Blood-red walls of Roman amphitheater unearthed near 'Armageddon' in Israel

By Hannah Kate Simon published about 13 hours ago

Ground-penetrating radar is revealing the secrets of a Roman legion camp near Tel Megiddo, including the ancient camp's amphitheater for combat training.



An aerial view of the amphitheater found in a Roman legion camp near Tel Megiddo.
An aerial view of the amphitheater. Note the two circular walls, with the outer one representing the second, expanded phase of the building. (Image credit: Matthew J. Adams)

Archaeologists in Israel have found a blood-red combat arena at Legio, a massive military base that housed Rome's "ironclad" legion in the second century.

The team found the military camp and its arena — designed not for theater entertainment but for combat training — near Megiddo, also known as Armageddon, the place where the Christian Bible foretells the battle at the end of the world will commence.

The 1,800-year-old Roman camp lies beneath the agricultural fields of Kibbutz Megiddo in Jezreel Valley. Legio was rediscovered between 1998 and 2000 through preliminary archaeological surveying. Excavations revealing the perimeter of the military base and the "principia," or headquarters, and its surrounding structures have taken place since 2010.

During excavations this summer, a team of archaeologists more thoroughly investigated the principia. This portion of the military compound includes an administrative center and religious structures. Outside the walls of the base, a cemetery and an amphitheater have been discovered, thanks in part to an innovative technology called ground-penetrating radar (GPR).

More:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/blood-red-walls-of-roman-amphitheater-unearthed-near-armageddon-in-israel