Invisible Lost or Unconfirmed
Nothing Much to See Here!
When I started this site, the concept of ‘Invisible and Lost’ seemed like a convenient and simple categorisation for Roman Amphitheatres known or suspected to exist or to have existed, but which can’t be seen by someone visiting the site. Experience and time has changed my view. For example there are sites which:
Are recorded in historic accounts but the locations are currently lost or unknown
Are believed to exist below ground based on initial investigation but are as yet unconfirmed by excavation or where excavation has started but not yet complete
Are known locations confirmed by past excavation or records but all traces of the original have since been demolished
Are known locations confirmed by past excavation or records but existing original remains are re-buried or built over
Are known locations where the arena form is marked by later buildings, roads or other features, but no visible trace of the physical Roman structure can be seen above ground
Are known locations confirmed by street patterns, place names, past excavation or records but visible physical remains are confined to a few stones or are within private buildings and not available for visitors to see
This page has therefore undergone a makeover and a new name (From ‘Invisible and Lost’ to ‘Nothing Much to see Here!’. I have re-categorised the entries into the above sub-groups with designations: L (lost), U (Unconfirmed/Unfinished Excavation), O (Obliterated), B (Buried), F (Fossil), and H (Mostly Hidden). Please note that anything categorised as L (lost) is not included in the confirmed list of (currently) 253 sites.
The ‘sense of place’ and the 3D reality of an amphitheatre site can still only be experienced by actually going there. What follows is a work in progress….
Lost/Location Unknown L
L1. Rome 4 Amphitheatre of Statilus Taurus
L2. Rome 5 Amphitheatre of Nero
L3. Fidenae. Italy. A wooden amphitheatre is written of as having collapsed here in AD 27 killing up to 20.000 people
L4. Fermo. Firmum Picenum. Italy
L5. Vescovio. Forum Novum. Italy
L6. Pupput, Hammamet. Tunisia
L7. Sousse, Hadrumentum. Tunisia
L7. Enfidaville, Upenna. Tunisia
L8. Colchester, Camulodunum. England
L9. Carpis. Tunisia
L10. Mesarfelta, Algeria. Inscription on stone refers to the amphitheatre. Site unknown
L11. Siddi Bel Abbes, Tigava Castra. Algeria. Earthen Rampart in fortifications, possibly military amphitheatre. Now lost
L12. Meaux. France. Believed to be at the site of the road junction of Rue du Faubourg St-Nicholas and Rue Aristide Briand. No visible remains or other indications
L13. Aquino. Italy. Remnants of amphitheatre discovered during roadworks.
L14. Palermo Sicily. Believed to have been on the site of the Piazza S. Domenico. There’s one of those otherwise unexplicable curved building lines on the south side of the square.
L15. Parma. Italy. Believed to have been somewhere in the vicinity of Borgo Lalatta.
