Qualla: Roman Amphitheatre of Italica

Roman Amphitheatre of Italica: Introduction

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Two Roman emperors were born in Italica -- Trajan and Hadrian -- and the amphitheatre they left behind could seat 25,000 spectators, making it one of the largest in the entire Roman Empire. The city was founded in 206 BC by the Roman general Scipio Africanus as a settlement for his veteran soldiers, the first Roman city in Hispania. What remains today sits in modern-day Santiponce, just outside Seville, an elliptical ruin whose stones have been scavenged, weathered, and slowly reclaimed from the Andalusian earth over six centuries of abandonment.

Roman Amphitheatre of Italica: Colossal in Stone and Pebble

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The amphitheatre's dimensions are staggering: a major axis of 160 meters, a minor axis of 137 meters, and three tiers of seating arranged to enforce the rigid social hierarchies of Roman life. The ima cavea -- the lowest section, closest to the action -- had six rows of seats wit...

Roman Amphitheatre of Italica: Gods Beneath the Sand

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The amphitheatre contained several underground rooms dedicated to the worship of Nemesis and Juno. Nemesis -- the goddess of retribution and fate -- was a natural patron for gladiators, who lived and died by fortune's whim. Shrines to her appear in amphitheatres across the Roman ...

Roman Amphitheatre of Italica: Lost and Found

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Italica was rediscovered during the Renaissance, though systematic excavation of the amphitheatre did not begin until the late 19th century. Of the three levels of seating, the first remains largely intact, the second partially so, and the third is mostly ruined -- its stones car...

Roman Amphitheatre of Italica: From Arena to Dragonpit

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the 2010s, the amphitheatre gained a global audience when HBO chose it as the filming location for the Dragonpit of King's Landing in the seventh and eighth seasons of Game of Thrones. The production team saw in the sun-bleached ruin exactly what they needed: an ancient arena ...