How Does the Colosseum Compare to Other Roman Amphitheatres?

The Colosseum is the largest Roman amphitheatre ever built and the largest standing amphitheatre anywhere in the world today, but it is not the only significant survivor. Several other Roman amphitheatres preserve substantial original structure and continue to function as tourist sites or living venues. The most important are El Djem in Tunisia (the third-largest Roman amphitheatre), Verona’s Arena (still hosting opera performances each summer), Pula in Croatia (remarkable for its preserved exterior), Capua in southern Italy (older than the Colosseum and structurally its template), and Arles in southern France (still in active use). Understanding how these compare illuminates both what makes the Colosseum exceptional and what makes each other amphitheatre distinctive.

Major Surviving Amphitheatres at a Glance

  • Colosseum, Rome: 189 × 156 m, capacity 50,000–80,000; AD 80
  • El Djem, Tunisia: 148 × 122 m, capacity ~35,000; early 3rd century AD
  • Capua, Italy: 170 × 140 m, capacity ~50,000; 1st century AD
  • Verona, Italy: 152 × 123 m, capacity ~30,000 ancient; still active
  • Pula, Croatia: 132 × 105 m, capacity ~23,000; 1st century AD
  • Arles, France: 136 × 107 m, capacity ~21,000; late 1st century AD
  • Nîmes, France: 133 × 101 m, capacity ~24,000; late 1st century AD
  • Pompeii, Italy: 135 × 104 m, capacity ~20,000; approximately 70 BC (oldest surviving)

How Big Is the Colosseum Compared to the Others?

No other Roman amphitheatre matches the Colosseum’s scale. At 189 metres on its long axis and 156 on its short axis, with capacity estimated at 50,000 to 80,000, the Colosseum is roughly 20 to 30 percent larger by footprint than its nearest competitors and roughly two to three times the seating capacity of mid-sized survivors like Pula or Arles.

The scale difference reflects the specific role of the Colosseum in imperial Rome. As the capital’s flagship venue, it was designed to host the emperor’s games in front of the largest possible crowd from the city’s million-plus population. Provincial amphitheatres served smaller cities with smaller populations — often substantial cities in their own right, but not imperial capitals — and their capacities scaled accordingly.

The Colosseum is also structurally the most ambitious. Its four-storey façade, its 240-mast velarium system, its two-level hypogeum and its 80 numbered entrance arches together represent a level of engineering complexity that no other surviving amphitheatre approaches. Features like the hypogeum existed at some other sites — Capua and Pozzuoli both had them — but never on the Colosseum’s scale.

What Makes El Djem Exceptional?

The amphitheatre of El Djem (ancient Thysdrus) in Tunisia is the third-largest Roman amphitheatre and the most impressive survivor outside Italy. Built in the early third century AD, relatively late in the amphitheatre-building tradition, it preserves more of its outer façade than the Colosseum itself — all three original storeys remain largely intact around most of the perimeter, and the monument dominates the surrounding landscape with extraordinary presence.

El Djem’s exterior preservation is better than the Colosseum’s, paradoxically, because Tunisia never experienced the Renaissance-era quarrying that stripped Rome’s monuments. The stone was never systematically harvested for other buildings, and the arid climate preserved what survived. Walking around El Djem’s exterior gives the closest available modern experience of what the Colosseum’s outer wall would have looked like before the 1349 earthquake and subsequent extractions.

The site is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and receives far fewer visitors than the Colosseum — typically under 200,000 per year compared to Rome’s 7 million. For visitors willing to travel to central Tunisia, it offers the closest equivalent experience of a complete Roman amphitheatre façade.

Why Is Verona’s Arena Still in Use?

The Arena di Verona, built in the first century AD, is the best-preserved large Roman amphitheatre still in active use for public performance. Since 1913, it has hosted Verona’s summer opera festival, one of the world’s premier opera seasons, with audiences of 14,000 packing into the ancient tiers for Aida, Turandot and other grand-scale productions.

Verona’s continuous use is partly responsible for its preservation. Unlike the Colosseum, which fell out of spectacle use in AD 523, Verona’s Arena was used for jousts, fairs, markets and public events through the medieval and early modern periods. Continuous activity meant continuous maintenance — walls were not simply allowed to deteriorate — and the building survived in much better condition than if it had been abandoned.

The trade-off is that the Arena has been modified more than the Colosseum. Internal seating has been replaced multiple times; the outer wall was largely destroyed in a medieval earthquake and partially rebuilt; modern event infrastructure (stage, lighting, sound equipment) has been added for the opera season. The building is thus both more continuously used and less purely ancient than the Colosseum.

