The perimeter of the Colosseum includes an area about 17 metres wide paved with travertine slabs and bounded by small travertine pillars called cippi. Part of the paving survives along with five cippi in their original position and, outside, a section of road made of large paving stones. Set at regular intervals and fixed directly in the ground without foundations, the cippi formed part of a system meant to hold the crowd. The preserved examples lean toward the Colosseum because of pressure from backfills that formed in the post-antique era.

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse

Photo: James Hulse