Arena of Nîmes, Arènes de Nîmes, Nîmes, France One of the finest surviving amphitheatres from the Roman world, the Arena, as it’s called locally, is an astonishing structure. If you have been lucky enough to have seen the Colosseum in Rome, then you’ll see similarities: they are both grand, yet quite dinky, they are both insanely photogenic and they both help…
In my usual way I was looking forward to seeing the Roman remains of Cagliari. It was an important provincial capital and on paper it looked like there was a fair amount to see. My first disappointment was finding that the Cave of the Viper, a Roman tomb, was closed. I checked the internet and found that the amphitheatre was…
Chester, England Two significant Roman remains sit side by side just outside the city walls: the Roman Gardens and the amphitheatre. There isn’t a lot to see. There’s no sugar-coating it. But they are worth a potter. Roman Gardens Dating from the 1950s, the Roman Gardens were created to display the larger fragments from the legionary fortress at Deva. Between…
Chester, England Ever since I was a wee-mid-teen, I’ve wanted to go to Chester. I studied Roman history for my A-levels and we had to do a section on Roman Britain. Chester, with its excavations, featured in my studies in such a way that I had rather a romantic image of it. I mean, Britain is not exactly blessed with…