And there would have been a lot of blood to bay for. This theatre’s programme was a lot bloodier than the fare you’d find on the West End currently. Gladiator fights, wild animal hunts (RIP to the wolves and bears), and the mass execution of criminals would have all been standard popular viewing for the amphitheatre-going public. As a central entertainment venue, it may also have hosted sporting events and religious ceremonies. Extreme violence was the norm. In 1988, three years after the amphitheatre was rediscovered, 39 skulls— called the Walbrook Skulls for their proximity to the now subterranean river — were found in a nearby excavation. They were all young men who had suffered multiple head traumas, whose bodies had been thrown in an open pit, suggesting an inglorious end for criminals, or gladiators that didn’t make it to the end of the games.
Hidden London: The city’s Roman amphitheatre
