Italica is renowned for being the birthplace of both emperors Hadrian (he of the wall) and Trajan (he of the column) as well as having a collection of wonderful mosaics in situ and the ruins of the third largest amphitheatre in the Roman world.
What is also quite interesting about the amphitheatre is that its seating capacity was more than three times the estimated towns population, which perhaps should have been renamed Overcapitalisatia.
building with hypercaust (underfloor heating system)
amphitheatre and arena pit
arena pit
2 comments:
A bold outing underlined by the enthusiasm of your post. It's good to see you strike out in new directions.
Also good that my notes on hypercausts have been useful to someone!
Mike - your notes are always useful!! But I have to admit to having excavated a hypercaust in the past. Two in fact as in the Roman bathhouse complex I worked on one hypercaust was found overlying the remains of an earlier one. We also found the furnace room, heating flues and a quantity of hollow box tiles to carry the heat up through the walls. That excavation experience has fuelled my ongoing passion for Roman history!
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