Pompeii

Welcome to the eastern edge of Pompeii, where the city’s passion for spectacle and competition comes to life. In this section, we focus on the monumental Amphitheater and the Large Theater—the venues that provided the 20,000…

Standing inside the Amphitheater of Pompeii is a breathtaking experience. Built in 80 BC, it predates the famous Colosseum in Rome by over a century. …

Behind the Large Theater lies the Quadriporticus of the Theaters, which was converted into barracks for gladiators in the 1st century AD. This is where the 'rock stars' of the Roman world lived, trained, and ate. …

Shift your focus to the Large Theater, a masterpiece of Hellenistic-Roman architecture. Built into a natural slope, it could seat 5,000 people and was used for the performance of Greek and Roman tragedies and comedies. …

Right next to the Large Theater is the smaller, more intimate Odeon, or 'Teatrum Tectum.' As the name suggests, this was a covered theater, built around 75 BC. It was designed primarily for musical performances, poetry readings,…

Near the Amphitheater, we find the Praedia of Julia Felix, a sprawling estate that served as a private commercial and residential complex. Julia Felix was a wealthy woman who, after the 62 AD earthquake, opened her home to the…

As we walk between the entertainment venues, we encounter numerous 'thermopolia'—the fast-food restaurants of the ancient world. These were street-side counters with large, round jars, or 'dolia,' built into the stone. …

We have traveled from the high-culture tragedies of the theater to the blood-soaked sand of the amphitheater. We have seen where the gladiators lived and where the citizens ate their quick meals before the roar of the crowd began. …