Amphitheatre of Serdica

The Amphitheatre of Serdica (Latin: Amphitheatrum Serdicense; Bulgarian: Амфитеатър на Сердика, romanized: Amfiteatar na Serdika) was an amphitheatre in the Ancient Roman city of Ulpia Serdica, now Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Discovered in 2004 and the subject of excavations in 2005 and 2006, the ruins of the amphitheatre lie on two adjacent sites in the centre of modern Sofia. The amphitheatre was built in the 3rd–4th century AD on top of a 2nd–3rd century theatre, which had been ravaged by the Goths. However, the amphitheatre remained in use for less than a century and was abandoned by the 5th century. The Amphitheatre of Serdica was among the biggest in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and the largest in what is today Bulgaria. It lay outside the city walls of Serdica and hosted fights between gladiators and wild beasts, which were advertised at the entrance of the city.

The Amphitheatre of Serdica was built on top of an earlier Roman theatre, which was constructed in the 2nd or 3rd century CE. Its ruins were discovered 5 metres (16 ft) under the amphitheatre ruins. The theatre, 55 m (180 ft) wide, was perhaps built simultaneously with Serdica's defensive walls under Commodus (r. 177–192). It was active during the reigns of Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) and Caracalla (r. 198–217); the former may have visited the theatre with his family in 202 or 209. In the first half of 268, however, a Gothic raid ravaged and burned the theatre, forcing its permanent abandonment. As evidenced by coin and ceramic findings, including a rare bronze medallion of Antinous, the amphitheatre was constructed on top of the theatre ruins in two stages during the late 3rd and early 4th century CE, under Roman emperors Diocletian (r. 284–305) and Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). The amphitheatre itself was in use for less than a century, as it was abandoned by the 5th century, perhaps due to the anti-pagan policies of Theodosius I (r. 379–395). In the 5th and 6th centuries, barbarian invaders set up their homes within the former arena, and during the Ottoman period (late 14th–19th centuries), it was used as a source of building materials for new housing.

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).