“Ghost Inscription” Hides a Tragic Story

“The Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus had this new amphitheater erected with the spoils of war” .

reconstructed inscription from the Colosseum

In the picture: This inscription, found in the Colosseum in Rome, was deciphered based on the holes from nails that had affixed metal letters to the stone. It was therefore dubbed the “ghost inscription.” The Colosseum is an amphitheater built by Vespasian and Titus, and the inscription indicates that it was apparently funded by spoils taken from the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem.