theatres & amphitheaters

Pompeii Large Theatre

Pompeii, 2nd century BC by the Greeks

Layout: Semi-circular cavea w/ gladiatorial barracks

Construction: Built into a natural hillside.

Decoration: Painted stage buildings, segregated marble seating.

summa cavea

poor section

media cavea

well-off section

ima cavea

public official section

Odeon (Pompeii Small Theatre)

Pompeii, 80 BC next to its larger counterpart

Layout: functional roof to help with acoustics

Construction: Stone, multi-coloured marble sidings

Decoration: Mosaic floors

Amphitheatre (Pompeii, built 80 BC)

Layout: Oval arena, tiered seating, two main entrances

Construction: Sunk below ground with stone and earth embankment.

Function: to assert Roman authority in Pompeii and gain support of the citizens

Colosseum - Flavian Amphitheatre (Rome, 70–80 AD)

Funded by the spoils of the Sack of Jerusalem - captives built

Layout: 80 entrance arches (76 - public, 4 - elite), hypogeum (animal underground), vomitoria.

Construction: Concrete, travertine, tufa.

Decoration: Marble seating, statues, different capitals for each storey

The stepped tiers of the Colosseum (cavea) presented a microcosm of the hierarchical Roman social structure. In ascending order, what are each of the levels called

1. podium (closest to arena) = the elite

2. maenianum primum = equestrians

3. maenianum secundum imum = general roman citizens

4. maenianum secundum summum = foreigners, slaves

5. maenianum summum in ligneis = women of all classes

Why were women in a separate seating area in the Colosseum?

To provide a visual symbol of the conception of woman as simultaneously part of Roman society, and also set apart from the structural divisions of Roman social order

Theatre of Marcellus (Rome, completed 13 BC by Augustus dedicated to his nephew)

Layout: large cavea.

Construction: Concrete, stone, sheathed in white travertine

Decoration: lower tier - doric, middle - ionic, top-corinthian