Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls

The curious formula "filii f(ilius)" perhaps derives from a wish to affirm the antiquity and continuity of the family's lineage, as on the Arch of Germanicus, which names Rufus's ancestors.

This phase of the amphitheatre housed games which accompanied the imperial cult, with its low capacity (1,800 seats) being enough for delegations from the 60 Gallic tribes.

Historians identify the building as the site of Saints Blandina and Pothinus's martyrdoms as part of the persecution in 177 and a post in the middle of the arena commemorates this event and Pope John-Paul II's visit to Lyon in 1986.

The first excavations between 1818 and 1820 revealed the perimeter of the arena before re-covering it, allowing urban expansion in the 19th century to destroy the south half of the amphitheatre remains.

The modest remains which had survived (the supporting walls for half of the amphitheatre's superstructure) were integrated into the Jardin des Plantes and opened to visitors.