This thesis aims to determine whether it is possible to quantify the popularity of amphitheatre spectacles in the Roman West. Traditionally, amphitheatre spectacles have been regarded as having experienced widespread popularity, and there has been little in the way of a proper assessment of contemporary levels of popularity in modern scholarship. This work will attempt to tackle this issue, and the popularity of amphitheatre spectacles will be primarily explored through the comparison of amphitheatre seating capacity estimates with their corresponding urban population estimates.

Through a number of case studies, this thesis will argue that, instead of the traditionally accepted widespread popularity of amphitheatre spectacles, contemporary levels of popularity were complex, and could differ greatly, depending on time period and region of the Roman West. In these case studies, a number of factors will be considered to assess if the popularity levels in a certain region are truly reflected by the capacity-to-population ratio. This assessment includes analyses of elements of urbanism, rural populations, economic factors and the popularity of other spectacles in the area.

The data required to undertake this comparison has been compiled in an extensive database, which is presented in the appendices of this work.