Artefacts excavated at the amphitheatre include material that dates to the 7th century AD, suggesting that the area was the site of a paleo-Venetian settlement, which would be related to the necropolis at the location of
present-day Via Loredan.
In an archaeological campaign begun in 1881 by Carlo Tolomei, the area was cleaned of weeds and a wall near Corso Garibaldi was demolished, to provide a better view of the remains. The original imposing structure had a north-west to south-east axis. The principle entry would have been situated near present-day Piazza Eremitani. At the opposite side there was the porta libitensis (door of the dead), for carrying away gladiators who were killed. Tolomei's excavations identified five concentric elliptical walls, with the visible portions having a surfacing in horizontal courses of Berica limestone blocks, a usage that dates to the Augustinian era (30 BC to 14 DC).
The excavations also revealed two corridors descending in a steep slope towards the arena, with flooring and wall surfacing in red Verona marble: these may have been reserved for the personnel operating the games or for the individuals en route to the opening, closing and prize-awarding ceremonies on the podium. There is as yet no documentation for the existence of sub-floors at the centre of the arena, which would have held the animal cages and machines for operating the stage settings. Some aqueduct fragments in trachite were obtained from the excavations and are now held at the Civic Museum.
The ancient Roman theater of Padua is called Arena because it was used to be scattered with sand on the ground and because there gladiator fights took place. It is surrounded by an elliptical wall of limestone blocks that formed the basis of the bleachers that surrounded the arena.
It was built in the north of the city around 70 AD with a similar structure of the Nimes' arena and as size, it was not smaller than the Arena di Verona. It prove to the extraordinary economic prosperity of Padua at that time.
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