Amphitheater of the Three Gauls
Roman arena where sixty Gallic tribes once swore loyalty, later the site of a Christian persecution.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Amphitheater of the Three Gauls in Lyon's Croix-Rousse district traces the site from an altar built in 12 BCE to bind sixty Gallic tribes to Rome, through the wooden amphitheater a wealthy Gaul named Gaius Julius Rufus funded so tribal delegates could watch games between ceremonies. It follows the arena's growth from eighteen hundred seats to twenty thousand, then turns to August of 177 CE, when Christians in Lyon were rounded up here for refusing to honor the emperor as a god. Listen for what the excavated retaining walls, uncovered since 1956, leave unsaid about the half of the arena still buried beneath the grass.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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