The Antonino Pius Stadium, located immediately to the west of the city of Puteoli, stands on a natural terrace, with the northern front facing the ancient Via Domitiana (today via Luciano) and the southern side scenically overlooking the Gulf of Pozzuoli. As ancient sources inform us, the construction of the Stadium was promoted by Emperor Antonino Pius to celebrate the philhellenic spirit of his predecessor Hadrian who, having died in Baiae in 138 AD, was initially buried in the area of one of Cicero’s villas in Pozzuoli; later, Antonino Pius, having overcome the senate’s reluctance, transferred his remains to Rome and established in Pozzuoli, at the site of the first burial, games of an Olympic type known by the Greek name Eusebeia. The Stadium (measuring about 300 x 70 meters) has the traditional rectangular plan with one of the short sides curved (sphendone) and the other, reserved for athletes’ start, characterized by a slight curved shape. On this side – where several excavation campaigns took place in the last decade of the last century thanks to regional funds – there is a monumental double curtain gap originally covered by a masonry vault. This entrance led the athletes directly to the track and consisted of multiple arches made with large blocks of local volcanic stone (so-called piperno), coated with light plaster; of these arches, only the pillars remained standing, while the voussoirs, found entirely collapsed, were repositioned in their original places during recent restoration interventions on the monument. Spectators accessed from the northern front filtered through several projections, of which only the first eastward projection has been uncovered, interspersed with green spaces. Passing through these, one enters an ambulatory paved with cocciopesto and covered by a composite vault; from here, through various gates (vomitoria), the public accessed the different sections of the stands (cavea). As in most ancient entertainment buildings, the cavea of the Antonino Pius Stadium was organized into three parts, corresponding to different spectator classes. The lowest part of the cavea (ima), reserved for eminent persons, is separated from the track by a retaining wall (balteus) and preserves two rows of seats made of piperno blocks; for the middle and upper parts of the cavea (media and summa), the steps have not been preserved and, according to some highlighted traces, do not seem to have been made of piperno.
Information about Antonino Pius Stadium
Via Campi Flegrei
80078 Pozzuoli (Naples)
081.5266007 (Office for the Archaeological Heritage of Pozzuoli)
sar-cam.pozzuoli@beniculturali.it
https://sbanap.campaniabeniculturali.it
Source: MIBACT
