You exit the dim, cool interior corridor by way of the vomitorium, which leads you directly into the heat, noise and sun glare of the cavea, where some 50,000 people await the start of the state munera, the gladiatorial combat and the hunt.
You are carrying a token which identifies your place in the seating area. It is inscribed with your seat assignment by outer gate, maenianum (gallery level), vomitorium (entrance to the cavea), gradus (row), and locus (seat). One glance at your dark clothing and the locarius has no need to check your token. He refuses to allow you to pass, sternly gesturing you toward the stairs for a long walk to the top of the cavea. You make no objection, since you understand that the strict segregation of seating in the Colosseum, codified by law in the lex Julia theatralis originally promulgated by Augustus, is a reflection of the hierarchical nature of Roman society. Indeed, as you glance at the cavea the galleries seem almost color-coded, ranging from the crimson-purple of the senatorial togas in the first level, through the undyed off-white of the citizens' togas in the middle sections, to the dark tunics and cloaks (pullati) of the foreigners, slaves, and urban poor on the top.
The cavea (tiered seating) is raised above the arena floor by high wall (corona podii) of approximately 15 feet, which may have been finished with a fence to further protect spectators (see the reconstructed fence at the small arena in Uthina, Tunisia). Each of the four levels of seating levels (maeniana) was marked off by a circuit wall called a "belt" (praecinctio or balteus), and these levels were further subdivided into cunei (wedges) and ordines by steps and vomitorium openings. In the lowest gallery, reserved for the Roman elite, you look for the emperor's box (pulvinar), hoping to catch a glance of Antoninus Pius. In another box on the podium you see the six Vestals in their white robes and special headdresses, and you realize that their presence here is very striking, since the only other women in the arena are hidden in the shade of the colonnade at the very top of the cavea.
To see where you are, look at this navigational plan of the virtual site.
Second-Level Concentric Corridor