The Flavian Amphitheatre is undoubtedly one of the most famous buildings in the world, and an extraordinary manifestation of the control exercised by the Roman Empire over the citizenry.
is it known which persons over the years held the animal acquisition 'contract'. seems like it would have been a lucrative occupation, tho also quite difficult.
Hi Eileen! This is a very interesting question. Not regarding the Colosseum as far as I've ever come across (though I'm very willing to be corrected!). Indeed it is a curiously poorly documented building given its scale and importance: a few coins here; Martial and Cassius Dio giving glimpses of games there. Really much of the information they give tends to be extrapolated across the four centuries of its often ill-documented activity which is fairly misleading. Sorry it took me so long to reply, I'd missed your comment. All best, Agnes
I dug out my copy of Mary Beard‘s book on the Colosseum. She mentions the procurement problem a bit, but also has no real answers, except to say that in the later periods Army detachments seem to have been used.
Brilliant….all so interesting. Thank you for sharing.
thanks so much for listening and taking the time to comment. Much appreciated!
is it known which persons over the years held the animal acquisition 'contract'. seems like it would have been a lucrative occupation, tho also quite difficult.
Hi Eileen! This is a very interesting question. Not regarding the Colosseum as far as I've ever come across (though I'm very willing to be corrected!). Indeed it is a curiously poorly documented building given its scale and importance: a few coins here; Martial and Cassius Dio giving glimpses of games there. Really much of the information they give tends to be extrapolated across the four centuries of its often ill-documented activity which is fairly misleading. Sorry it took me so long to reply, I'd missed your comment. All best, Agnes
I dug out my copy of Mary Beard‘s book on the Colosseum. She mentions the procurement problem a bit, but also has no real answers, except to say that in the later periods Army detachments seem to have been used.
That’s a WOW picture if the Colosseum - yours I take it and a great lecture … thanks. JB
thanks for listening and I'm glad you liked the photo, yes it's mine taken a couple of weeks ago. I was rather pleased with it!