Stadium of Domitian

The Stadium of Domitian (Italian: Stadio di Domiziano), also known as the Circus Agonalis, was located under the present Piazza Navona which follows its outline and incorporates its remains, to the north of the ancient Campus Martius in Rome, Italy.

[1] The substructures and support frames were made of brick and concrete – a robust, fire-retardant and relatively cheap material – clad in marble.

Stylistically, the Stadium facades would have resembled those of the Colosseum; the floor plan was typical of Greek stadia, having a similarly semi-circular end.

The flattened end was sealed by two vertically staggered entrance galleries and the perimeter was arcaded beneath the seating levels, with travertine pilasters between its cavea (enclosures).

With the economic and political crises of the later Imperial and post-Imperial eras, the Stadium seems to have fallen out of its former use; the arcades provided living quarters for the poor and the arena a meeting place.