Sydney’s Corner: Roman Arena in Arles

All About The Roman Amphitheater (Arena) in Arles, France

The Roman Arena in Arles is over 2,000 years old.  The Romans built the arena.  Did you know that Arena in Latin means sand?  You could fit 20,000 screaming fans in the arena.  It would be really noisy and would be DEFINITELY crowded.

Have you ever wondered what the Roman Arena was used for? I will tell you. In Roman times, they had battles between gladiators.  The gladiators fought each other and animals.  They had sand to soak up the blood.  I think it would be scary to watch gladiators fight.  I would also be scared to be the gladiator fighting against animals and people.

The Arena is now used for bullfights.  You must be very brave to fight bulls.  You might call yourself “Daredevil.”   The people that fight bulls are called matadors and razeteurs.  In Provence, the razeteurs have to get a ribbon tucked between the bull’s horns before time is up.  They have special hooks to grab the ribbon.  When the bull chases the razeteurs they jump over the fence.  If the bull is smart enough it will jump over the fence too.  I think the razeteurs are awesome because they fight bulls and grab the ribbon REALLY fast! I even had my own bullfight. Mommy, Daddy, and I pretended to fight the bull. I was mostly the bull. I thought it was fun being the bull and watching Daddy jumping over the fence.

Video showing (kid friendly) bullfight in nearby Nimes:

In Medieval times the Arena was a fortress and had 206 apartments squished in there. The apartments must have been really small.  There were also 2 churches and 4 watchtowers.  They started pulling out the houses in 1830 to change it back to an arena. Here is a picture of the arena in medieval times.

Here are some facts about the Roman Arena:

• There are 120 arches in the Arena.
• There were a total of 4 towers but only 3 survived. You can still see the three watchtowers.
• You can still climb up one of watchtowers.  It is REALLY windy at the top.
• You can still see a window from one of the churches built in one of the arches.
• You can still see Latin on the walls.

NOW YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE ARENA!