This thoroughly updated and enlarged edition illuminates the epic story of the birth, early development, widespread flourishing and slow decline of that most typical Roman monument, the amphitheatre. This lucid and accessible work, lavishly illustrated with plans and photographs, breaks new ground with the incorporation of sociological, psychological, historical and even ecological material into the study of the amphitheatre. A more varied and wider ranging series of case studies provides the backbone of this new edition. They are included either because of their own intrinsic importance (Corinth, Pergamon, Trier, Chester), because they have been recently reinvestigated and well reported (Fréjus, Mérida), because they have been excavated and thoroughly published (Saintes, Augst, Avenches, Virunum), or have only been discovered in the past two decades (London, Virunum, Córdoba and Cartagena). This volume is a valuable reference work for students and scholars of Roman history and architecture, and this new updated edition will bring this topic to a new generation of readers.