The exhibition “Gladiators in the arena. Between Colosseum and Ludus Magnus”. Conceived and created by the Colosseum Archaeological Park, it can be visited from today, 21 July, until 7 January 2024.
Gladiators in the arena
The exhibition, curated by Alfonsina Russo, Federica Rinaldi, Barbara Nazzaro and Silvano Mattesini, brings together a multimedia installation and original exhibits. An installation that enhances the recovery of the eastern cryptoporticus of the Colosseum, which in Roman age it connected the arena with the gladiatorial gymnasiums. Among these, the only one of which part of the ancient structures is preserved is the Ludus Magnus, the largest. Built byEmperor Domitian, was a smaller copy of the Colosseum, used for gladiatorial training. The building had a rectangular plan with 3 floors with a large elliptical area in the centre, of the same shape as the Colosseum, surrounded by a cavea to accommodate the public. The rooms around the central cavea were instead used as gladiator houses: small cells whose shape is still well recognized today.
In the 800th century, the construction of a sewage collector for the Esquiline district had interrupted this ancient corridor, which today is finally being restored again. Thanks to a holographic projection, right on the axis Colosseum-Ludus Magnus, the wall that interrupts the connection is virtually "demolished", thus giving back to the public a unified vision of the archaeological area, while the gladiators once again furrow the original floor of the cryptoporticus, advancing towards the arena dressed in their armour. The temporary exhibition illustrates a selection of the main types of pairs of gladiators who performed in combat in the arena. In the setting up a video reproduces the reconstructions of the armature of gladiators made according to the ancient technique of embossing and casting by the master Silvano Mattesini. At the end of the exhibition, the multimedia installation will remain visible to those who visit the Colosseum.
(Photo Facebook Colosseum Archaeological Park)
