The amphitheatre at Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) was the civilian arena serving the civitas capital of the Atrebates, constructed initially in timber around A.D. 55–75 and rebuilt in stone in the early third century. Oval in plan with an arena measuring roughly 45 by 39 metres, it lay just outside the northeast corner of the later town wall and could accommodate an estimated 3,500–7,500 spectators, making it one of the earliest known amphitheatres in Roman Britain.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As the public entertainment venue of one of the major civitas capitals of southern Britain, it reflects the rapid post-conquest Romanisation of the Atrebatic elite, its early date placing it alongside London and Chichester among the first generation of British amphitheatres. The structure remained in use into the late Roman period and shows possible reuse in the post-Roman/early medieval phase, when Silchester appears to have retained some occupation.
First noted by Stukeley in 1724 and visible as a clear earthwork bowl, the site was systematically excavated by Michael Fulford for the Society of Antiquaries between 1979 and 1985, revealing three main phases: the timber arena, a clay-and-timber rebuild, and the stone amphitheatre of c. A.D. 200–250 with masonry-revetted entrances on the long axis and small chambers (possibly shrines or beast-pens) flanking them.
The amphitheatre at Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) was the civilian arena serving the civitas capital of the Atrebates, constructed initially in timber around A.D. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a amphitheatre site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman amphitheater at Calleva Atrebatum is classified as a Roman amphitheatre — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Calleva (0.5 km), Roman site NW of Woodgarston Farm (9.4 km), Lodge Farm Roman villa (13.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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