A Gladiator Game in Pompeii Turned Into a Riot

Before Rome’s great arenas, Pompeii’s crowds could turn violent.

The Pompeii Amphitheatre, built around 70 BC — more than a century before the Colosseum.

It started as a game.

It didn’t stay one.

I stepped into the silent Pompeii Amphitheatre through a long tunnel,…