‘Rare find’: amphitheatre dig in Kent paints picture of Roman town

Finds at Richborough include skeleton of cat nicknamed Maxipus and potential evidence of figurative arena panels

A big night out for the people of the Roman settlement at Richborough on the Kent coast about 2,000 years ago might have involved gladiatorial contests, wild beast hunting or the occasional execution of a criminal.

Taking place in a vast amphitheatre, seating up to 5,000 people, on the western edge of the settlement, such an event was a special occasion, drawing people from Richborough town and its surrounds", said Paul Pattison, a senior properties historian at English Heritage. These were public spectacles, the equivalent of going to a big blockbuster film, in our terms."