The Colosseum, the huge Roman giant arena that stands in the center of the Italian capital has fascinated researchers and archaeologists since the field was founded in the nineteenth century and has become the center of many books, series and films inspired by the historical site.
But while my previous research focused on the gladiator shows that were held there, a new study carried out with the help of special technology reveals for the first time a little about the behavior of the hundreds of thousands of spectators who visited over the years and reveals their snacking habits during the viewing which, it turns out, were healthier than expected.
A selection of fruit seeds, stones, & pits recovered from the drainage system of the Colosseum in #Rome, remains of the snacks eaten by #Roman spectators watching the games in the arena up to 1900 years ago #RomanArchaeology pic.twitter.com/ qrSSRQUIYB
— Dr Jo Ball (@DrJEBall) July 2, 2022
The research, which began in 2021, was carried out using sophisticated robots in the drainage and sewage system of the huge structure, which to this day is one of the most visited sites in Italy in particular and in the world in general.
During the excavations, the researchers found remains of walnuts, almonds, figs, grapes, berries, pistachios and chickpeas.
Surprisingly, the bones of farm animals were absent in the excavations, which would testify to the consumption of meat during the games, although the researchers found small pieces of bones of bears, tigers and lions, apparently the remains of animals that were forced to fight for their lives as part of the violent and cruel games.
In addition, a variety of coins from different periods of the Roman Empire were found.
The rarest find was a cache of a silver coin from the time of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who banned gladiatorial games due to the great violence involved.
The Colosseum was the largest theater building in the Roman Empire and in fact until the twentieth century the largest in history.
It was built about 1,900 years ago and was abandoned in 523.
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