Where is York’s Lost Amphitheatre?

Posted on 19 May 2016

Where did the Roman gladiators fight in York? It’s a question that children, students and archaeologists have asked for a long time.

Well, the answer could soon be revealed.

As part of York Festival of Ideas, competing teams will dig deep in their knowledge of the city to come up with some ideas of where the city’s mysterious amphitheatre might lie.

It is a place where gladiators fought, rebels were executed and possibly where the VI Legion was addressed by their Emperor.

City of York Council’s Archaeologist John Oxley, said: “I am often asked where is York’s Roman amphitheatre? We think we have gladiator burials - but where did they fight?

“This is an opportunity for young people and archaeological detectives of all ages to have their say on where is York’s lost amphitheatre.

“The event promises to be a fun and fast evening that will both entertain and inform. Teams will put forward their ideas and at the end of the evening, the audience will vote on their favourite idea. We will then look at how the winning team can test their idea on the ground.

“We really want young people to get involved. They can be part of teams presenting their ideas on the evening, or they can send in a drawing showing where they think the amphitheatre is located and what it might have looked like.”

Up to 10 teams will have eight minutes to argue their case in front of an audience. At the end of the evening the audience will vote for the winning team.

The victorious team then have an opportunity to research and test out their ideas before reporting back at next year’s York Festival of Ideas.