LucidElement Posted October 2, 2017 #1 Share Posted October 2, 2017 I am reading the new National Geographic History magazine and there is an article about the Naumachia. This is new to me as i never learned about it in college. For those who do not know the Naumachia was when they would fill the Roman Colosseum with water and re-enact naval battles. The battles ended in violence, blood, mutilation, and drowning. My question though is looking at the Colosseum's ground floor, there are numerous walls and tunnels etc in the center of it. I always thought it was a wide open type sandpit that Gladiators fought in. That being said, since their were walls and tunnels in the center of it (google image Colosseum, you will see what i mean) How did they fill it with water and have ships cruise around the center of it? Link: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ancient-rome-once-filled-the-colosseum-up-with-water-and-staged-epic-mock-sea-battle Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucidElement Posted October 2, 2017 Author #2 Share Posted October 2, 2017 From National Geographic magazine (How to Flood the Colosseum) "Modern Historians are divided on whether naval battles actually took place in the Colosseum, despite there being ancient accounts of them. To see if it was physically possible to flood the arena, archaeologists attempted to calculate how long it would take to fill it with enough water. The depth would have to be at least five feet for the ships to float, which would require more than 149,000 cubic feet of water - about 1,120,000 U.S Gallons - to fill the amphitheater. The Aqua Claudia could supply as much as 560 gallons per second. There would have been leakage between the aqueduct and the arenas - perhaps up to half - and water supply would have fluctuated according to its use elsewhere. Factoring in these variables, estimates as to how long it took t fill the arena range from 83 minutes to three and a half hours. The water would enter through a series of channels and 18 drains strategically placed around the arena drained it. These structures were blocked after the hypogeum, a complex of chambers and passages, was constructed under the arena by Emperor Domitian." - History Magazine / October 2017 issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Waters Posted October 2, 2017 #3 Share Posted October 2, 2017 This has been posted already. http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/311940-why-ancient-rome-staged-epic-sea-battles/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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