Amphitheatre of Capua
The Amphitheatre of Capua was a Roman amphitheatre in the city of Capua (modern Santa Maria Capua Vetere), second only to the Colosseum in size and probably the model for it. It may have been the first amphitheatre to be built by the Romans. and was the location of the first and most famous gladiator school. Today, its remains are found in the comune of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, on Piazza I Ottobre. Much of the stone from the amphitheatre was reused by the Capuans in the Norman period to build the Castello delle Pietre. Some of the ornamental busts that were originally used as keystones for the arches of the amphitheatre are found today in the façade of the Palazzo del comune of Capua. Since December 2014, the museum, amphitheatre, and mithraeum have been under the control of the state museum of Campania. Structure Like all amphitheatres, the building had an elliptical plan. Its dimensions approach those of the Colosseum in Rome, with which it shares so many structural features that the Capuan amphitheatre is believed to have provided the direct model for the Colosseum. The major axis of the structure is and the minor axis is . The façade had a total height of , divided into four levels, all of the Tuscan order. The lower three levels consisted of 80 arches, each made of travertine and decorated with a bust of a god in the keystone. Seven of these busts have been incorporated into the Palazzo Municipale of Capua, where they remain visible. Others are displayed in the city's museum. Some remains are visible in the Museo Campano in Capua and in the in Santa Maria Capua Vetere. More remains can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, such as the Venus of Capua, which was discovered in the general area of the amphitheatre. History [[File:Colonia iulia felix.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Epigrah saying 'Colonia Iulia Felix.]] During the excavations of September 1726, a damaged inscription was found in front of the southern gate. It was restored by archaeologist Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi, as follows: The inscription, originally placed at the entrance to the amphitheatre, was put on display under the arch of the church of St Eligio a Capua, but is now conserved in the Museo Campano in Capua. As a result, reconstructing the history of the amphitheatre was possible. It was constructed by the colony after its establishment by Augustus following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and was restored by Hadrian in 119 AD, who added statues and columns. Emperor Antoninus Pius inaugurated it in AD 155. Not all historians agree on the date of the amphitheatre's construction in the first century BC, which would make it the oldest of all known amphitheatres. Many claim that the current structure was built around AD 100 on the ruins of an earlier amphitheatre. If this hypothesis is correct, then the earliest known amphitheatre would instead be the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, built in 70 BC. Middle Ages After the fall