Amphitheatrum Castrense in Rome

The Roman amphitheatre was the centre of entertainment in Rome, and all over the Roman Empire. Ruins of amphitheaters can be found all over the empire.

The largest amphitheatre in the empire was the Colosseum. It could seat up to 50,000 people at once.

The amphitheatre was the place where people went to see fights. These fights were between slaves, prisoners of war or criminals, and sometimes wild animals.

These fights were so popular that schools were set up to train ordinary men as special fighters known as Gladiators

This idea once started out as entertainment at funerals.

Two fighters would begin and the crowd would watch. Eventually the crowds got so big, they had to build a place to hold them.

This was not only the reason for building the amphitheatre. When the democratic system was changed to an imperial one, the emperors needed a way to keep the people happy, although they had lost the right to vote. The fights fulfilled this role.

From the ruins of the Colosseum, archaeologists have put together an idea of what happend at these fights.

Underneath the floor of the main arena there was a maze of passages cntaining cells and cages where the animals and prisoners were kept. There was even a lift to bring up the arena.

The fights themselves were bloodthirsty affairs. The gladiators were armed with daggers, swords, forks and nets.They fought with slaves and criminals who are often not armed, or armed only with the net.

They fought to the death. If a man was wounded, he would throw down his shield, and raise the index finger of his left hand. This was a plea for mercy, from the crowd.

The crowd would then decide whether he should live or die by giving him thumbs up - live, thumbs down - die. If he had fought well, he may have been spared but he would probably have been killed.

When a gladiator was killed, an offical would come on dressed as charon - a demon from the underworld.This official would then check the dead / injured body to make sure he was dead. Then while trumpets played, the body was dragged out of the arena.

Other fights which happened were between men and animals - similar to modern day bullfights. The more exotic the animal the more exciting the fight. Giraffe, elephants, panthers, lions, tigers and any other animals that could be found were slaughtered in the arena.

Sometimes also the main arena was flooded, and naval battles were fought with boats.

This sort of Roman entertainment did not appeal to everyone though.

Roman Theaters

The Roman theatre was shaped with a half circle or orchestra space in front of the stage.

Most often the audience sat here in comfortable chairs. Occasionally, however, the actors would perform in this space.

To solve the problem of lighting and sound - the theaters were outdoors.

The Romans built theaters anywhere, even on flat plains, by raising the whole structure off the ground. As a result, the whole structure was more integrated and entrances/exits could be built into the cavea, as is done in large theaters and sports arenas today. The scaena was as high as the rest of the structure, so the audience could not look out beyond the stage. It also created more of an enclosed atmosphere and may have helped keep out the noises of the city. A tarp could be rigged and moved over the top of the theater to create shade.

Note the three entrances built into the scaena.

The huge amount of people present still held problems for the sound as the audience would not always stay quiet.To solve this problem, costumes and mask were worn to show the type of person on stage. Different symbols were worked out. The actors wore masks - brown for men, white for women, smiling or sad depending on the type of play. The costumes showed the audience who the person was - a purple gown for a rich man, a striped toga for a boy, a short cloak for a soldier, a red toga for a poor man, a short tunic for a slave etc. Women were not allowed act, so their parts were normaly played by a man or young boys wearing a white mask.

The actors spoke the lines, but a second actor mimed the gestures to fit the lines, along with backround music. Some things are represented by a series of gestures, which are recognised by the audience to mean something, such as feeling a pulse to show a sick person, making the shape of a lyre with fingers to show music.

The audience was usually more interested in their favorite actors than the play itself. The actors would try to win over the audience's praise with decorative masks, costumes, dancing and mime.

If the play scripted an actor's dying, a condemned man would take the place of the actor at the last moment and actually be killed on stage. The Romans loved the bloodthirsty spectacles.

Emperors such as Nero used the theatre as a way of showing their own talents - good or otherwise. Nero actually used to sing and would not let anyone leave until he was finished.

Most theaters still standing date from the Hellenistic period, which dates from the 4th century BC and later. It's possible to assume much of the features were preserved, but not definitely.

This is do to the fact that most plays completely lacked staging directions. Those directions found in modern translations were merely added by the translator. Some plays, however, do sometimes contain scenic requirements.

Pompeii's large theatre underwent a structural change from the Hellenistic style to a more Greco-Roman style.

The traditional Hellenistic theatres had the skene section moved forward into the orchestra area, reducing it to a semicircle. The front portion of the skene converted into a proskeniontogeion (high raised stage). The stage was 8-12 feet, 45-140 feet in width, and 6.5-14 feet in depth. The back wall of the stage had 1-3 doors that opened onto the stage but later the number of doors increased to 1-7, depending on the theatre. The stage was supported in front by open columns.

Triangular wooden prisms with a different scene painted on each side (periaktoi) were created and located near the side entrance of the stage. (Butler 39-40). This allowed for a more realistic show. The higher stage gave way to better acting which later attracted actors and popularity.

After the Romans moved into the area and built the odium, Pompeii's theatre underwent complete changes and in 65 A.D, the theatre transformed away from the Hellenistic style into the Greco-Roman style of theatre. A porticos was added in the back of the theatre. The ends of the scene building were removed.

Rows of seats were added for honored guests. The stage was lowered and 2 short flights of steps leading down to the stairs were added.

These changes were important because the intent of the theatre was to replace the temporary wooden stages that the Romans were using to house their tragedies and comedies. The new look of the theatre is what was left to the world after Vesuvius's fatal eruption.

The earliest known Italian drama from is known to come from the region of Campania, which is located in the Southern half of Italy. It was in the town of Atella where the Atellan Farces became popular.

These were originally written in the language of Oscan, and later translated into Latin as these farces caught on in Rome. What allowed theses plays to catch on, however, was actually due to the Etruscans form the North, as well as Greek colonies located on the Eastern side of the Peninsula with whom the Romans have given the credit of introducing the many forms of music and dance.

In 364 B.C., the Romans specifically introduced the Etruscan form of the ballet as a dance so as to appease the gods, so that they might remove a plague from the empire. Livius Andronicus, who is thought to be a freed slave during the 3rd century B.C., is credited for translating the first Greek plays into Latin as well as producing them (Butler 79).

The reason plays even originally used - is not really understood - yet most of the performances were associated with important holidays as well as with religious festivals. Eventually the performances became more common than on just special occasions.

Theater of Marcellus

The one ancient theatre to survive in Rome, the Theatre of Marcellus, was started by Caesar and completed by Augustus in the year 11 or 13. It stands on level ground and is supported by radiating walls and concrete vaulting. An arcade with attached half-columns runs around the building. The columns are Doric and Ionic.

Theater at Orange

In the Roman theatre the orchestra is a place to sit, instead of a performing area as the Greeks had used it. The stage grows in importance and is brought into direct contact with the audience. The auditorium is a semicircle, often partially supported by a hill underneath as well as concrete vaulting. Corridors under the tiers were used in case of rain. This is the best-preserved Roman theatre.