The palaestra consisted of a central area for sporting activities surrounded by a high front wall and a three sided colonnade (pictured right). The decorative merlons along the top of the front wall are probably an architectural allusion to the underlying ideology of readi- ness for battle. In fact the young men of Rome were no longer required to show proof of their military readiness since the legions were by then made up of professional troops from all corners of the Empire.