First Roman military amphitheater in Southern Levant revealed at excavations near Megiddo

Chris

Administrator
Staff member
First Roman military amphitheater in Southern Levant revealed at excavations near Megiddo
Less lavish than amphitheaters for the civilian population, the military amphitheaters were used for training and entertainment by the troops.
By JUDITH SUDILOVSKY
Published: MAY 31, 2022

Archaeologists excavating at the base of the Legio VI Ferrata Roman Legion near Megiddo (known as Legio) believe they have found evidence of the first military amphitheater to be identified in the Southern Levant. While remains of over 230 Roman civilian amphitheaters have been found throughout what was the territory of the Roman Empire, fewer military amphitheaters have been excavated, and most of those are in the western regions of the empire.

"We know of examples of military amphitheaters in the western regions of the Roman Empire such is in Germany, France and Spain," he continued, "but they are not known in the eastern half of the Empire. This structure is a few hundred meters from the military base.” Tepper co-directs the excavations at Legio excavations with Matthew J. Adams, director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, and Susan Cohen, archaeologist at Montana State University.

more............. https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-708197
 

JamesSuth

Well-Known Member
Interesting article. Never knew this before: “We tend to think of an army in the modern sense but soldiers of the Roman Legion played a lot of roles including local police, builders and engineers,” he said, noting the Sixth Roman Legion from Megiddo helped build part of the Caesarea aqueduct."
 
Back
Top