In the Roman Imperial period (1st – 3rd centuries) the greatest classical monuments in Croatia were built in Pula. The most magnificent and surely central classical monument is the Amphitheater popularly called the Arena. It was built in the 1st century AD, during the rule of Emperor Vespasian. The shape of Arena is elliptical (130 m x 105 m and 32 m high) and ranks as the sixth largest Roman amphitheater in existance today. The Arena could once hold up to 23,000 spectators, whereas today it can seat some 5,000 people.
After the revolutionary year 1848, the Austro-Hungarian Empire realized the importance of Pula’s harbor and started an intensive development of a huge naval port and shipyard. This resulted in the gradual settlement of Pula and within 50 years the population increased from 1,126 people to about 40,000. This enabled Pula to develop two functions at the same time – the military and trading one.