Aquincum - Military Amphitheater, Roman Empire

The military amphitheater of Aquincum is the larger of the two arenas of the settlement. The other is the Polgarváros amphitheater. The military amphitheater in today's Budapest, south of the military camp, in the III. It is located in the area bounded by Nagyszombat utca-Pacsirtamező utca-Viador utca-Szőlő utca.
According to a building inscription, the training ground was rebuilt into a stone amphitheater around 145, during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius. The construction work was carried out by the technical corps of Legio II Adiutrix. The outer walls of the stand have a longitudinal axis of 131.8 meters and a transverse axis of 108.4 meters. The size of the arena is 89.6 x 66.1 meters (larger than the Colosseum in Rome). Its huge size could be explained by the fact that it was also used for military exercises. This assumption is also proven by the fact that the spur walls of the fence wall, the arena and the substructure were constructed precisely.
Its shape is elliptical and it was formed in the place of a natural depression. According to the excavations, this hollow was used as a military training ground by the legion stationed in Aquincum from the 1st century.
Like the other amphitheaters in the Danube region, this one was also an earthen amphitheater. The auditorium was built on a mass of earth, with only twenty-four U-shaped wall sections and the podium wall built of stone.
The amphitheater could accommodate 10,000 to 13,000 spectators, and the auditorium could be accessed via a vaulted staircase. In addition to the remains of the spur walls and vaulted staircase systems, the inner wall surrounding the arena, originally 4 meters high, was also preserved, which protected the spectators from wild animals. In this stone wall there are 5 cells in which the animals could be kept. The niche at the northern gate is called porta Libitinae, the one on the eastern side may have been the sanctuary of Nemesis, who was the patron goddess of the amphitheater games. Altar stones with inscriptions were found there.
It was used as a fortress in the late Roman period. The presence of the Longobards in the 6th century is indicated by the fact that a silver treasure was found walled up in the southern gate. However, the building was used not only by the Longobards, Heruls, and Avars, but also by the conquering Hungarians; according to some opinions, it can be identified with Kursán Castle. In the Middle Ages, the amphitheater was filled with earth, in the modern era it was used as a place to lose, and then houses were built on it. The building was then called Királydomb, and several people guessed its original function from its exterior.
The trial excavations were started by Lajos Nagy in 1932, and after the typical Óbuda houses were demolished, they were excavated between 1938 and 1941 under the leadership of János Szilágyi and Tibor Nagy. The monument restoration was carried out based on the plans of László Gerő in the early 1940s, with the help of building materials found on the site.