GLADIATORIAL games took place in Chester Amphitheatre, the largest in Roman Britain, according to new evidence which experts believe provide the most conclusive proof to date that activities there went beyond ceremonial military displays.
Archaeologists from English Heritage and Chester City Council have unearthed an important piece of arena furniture in the centre of the amphitheatre in the form of a large stone block, with an iron fitting fastened into the surface.
Two similar blocks were found in the northern half of the arena in the 1960s. The discovery of the third at the centre is significant because it allows the conclusion that these are evenly spaced to form a row of anchor points, possibly five, along the long axis of the arena for chaining victims, whether animal or human, during spectacles.
A pair of gladiators fighting across a very similar block with an iron ring in the top was depicted on a mosaic from the Roman villa at Bignor, West Sussex. There was a special type of gladiator, the bestiarius, who was trained to handle and fight all sorts of animals.
Dan Garner, an archaeologist with Chester City Council, said: 'Any thought that Chester's amphitheatre was used purely for military purposes such as military tattoos or drill practice can now be firmly banished.
'Up to now, we have found human and animal remains to suggest that gladiatorial games may have taken place, but the discovery of the third chain block put that suggestion almost beyond doubt. I daresay that people met a rather brutal end in Chester's arena some 1,900 years a go.'
Tony Wilmott, an archaeologist at English Heritage, said: 'There are still a number of questions - whether humans or animals were chained, whether the chains were long or short, or whether the chains passed through the ring on the stone allowing a degree of free movement.
'It is possible that the blocks were also used for displaying exotic animals or for executing criminals who would be cast into the arena together with violent beasts.
'What is certain is the Romans' flair for mass entertainment. By chaining victims to these blocks along the long axis, they are trying to make sure that spectators have the maximum view of whatever was happening and preventing victims from sheltering against the arena wall.'
Spectacular arenas in focus
These important discoveries are among the most recent findings made by English Heritage and Chester City Council as part of their collaborative excavation and landscape study at Chester's Roman amphitheatre.
They will be presented at an international symposium to be held in Chester today and tomorrow (Friday and Saturday).
The symposium, entitled Roman Amphitheatres and Spectacula: a 21st century perspective, will cover all aspects of Roman amphitheatres and the spectacles that took place in them.
Speakers who will discuss the discovery of new amphiheatre sites and recent excavation and survey work at amphitheatres.
