Yet, its subterranean structures remain well preserved and, while they were the first I had seen like this, made a great impression. Only the substructures in Puteoli can rival the ones in Capua.
The model in the small museum shows the arena in a much better state than it is at this moment.
A series of sculpted keystone bosses adorned the arches of the facade arced. These keystones bore detailed sculpted busts of deities, e.g., Mithras, Juno, Isis, Diana, Demeter, Jupiter, Volturnus, Mercury and Minerva. The artistic origins of such a decorative scheme seems almost certainly Etruscan. This fact is entirely consistent with the local history of Capua, once the chief center of Etruscan Compania. Originally such decoration was probably intended to lend supernatural protection to the city gates, the most vulnerable points in the circuit of walls surrounding a settlement. Also, perhaps, these heads were designed to ward off evil influences that might enter the city through its portals.
Interested in more pictures of Capua? Click here!
For more, detailed information, read 'The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre' by D.L. Bomgardner.
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