The largest and grandest of the Roman monuments in Nîmes, the amphitheater was probably built in the late first century, around the same time as the Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) in Rome and the very similar amphitheater in Arles, and is somewhat better preserved than the latter. This amphitheater, like the others, was built as a freestanding, open-air structure to house gladiatorial games and other public spectacles and festivals. It is elliptical in shape (unlike a theater which is semicircular) with tiers of seats arranged in wedge-shaped blocks and supported on vaulted passageways on the interior. It has a formally decorated, two-story arcaded facade with recessed arches surrounding the openings alternating with engaged pilasters (flat vertical supports) on the first story and engaged half-columns (rounded) in the second story. The use of classical Greek-looking vertical elements, which have no structural function, alternating with very Roman-looking arched openings is part of the Roman formal vocabulary for decorating many types of architectural facades. Other decorative elements include projecting moldings at the tops of the piers below the springing of the arch, a plain frieze running above the arcades on both levels, and at the top, a heavy, molded cornice surmounted by a low attic story. Spectators entered the building via the arched openings at ground level and accessed their seats via a system of vaulted passageways both circulating around the perimeter of the building and radiating inward towards the arena at the center. Naturally, the most important people sat in front, though they were protected from the goings-on in the arena by a nine-foot-high parapet between the first row of seats and the arena floor. When the amphitheater was in use an awning (velarium) supported on 120 masts held in sockets in the attic could be unfurled to protect the spectators from sun. The sockets for the masts are still preserved in the upper surface of the attic. The amphitheater at Nîmes could hold a crowd of about 20,000 cheering fans. Like the amphitheater at Arles, the one at Nîmes was used as a place of refuge during the Middle Ages; its arches were filled in, towers were built, and a moat was dug around the arena. By the 18th century, a village of some 700 inhabitants had grown up inside. As at Arles, the later accretions have been cleared away and the amphitheater is today used for bull fights.
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