A mph i the´atre

an ancient Roman building of an oval form without a roof, having a central area (the arena ) encompa ed with rows of seats, rising higher as they receded from the centre, on which people used to sit to view the combats of gladiators and of wild beasts, and other sports. The first amphitheatre at Rome was that constructed by C. Scribonius Curio, 59 B.C. The Colo eum at Rome is the largest of all the ancient amphitheatres, being capable of containing 100,000 persons, 87,000 of whom occupied numbered and reserved seats. That at Verona is one of the best examples remaining. Its dimensions are 502 feet by 401, and it is 98 feet high. The name means 'both-ways theatre', or 'theatre all round', the theatre forming only a semicircular building.