What About Pula, Arles and Nîmes?

Pula, Croatia

The amphitheatre at Pula (ancient Pola) preserves its full outer wall almost entirely intact — the best complete external preservation of any Roman amphitheatre. Built under Augustus and extended under Vespasian, it sits on the Istrian peninsula overlooking the Adriatic. The full three-storey exterior stands as a near-complete surviving example of what Roman amphitheatre exteriors looked like. Today it hosts concerts, film screenings and other events during summer months.

Arles, France

The amphitheatre at Arles (ancient Arelate) was built in the late first century AD and still hosts bullfights, concerts and other events today. In the medieval period, the structure was converted into a fortified town, with houses built within the arena and defensive towers added to the walls — four of which still stand. Nineteenth-century restoration removed the internal medieval housing while preserving the defensive towers as historical layers.

Nîmes, France

The amphitheatre at Nîmes is a near-twin of Arles, built in the same period and to similar dimensions. It also underwent medieval fortification and modern restoration. Today it hosts férias (bullfighting festivals) and other large events. Its preservation state is comparable to Arles and Pula — outstanding by the standards of most Roman amphitheatres, though still less complete than El Djem’s façade.

Why Does Capua Matter?

The amphitheatre at Capua (ancient Capua, in what is now Santa Maria Capua Vetere, north of Naples) is historically one of the most important amphitheatres in the Roman world — arguably more important than the Colosseum in certain respects. Capua was the centre of the Roman gladiator tradition. Spartacus began his revolt at a gladiator school there in 73 BC, and Capua’s gladiator schools trained fighters for amphitheatres across Italy for centuries.

Capua’s own amphitheatre, built in the first century AD, is second in size only to the Colosseum among surviving examples. Structurally it closely anticipates the Colosseum’s design — it had a hypogeum similar in principle — and some scholars have argued that Capua served as a kind of template for the Flavian Amphitheatre. Both its gladiator tradition and its architectural significance make Capua the second essential amphitheatre site for visitors interested in the arena’s wider history.

Preservation is less complete than El Djem or Pula — substantial sections of the outer wall are gone — but the surviving structure remains imposing and is much less visited than comparable Italian sites.

What Is the Oldest Surviving Amphitheatre?

The amphitheatre at Pompeii, built around 70 BC, is the oldest well-preserved surviving Roman amphitheatre. Predating the Colosseum by roughly 150 years, it is also the amphitheatre Spartacus would have been approximately contemporary with — a stone-built permanent structure at a time when most Roman gladiatorial combat still took place in temporary wooden arenas.

Pompeii’s preservation is exceptional because the amphitheatre, like the rest of the city, was buried in volcanic ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Rediscovered in the eighteenth century, it preserves the combat surface, seating tiers and most structural elements in close to original form. Its scale (135 × 104 m, capacity ~20,000) is modest compared to the Colosseum but substantial for a provincial Italian city of the late Republican period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Colosseum the largest Roman amphitheatre?

Yes. At 189 × 156 metres with capacity 50,000–80,000, the Colosseum is the largest Roman amphitheatre ever built and the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today.

Which Roman amphitheatre is best preserved?

Different amphitheatres preserve different elements best. El Djem (Tunisia) has the most complete outer façade surviving. Pula (Croatia) preserves its full external wall. Verona and Arles maintain active modern use. No single amphitheatre outranks the others on every measure.

Which Roman amphitheatre is still in use?

Several. Verona hosts an annual opera festival. Arles and Nîmes host bullfights and concerts. Pula hosts summer concerts and film screenings. The Colosseum itself is used only for occasional special events; regular performances do not take place there.

Is El Djem worth visiting?

For anyone interested in Roman amphitheatres, yes. The preservation of its outer façade exceeds the Colosseum’s, and the monument receives a small fraction of the Colosseum’s visitor load, providing a very different experience. Travel to central Tunisia is required.

Which came first, Capua or the Colosseum?

Capua’s amphitheatre was built earlier in the first century AD, approximately a generation before the Colosseum. Some scholars argue that Capua served as an architectural reference for the Flavian Amphitheatre, though direct evidence of influence is limited.

Understand the Colosseum in Context

Our Colosseum tours include discussion of the wider amphitheatre tradition, placing the Flavian Amphitheatre in its proper context as the largest and most ambitious of a building type that spread across the Roman world. Understanding what makes the Colosseum exceptional requires understanding what it was exceptional compared to.