Unlike the theatre, the amphitheatre was a Roman invention that was initially

built for funeral ceremonies and festivals of the gods in the area of the forum romanum.

It was created by merging two halves of the theatre and thus offered all spectators a good

spectators a good view of the action. Specific to the amphitheatre was

its elliptical shape. Spectacles such as gladiator fights were held in amphitheatres.

were held in amphitheatres. Probably the best-known example of an amphitheatre is the Colosseum in

Rome, which could seat at least 50,000 people. (Cf. Schollmeyer, Patrick:

Handbook of Ancient Architecture, Darmstadt/Mainz 2013, pp. 136-138)