Arena

The central area of an amphitheatre, usually strewn with sand, where the spectacles and combats too place. The surface was coated with sand either to absorb the blood of the wounded or slain, and also to give a uniformity to the floor and conceal trapdoors and other devices. The term is also used, by extension, for a whole amphitheatre.

[Latin: ‘sand’]. The central area in particular of an amphitheatre, which was originally surfaced with a simple sandy floor. When more sophisticated technology was developed ‘understage’, the surface was often still coated with sand to give an overall uniformity and to conceal trapdoors and other devices; see amphitheatre.