Last Roman gladiator arena ever built unearthed in Switzerland

[brooklynite]

Live Science

Archaeologists in Switzerland have uncovered the ruins of a Roman-era amphitheater — possibly the youngest on record — where spectators likely watched gladiator fights and animal hunts with bated breath.

The oval-shaped amphitheater was built in an abandoned Roman quarry that had been in use until late antiquity. This clue, combined with the discovery of a coin dating to between A.D. 337 and 341 at the site, indicates that the amphitheater dates to the fourth century A.D., which would make it the youngest amphitheater in the Roman Empire, Jakob Baerlocher, an archaeologist at the site and head of excavations in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland, told Live Science.

A few other clues point to a fourth century A.D. date, including the composition of the amphitheater's building materials, such as its stone blocks and mortar, which are "reminiscent of that of the late antique fort wall," Baerlocher told Live Science in an email.

Archaeologists discovered the amphitheater while monitoring construction work for a new boathouse on the Rhine River in December 2021. The amphitheater — in Kaiseraugst, a municipality named for the ancient Roman city of Augusta Raurica, which sits near Switzerland's modern-day borders with France and Germany — is the third Roman amphitheater discovered to date in Augusta Raurica, according to a translated statement from the Department of Education, Culture and Sport in the Swiss canton of Aargau, which announced the find on Jan. 19.

[LittleGirl]

1. That's 2 miles from home here. eom

[musette_sf]

2. I was going to say, just a few miles from Basel.

Last time I was in Switzerland, most of my week was spent in Kaiseraugst.

I saw an excellent exhibit at the Historical Museum of Basel several years ago, Under The Rhine, with all sorts of cool artifacts from the river. Some Roman, which were thrilling to see, and also some later Nazi iconography which was found near Les Trois Rois.

[LittleGirl]

3. It's a lovely area socked in with fog lately.

When were you here last?

[musette_sf]

4. Feb of 2019

I went to the Picasso exhibit at Fondation Beyeler on my time off.

[LittleGirl]

5. Cool. Let me know if you ever come back. eom