Roman Amphitheater

This paper explores the numerous roles the army played during both the Republic and the Empire in serving as a bastion of Roman culture, both through the establishment of Coloniae Veteranorum and through through the intricate pattern of social networks that developed between legionaries and provincials.

The Roman Amphitheater of Conimbriga was identified in 1971 but
the archaeological excavations only begun in 1992. This paper is based in the author’s
excavations in the building and it’s environment in the last 15 years and intends to
take stock of our knowledge on it
Keywords - amphitheater; archaeology; architecture; Conimbriga; urbanism

Theories on the Iranian Theater History often name the Seleucid Amphitheaters as evidences on existence of Theatrical Traditions in Ancient Iran. But the archeological findings are largely ignored by researchers, who worked on this subject. And it itself has resulted to many theorizations in this area, which should be put in question.
Can we conclude from the archaeological finds that the existence of these amphitheaters has resulted, that some of Greek theatrical elements had become transferred into Parthian culture?  This article is willing to demonstrate that this conclusion should be put in question.

Through a high resolution orthoimage and a digital terrain model, we have analyzed the amphitheatre ground plan, which presents a series of anomalies thought to be related to replanning mistakes. This analysis serves as a basis to go deeper in the design of the building, its façade and the layout of the stands, as well as in the setting out procedures, trying thus to understand how these errors took place.

İzmit şehrinin bugünkü yerine ilk kurucusu, Bithynia Kralı I. Nikomedes'dir (MÖ 279-250). İzmit şehri bugün İstanbul ve Bursa’dan sonra Marmara Bölgesinin 3. en büyük şehridir. Fakat MS 4. yüzyıldaki İzmit; Roma, Antakya (Antiokheia), İskenderiye'den (Aleksanderia) sonra dünyanın en büyük 4. kenti idi. MS 284 yılında Diokletianus’un resmen başkent yaptığı İzmit, 330 yılında İstanbul’un öne çıkıp Bizans İmparatorluğu’nun başkenti olmasına değin 46 yıl, Roma İmparatorluğu’nun doğudaki başkenti olmuştur. Bu süreçte birçok kamu yapısı yapılmış şehir ihya edilmiştir.  İzmit şehrinin bu ayrıcalıklı durumu şüphesiz Marmara Denizi’nin doğusundaki karaların içine doğru ilerleyen derin körfezinden gelmektedir. O dönemdeki adıyla Sinus Astacus veya S. Olbianus olarak adlandırılan bu körfez doğal ve korunaklı bir harp limanı ve tersane işlevini mükemmel görmekteydi. Anadolu’dan Avrupa’ya giden yolların üzerinde kurulmuş olması İzmit’in sürekli önemli bir kent olmasını sağlamıştır.
Kent kimliği, bir kenti diğer kentlerden ayırt etmeye, bir anlamda başkalaştırmaya yardımcı olan nitelikler ve kente özgü olduğu tartışma götürmeyen ögeler olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bu ögeleri coğrafi ögeler (körfez, boğaz, dağ vb.), mimari ögeler (Eyfel Kulesi, Kolezyum, Kızıl Meydan, piramitler vb.), iklimsel ögeler (çöl, ılıman, sürekli yağış alan vb.) ve sosyokültürel ögeler (Rio Karnavalı, Las Vegas'ın eğlence ve kumarı vb.) olarak gruplandırmak mümkündür. 
Tarihi geçmişi prehistorik dönemlere kadar uzanan İzmit (Nikomedia) günümüzde bu geçmişi ile ne kadar anılmaktadır? Geçmişinin kıyafetlerini ne ölçüde üzerinde taşımaktadır? Bu çalışmada İzmit Belediyesi’nin düzenlediği Turizmit programı üzerinden, kent kimliğinin oluşturulmasının kent turizmine katkısı üzerinde durulmuştur. Ayrıca tura katılanlar arasından bir anket çalışması yapılmış, sonuçları yine bu çalışmanın içinde değerlendirilmiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Turizmit, Kapanca Sokak, Saat Kulesi, Amfi Tiyatro, Sırrı Paşa Konağı, Orhan Camii


The first founder of the city of Izmit in its current location was Nicomedes I (279-250 B.C.), the king of Bithynia. The city of Izmit is the third largest city in the Marmara Region after Istanbul and Bursa. However, Izmit was the fourth largest city in the world after Rome, Antiochia, Alexandria in the 4th century A.D. Izmit officially made capital by Diocletian in A.D. 284, stayed as the capital city of the Roman Empire in the east for 46 years until Istanbul became prominent and named as the capital city of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 330. The city was rejuvenated and many public buildings were constructed in this process. This privileged situation of the city of Izmit was of course due to the deep bay which moves into the land to the east of the Sea of Marmara. This bay, called Sinus Astacus or S. Olbianus in that period, served perfectly as a natural and sheltered harp harbour and shipyard. The fact that Izmit was established on the roads leading from Anatolia to Europe made it an everlasting important city.
The urban identity is defined as the qualities that help to differentiate a city from other cities, to metamorphose it in a sense, and features inarguably distinct to the city. These features can be grouped as geographical features (e.g. bay, strait, mountain), architectural features (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Collasium, Red Square, Pyramids), climatic features (e.g. desert, mild, continuous rainfall) and socio-cultural features (e.g. Rio Carnival, entertainment and gambling in Las Vegas).
How many times does Izmit (Nicomedia), dating back to prehistoric ages,  mentioned with his history? To what extent does it carry the clothes of its past? This study about the contribution made to a city's tourism by building a urban identity in the light of the Turizmit program organized by the Izmit Municipality. In addition, a survey study was conducted among the participants of the tour and the results were evaluated.
Keywords: Turizmit, Kapanca Street, Clock Tower, Amphitheatre, Sırrı Pasha Mansion, Orhan Mosque

Comme les cirques, stades, théâtres et odéons, l’amphithéâtre de Nîmes appartient à la catégorie des édifices de spectacle que les Romains construisent dès la période républicaine et multiplient jusqu’à la fin de l’Empire. Héritiers des modèles grecs ou innovations de l’architecture romaine, ces monuments adoptent des fonctions et des configurations différentes, livrant chacun une histoire qui leur est propre.

The amphitheater of Nîmes, built around 100 A.D., is in the state of our knowledge without doubt the penultimate major element of the monumental program of the Roman city of the High Empire. In spite of multiple restoration sites for more than two centuries, the regional conservation of the Historical Monuments could only note the multiple signs of deterioration of this building. A restoration project, on the scale of the monument, was decided and an archaeological monitoring of the works was started in 2009 on the front of the spans 43 to 53 (and the bleachers) situated to the south-west of the monument, the corresponding 45 at the long axis of the ellipse. It is currently continuing on spans 54 to 57.

This paper examines the architectural context associated with the execution of the Ten Martyrs of Crete at Gortyna. The analysis primarily focuses on the architecture of Gortyna’s amphitheatre, tracing its transformations from the imperial period to the present day. The study reviews dates put forward for the earliest church or shrine constructed in the arena and, in doing so, presents competing narratives for the Christianization of the site.