Beyond the medieval city wall lies the Roman Amphitheater. Cruel games with animal and gladiator combats were conducted here popular public entertainment.

When you enter the premises you walk through the ruins of the entrance gate. This was used as a quarry in the Middle Ages. The arena itself is surrounded by a protecting wall with openings for animal cages.

The arena, built in the 2nd century A.D. for cruel games with gladiators and animals, had a seating capacity of about 20,000.

With its crystal-clear acoustics, the Amphitheatre serves as a venue for the Antiquity Festival and is used today for occasional open-air concerts.

Underneath the arena is a vast cellar where, in Roman times, prisoners sentenced to death (ad bestias, to the beasts!) were kept alongside exotic wild animals like African lions or Asian tigers. 

A moveable platform took them up to the arena for the final show-down.

Gladiator Valerius im Amphitheater Trier

The Gladiator Valerius in the Amphitheater

In the combat arena of the Trier Amphitheater, Valerius shows his visitors the shadowy passageways, cellar, and dungeons and narrates from his everyday life as a gladiator.

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