10 Most Fascinating Pompeii Ruins

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3Pompeii Spectacula

Built around 70 BC, the amphitheater of Pompeii is the oldest surviving Roman amphitheaters in the world. It was also the earliest Roman amphitheater built of stone; previously, they had been built out of wood. The next Roman amphitheater that was built from stone was the Colosseum in Rome, which was created over a century later.

The amphitheater was called a spectacula as the term amphitheatrum was not yet in use. It could host about 20,000 spectators, equal to the entire population of Pompeii. In 59 AD a violent riot broke out between fans from Pompeii and a rival town which prompted the Senate to ban any further games there for ten years.