari were refurbished, and two smaller exits were likely added near the amphitheatre. Its orientation further underscores its connection to the city despite its later construction: the major axis aligns with the urban grid’s Cardo, and the minor axis parallels the Decumanus. This alignment facilitated linking the amphitheatre’s sewers to the city’s system.
Notably, its external position eased access from the countryside and other cities. Spectacles, held infrequently due to their high cost, naturally attracted audiences from beyond Verona.
It records that a wealthy woman, in her son’s name, bequeathed funds to erect a statue of Diana, stage a hunting spectacle ( venatio) in the Arena, and install salientes—possibly water conduits or fountains—within the amphitheatre.
Additionally, an original Arena step was found, inscribed with a seat number: I / LOC(US) IIII, LIN(EA) I, meaning wedge one, step four, seat one.
The arena measures 75.68 m x 44.43 m (250 x 150 Roman feet), a round figure reflecting the simplicity of the base module, with a 5:3 ratio between the major and minor axes. The cavea spans 39.40 m (125 feet), while the amphitheatre’s maximum dimensions (major x minor axis) are 152.43 m x 123.23 m (520 x 420 Roman feet).. These dimensions rank the Arena eighth among Roman amphitheatres and fourth in Italy, following the Colosseum, the Campanian Amphitheatre, and the Amphitheatre of Milan..
The amphitheatre was built on a slight artificial elevation (now below street level), with foundations of an opus caementicium Sill plate. A 1.60 m height difference exists between the outermost ring and the podium base. Rainwater drainage, critical for such a large structure, was managed by three annular Sewerage beneath the floors of concentric galleries supporting the first level. Two additional sewers along the major and minor axes channeled runoff to the Adige, one explored for about 100 meters. This sewer system was highly efficient, with a consistent two-meter height. Constructed with sections of pebble masonry bound by mortar, interspersed with three horizontal brick rows, they were capped with large stone slabs—a technique mirrored in Verona’s civic sewer system.
Connections between the facade and the underlying structure are limited to shared foundations and the barrel vaults of the third gallery and the one above. The facade features three stacked tiers of arches, built entirely from well-squared blocks of red ammonitic limestone, a stone prevalent in the province of Verona. The first-tier arches stand 7.10 m high, the second 6.30 m, and the third 4.50 m, enhancing the vertical thrust when viewed from below. The first-tier pillars measure 2.30 m wide by 2.15 m deep (nearly square), topped by a pilaster ending in a Tuscan order capital at the cornice level.. Arches rest on two semi-capitals, terminating on the pilaster just above its midpoint. Above the Tuscan capitals, a band of blocks bears the entrance numbers (LXIV to LXVII survive on the Ala, with others scattered around), followed by another identical band supporting the upper cornice. With 72 arches and entrances, the numbering—starting with I at the western entrance—suggests that sector’s prominence, proceeding counterclockwise..
The second tier mirrors the first, save for its reduced height. The third tier varies slightly: Tuscan capitals persist without pilasters, and the cornice comprises a entablature with a frieze and additional cornice. Inside, brackets once supported portico beams, not the velarium, as some scholars speculated (its weight would have required external brackets).
Using the same order across all tiers is typical of amphitheatres like those in Nîmes or Pula Arena.
These three concentric galleries divided the structure into four zones. From the arena to the first gallery lies the first tier of seating, the maenianum. The first annular corridor, the praecinctio, rested on the first gallery’s vault, separating the second seating tier between the first and second galleries. Above the second gallery’s vault was the second annular corridor, dividing the second and third tiers. Here, the 64 vomitorium staircases become more intricate and begin intersecting.. A third annular corridor separated the third and fourth tiers, followed by a portico aligned with the outermost gallery, its roof supported by a colonnade facing the cavea and brackets (still visible on the Ala) on the outer side.
The grandest entrance, to the west toward Porta Borsari and the Via Postumia, features a central vault twice the height of others, reaching beneath the cavea’s tiers. The western sector was likely the most significant, as evidenced by the differing staircase layouts: the western sector’s symmetrical spaces feature straight corridors leading directly to lower tiers, while the eastern sector’s irregular corridors channeled most spectators to upper tiers. The western entrance likely welcomed the procession inaugurating the games.
The outer facade and pillars were crafted from cut red ammonitic limestone from Valpolicella, a common Veronese calcareous stone, used in both pink and white variants creating a widespread dichromatism. Marble blocks were shaped to stack without mortar, with visible faces left unpolished for a rustication effect, speeding construction.
Rubble masonry was used for the interior walls, with a mixed facing of bricks and pebbles: alternating courses of large pebbles and three rows of dark red bricks (one or one-and-a-half feet, about 8 cm thick), with mortar joints of 1–2 cm. This technique dominates near entrances, while most of the structure comprises cementitious material poured into Formwork. The vaults are also opus caementicium of mortar and pebbles over wooden formworks, with board imprints still visible.
The sewers were constructed in mixed masonry, with pebble sections bound by mortar alternating with three brick rows, covered by large stone slabs. Beneath the arena lies a subterranean chamber (8.77 m wide, 36.16 m long) of unknown purpose..
Recent estimates for summer performances put the arena's capacity at , though the stage occupies about a third of the seats, and the upper portico is gone. Thus, in Roman history, it likely held around spectators.
Other medieval legends attributed its construction to the Devil because of its immense size, considered impossible to build using human hands.. Additional tales credited King Theodoric, likely because he restored it and held numerous spectacles there.
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