Blood-red arena walls at Roman fortress

An amphitheatre with arena walls painted blood-red has been uncovered at the site of the Roman legionary fortress called Legio in Galilee, Israel. Arena walls were often plastered and painted, as revealed by recent finds at Richborough, England, and in fact Roman forts often had decorated walls and elements (see the article by Duncan Campbell elsewhere in this issue). The team which exposed the structure in Israel believe it was primarily intended for combat training by the soldiers rather than for entertainment, as was also the case at other legionary camps such as Deva (Chester) and Isca (Caerleon) in Britain. Hosting occasional gladiatorial duels and beast fights at camps was also part of Roman military life. The arena at Legio had two circular walls, with the outer wall representing a second phase of…

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Ancient Warfare (Digital) - 1 Issue, AW XVI.6

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