Resurrecting a ‘Ghost Inscription’ from the Colosseum

Data evento
6 Maggio 2026

This paper offers a detailed reconsideration of inscribed blocks found in the ‘Colosseum’, which were reused in late antiquity, leaving behind only dowel holes from their original text. It re-examines the hypothetical text proposed by Geza Alföldy in 1995 in the light of new high resolution laser scanning undertaken by this research team. It assesses the plausibility of Alföldy’s proposal that the text represents a building-inscription of Titus, replacing one of Vespasian, in the light of both newly acquired technical data and its archaeological, historical, and epigraphic contexts. It offers a new reading of the text in order to demonstrate that Alföldy’s version is not the only one possible, and suggests that it might instead relate to improvements made by Domitian to the arena itself.

https://bsr.ac.uk/city-of-rome-resurrecting-a-ghost-inscription-from-the-colosseum/