The Amphitheater at Pompeii

The Amphitheater of Pompeii is the oldest surviving Roman amphitheater. It is located in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, and was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, which also buried Pompeii itself and the neighboring town of Herculaneum.

The artist who hand-colored this originally black-and-white postcard has obligingly brushed in a plume of smoke above the volcano, a feature probably not in the original photo.

Constructed around 70 BCE, it is the earliest Roman amphitheater known to have been built of stone; previously they had been built out of wood. The next Roman amphitheater built with stone is the Colosseum in Rome, which postdates it by over a century. At the time, it was known as a spectacula rather than an amphitheatrum, since the latter term was not yet in use at the time.

The amphitheater’s design is seen by modern crowd-control specialists as near optimal. Its washroom, located in the neighboring gladiator school, has also been cited as an inspiration for better bathroom design in modern stadiums. The structure also offers insights into the gladiatorial combats held here.

Around 59 CE, a deadly brawl took place between Pompeiians and residents of Nuceria during games here, resulting in a 10-year ban on such events in Pompeii. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed two concerts here in 2016, marking the first public performances in the amphitheater since 79 CE. They can be seen on Gilmour's film, Live at Pompeii.