Stadium of Domitian

The Stadium of Domitian, also known as the "Circus Agonalis", was a mass-entertainment sports venue located to the north of the Campus Martius in Rome. Throughout its Imperial history, the Stadium was used exclusively for the presentation of the extreme physical brutality of the "agones", Latin for "games": the English language bears mute testament to this bloodlust; "agone" is the etymological origin of the English word "agony".

The Stadium was commissioned around 50 AD by the Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus as a gift to the people of Rome. The structure was intended to be a smaller, more readily manageable facsimile of the vastly larger, 250,000 capacity Circus Maximus. Once completed, it became part of a monumental civic re-building scheme undertaken in the aftermath of a devastating fire that had swept the Field of Mars in 79 AD. This orgy of ambition would ultimately see the advent of the Theater of Pompey and, later, the Pantheon.

The method of construction was strongly dictated by the prospect of the fires that had plagued the area with frightening regularity. Solid concrete was employed to provide the substructures and support frames; marble – which is flammable – was used solely for decorative sheathing. Drawing inspiration from the Circus Maximus, the Stadium was built according to an elongated, U-shaped plan. It rose an estimated 100 feet at its outer margins, gradually sloping to a 15-foot rim at the parameter of the arena floor. This arrangement allowed for a maximum viewing, regardless of seated position. The open end was sealed by a heroic, three-storey entrance gallery. At the height of its use, the Stadium was capable of comfortably absorbing an estimated 75,000.

(Note: There are existing renderings and models that depict the arena as being partially divided by a raised "spina", or middle median stip. The presence of this "spina" is conjectural and not supported by archaeological evidence.)

The Stadium of Domitian comprised the northernmost sentinel of what this author refers to as the “Martian Triad”, a series of impressive public buildings designed to satisfy the various tastes of the fickle Roman public. From north to south: the Stadium itself; the intimate Theater of Balbus, used for recitals, song and orations; and the vast Theater of Pompey, reserved for what future generations would term “legitimate theater” (and legendary as the site of the murder of Julius Caesar).

After the administrative fall of Rome in 476 AD, and the abandonment of the City in 577 AD, the Stadium fell into initial disuse, only to be recycled during the Dark Ages as living quarters for the poor and the deliverance of outdoor sermons. By the dawn of the Renaissance era, the substantial portions of the structure that had survived were subsequently mined for their building materials and incorporated into burgeoning structures elsewhere.

Today, the famed Piazza Navona adheres perfectly to the expanse of the interior arena of the Stadium. The sweep of buildings that embrace the Piazza, including the noted Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, are largely built over - and partially incorporate - the Stadium's original seating arrangements.