of permanent seating was thought a particularly objectionable luxury.

The earliest permanent, stone and timber Roman amphitheatre with perimeter seating, the Amphitheater of Statilius Taurus, was built in the italic= in 29 BCE. Most were built under Imperial rule, from the Augustan period (27 BCE-14 CE) onwards. Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman Empire, especial in provincial capitals and major colonies, as an essential