The Amphitheater of the Three Gauls is less well known than the Odeon/Theater on the other Plateau in Lyon. This is a 2,000 year old (give or take a couple years) monument to Roman organization. Before Paris was the capital of France, Lyon was capital of the 3 Gauls (aka France) so once a year all the tribe leaders and towns would get together to hash out problems and disputes before they became full force internal strife/war... Kind of like the Court system+Congress. So to be sure that everyone had a seat (or two seats depending on the size of their population...sound familiar?) their names were carved into the seat (ARV = auvernates) There are still a couple of seats left with the letters marked deep so that 2,000 years later one can identify the people that squeezed their butts together (the seats are mini small!)

The Ampitheater is not in very good condition, so don't expect the Collusium, but it is next to a nice park, the Jardin des Plantes and you can take a rest under some exotic trees while your daydreams of Roman times can come alive...