The Great Arena

Situated in the Crown City’s southwestern quadrant, it is the city’s largest single building and serves as the central gathering place for all members of society, both poor and wealthy. Construction on the “Great Arena Project” began in 517 Post as Imperial architects began breaking down segments of Tego Arena’s marble façade to expand the facility. Construction was finally completed in 548 Post, eight years after the end of the Spike War and twenty-nine years after construction of the massive structure began. Standing nearly 70 meters high, the Great Arena dwarfs all other structures in the Crown City’s Arena District. Enclosed by a 10-meter tall stone wall, the wide, elliptical arena floor is covered in sand and carefully maintained by a team of slaves before and after gladiator matches. A labyrinth of underground stone tunnels runs beneath the arena floor, containing immense cages where the fierce animal competitors are kept prior to combat. Seating, now constructed mostly of metal, is divided into different sections according to social status. The first level of seating is reserved for the box seats of Imperial Oligarchs, who watch the matches while attended by teams of domestic robots, and also features the Emperor’s private metal, open-air skybox. Above the oligarch level is the middle tier of seating, occupied by wealthy merchants and other members of upper-middle class society. The third and final level, located along the top edge of the arena, is left for the poorest citizens and domestic slaves, constantly patrolled by a legion of Imperial Guardsman wielding Neuro-Lances.