Unconfirmed/ Unfinished Excavation U
U1. Aldborough, England. What3words stunning.couch.shameless
U2. Rouen France. Rue du Donjon. Curtain wall remains of amphitheatre (or possibly theatre) beneath the foundations of castle. What3words – talking.slogans.select
U3. St Georges-du-Bois. France. What3words – asking.caps.gloomier
Traces in a field outside the village. Settlement covered by forest then revealed by agriculture
U4. Birten. Germany. Not sure if anything visible. Castrum military amphitheatre, similar to arrangement at Petronell. What3words. tawdry.unfreeze.twee
U5. Altino. Italy. Roman port city on Venetian lagoon completely lost to silt. Found by geo imaging.What3words plenty.mildness.squares
U6. Folgino, Fulginium. Italy. Discovered 2023 not yet excavated. What3words jeeps.montage.asteroid
U7 .Fondi, Fonds. Italy. Discovered 2021, some excavation. What3words chat.resides.breed
U8. Bienvenida, Spain. Unexcavated fairly obvious dip in the ground within the confines of this remote Roman site. What3words rented.upon.ingests
U11. Cordoba, Spain. Amphitheatre remains discovered to the rear of the University Rectory. Excavation and presentation a work in progress. Thought to be a very big amphitheatre. What3words tokens.declares.bronzer
U12. Bosra, Syria. Adjacent to a wonderfully preserved theatre. The site is the right shape and shows signs of remains and excavation but not much information on mapping.What3words stiffen.tally.gutless
U13. Agbia, Tunisia. Lemon-shaped dip in the ground, possibly some masonry, close to known roman site. What3words tripped.uptight.purely
U14. Tebourba, Tunisia. Reportedly visible in the 18th century but destroyed when a nearby bridge was constructed. No streetview or clear aerial photography available but there’s an oval patch of ground of the right size. Alternative claims are that a pit near the cemetery across the river is the site. What3words pertinence.suitcase.literalist or samosas.perceptions.pleasant
U15. Reggio Emiliana. Regium Lepidi. Italy. 2016 research and underground imaging suggests a substantial oval foundation some 10m beneath current street level in the north-west corner of the public gardens at the junction of Viale Isonzo and Viale Antonio Allegri
U16. Taneto Di Gattatico. Tanetum. Italy. 2016 theory based on ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ crop markings photographed in fields to the south west of the village showing an outline ‘lemon’ shape very similar in size and configuration to that at Rusellae.
U17. Apt. Apta Julia. France. This appears in the Wikipedia list but with a footnote saying there’s a theatre but no amphitheatre. There are some of the usual curves in local streets – particularly Rue De La Merliere and Rue St. Pierre but nothing conclusive. The museum is known to have the theatre remains below it, however the street to the south of it is named Rue De L’Amphitheatre (That could of course result from the fairly common conflation of Theatre and Amphitheatre)
U18. Barcelona (Barcino) Spain. Outward radiating roads, a curve in some buildings and an ancient archway above another arch opposite the church of Santa Maria del Mar claimed as evidence.
U19. Portus Italy. The investigation of the Portus area near Ostia discovered a small amphitheatre within a palace complex adjacent to the hexagonal dock basin. a short distance to the east, Lidar found a larger circular mark in the fields. Unconfirmed to be an amphitheatre yet but visible on some satellite photographs at what3words location dress.arching.outings.
U20. Zaragoza Spain. It seems inconceivable that the city of ‘Ceasar Augustus’ (Zaragoza.. say it slowly) with its Roman wall, forum, baths and 6000 seat theatre had no amphitheatre. It’s just nobody can find it or any hard evidence. Two academic schools of thought based on an anonymous drawing and the configuration of trees in a 17th century map contend that it was either under the junction of Calle de la Casa Jimenez and Calle de Bilbao, or under the Museum and the Plaza de los Sitios.
Obliterated O
O1. Komarom. Hungary. 18th century traveller reported amphitheatre. Little remaining evidence. What3words conflict.drew.brighter
O2. Orange. France. 200m west of the old city at junction of D17 and Avenue de 18 Juin 1940. Recorded in a 1639 publication and excavated in 1822. No traces remain, site of a roundabout and McDonalds.
O3. Skikda, Rusicade. Algeria. Described in Gsell, Monuments antiques de l’Algerie (1901) but said to have been removed in 1945
O4. Pavia. Ticinum. Italy. Remains known until 3rd century. Alleyway named Via Anfiteatro between Via Alessandro Volta and Via Porta Palacense
Buried B
B1. Liebnitz, Austria. 19C excavations included an ‘oval amphitheatre shape’ . What3words rinsed.quibble.admire
B2. Caistor St Edmund, England. There may be a visible dip in the field. What3words quibble.anchorman.insurance
B3. Amiens France. Nothing visible and no acknowledgement in terms of street pattern or naming. Centred on north west corner of the Hotel de Ville. What3words – ties.instead.latest
B4. Angers. France. Rue des Arenes. Excavated in 19th century. Curtain walls and sub-structure. What3words. booklet.magazine.offhand
B5. Antibes France (Antipolis). French Riviera resort made popular by local resident Brigitte Bardot (RIP). Antipolis was an important Roman Port served by two aqueducts. Archaeological investigation located the remains of its amphitheatre in the western part of the old town. They lie somewhere beneath the College Departmental Fersen. No Visible trace. What3words – inseparable.backwater.nourished
B6. Metz France. Nothing visible. Excavated in 1903. Obliterated by railway sidings and roads. Avenue de l’amphitheatre and Passage de l’amphitheatre meet at its centre. What3words – beaters.riders.flow
B7. Narbonne France What3words – stumps.bricks.marshes
Excavated and covered over. Location north of Avenue Paul Tournal centred on Rue Paul Thiers. Rue Jean Deschamps apartments curve around site, possibly avoiding buried remains. No visible signs.
B8. Reims. France. N. of Rue di Mont d’Arene just off the D57 Rue des Romains. Remains existed until mid 19th Century. Rediscovered by excavation in 2000 in connection with tramway. What3words. wells.league.breeding
B9. Kunzing, Quintana. Germany. Excavated 2004-5 and re-buried. Wooden Amphitheatre. Curve in road and modern wooden structure showing size built above ground. What3words wanderer.bedbugs.dread
B10. Aquileia. Italy. Roman inland port city sacked by Attila the Hun and lost for centuries. Little excavated and surrounding rivers and canals have changed course. Remains of the amphitheatre excavated in the garden of Palazzo Brunner in Via Roma, south of the great baths.What3words netball.navigable.grump
B11. Canosia di Puglia. Italy. There’s a Via Del Anfiteatro and a documented site to the south of it but no apparent visible remains. What3words rich.scrum.changing
B12. Newstead, Scotland. What3words tonsils.stimulator.proven
Slight kink in the trackway and a dip in the field gives away the site of the most northerly verified amphitheatre. Military, and associated with the large outpost fort of Trimontium.
B13. Caerwent, Wales. Excavations in the meadows NW of Basilica in 1903 found remains. Nothing visible. What3words diggers.lawns.winners
B14. Autun, Augustodunum. France. A 16th Century print and 19th Century excavations confirm the existence of a substantial amphitheatre a short distance from the well preserved theatre. The curve of Rue di Théatre Romain skirts the line of the outer wall as do a range of farm buildings south of Avenue di 2ème Dragons which bisects the site. What3words teams.eyelash.elite
Fossil F
F1. Trento, Tridentum. Italy. Alleyway and small square Piazette Dell’Anfiteatro with tell tale curve in the buildings on the east side. The large church of St Peter and St Paul sits right on the elliptical site suggested by the curve.What3words rockets.tickets.blazed
F2. Velletri. Veletrea. Italy. Records confirm repair and refurbishment of amphitheatre in late Roman Period. Roads and buildings describe a large and almost circular perimeter on west side of Piazza Mazzini. No visible remains or street names.What3words truth.already.lemmings
F3. Nora. Sardinia. Great ruins and archaeological site. Old photographs show the lines of a smallish oval amphithetare on the narrow isthmus joining it to the mainland. Paved area marks the site and line of curved wall found in 1901. What3words master.stemmed.tusks
F4. Tusculum. Italy. Abandoned Roman city in the Alban hills. Site of Cicero’s villa. Excavated in the 19th century. Amphitheatre site appears to be marked by sharp bend in the road to the west. Covered by woodland.What3words pelting.monk.ranges
F5. Nijmegen, Netherlands. Paving markings on Rembrandtstraat indicate some foundations. What3words ramming.talkers.slogged
F6. Modena, Italy. Hinted at by the irregular street shapes of Via Canalino and Via Montadora. Some archaeology has found bricks underground. What3words gadget.pouting.arrived
Mostly Hidden H
H1. Taranto, Italy. The ‘Via Anfiteatro’ is a clue and there is a fragment of wall in the corner of a car park.What3words lonely.tiger.decimal
H2. Rodez (Segodunum), France. Rue de l'amphithéâtre, buildings named L’amphithéâtre and Les Arenes and the top of a single arch in Rue Saint-Michel. What3wordsevening.pulses.shots