The Trier Amphitheatre was built in the second half of the first century CE. It was, like many others around the Roman Empire, an oval open air stadium for religious festivals, music, and popular events that included animal hunting, gladiatorial fights and public executions. Because of its large size (with up to 18,000 seats), it was the only place that could seat a substantial portion of the city’s population and these activities were an important aspect of town life. Unusually, Trier’s Amphitheatre was integrated with the city wall.

In 306 CE, to celebrate his pacification of the Rhine frontier, the emperor Constantine has been said to have two captured Germanic Frankish kings, Ascaricus and Merogaisus, fed to wild beasts in the Trier arena, although the true location for these events is somewhat controversial.

Later on in the fifth century, when Trier was overrun by Frankish invaders, Trier’s by then diminished population at one point is known to have sought refuge in the Amphitheatre.

In the middle ages, the stone seating steps were removed and reused, leaving the seating slopes bare. These were later used for wine growing.