Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both /ˈæmfɪˌθiːətər/)[1][2] is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον (amphitheatron),[3] from ἀμφί (amphi), meaning "on both sides" or "around"[4] and θέατρον (théātron), meaning "place for viewing".[5][6]
Ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. In contrast, both ancient Greek and ancient Roman theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area.
Modern parlance uses "amphitheatre" for any structure with sloping seating, including theatre-style stages with spectator seating on only one side, theatres in the round, and stadia. They can be indoor or outdoor.
Natural formations of similar shape are sometimes known as natural amphitheatres.
Roman amphitheatres[edit]
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Ancient Rome had a range of venues for public entertainment, which in modern terminology are separated into four types:
- the theatre was used for dramatic, music and dance;
- the stadium served for athletic competitions;
- the amphitheater for blood games;
- the circus or hippodrome for horse and chariot races,
while it is true that facilities which physically allowed it were used to accommodate performances commonly reserved for other building types.[8]
Ancient Roman amphitheatres were major public venues, circular or oval in plan, with perimeter seating tiers. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, venationes (animal hunts) and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire. Their typical shape, functions and name distinguish them from Roman theatres, which are more or less semicircular in shape; from the circuses (similar to hippodromes) whose much longer circuits were designed mainly for horse or chariot racing events; and from the smaller stadia, which were primarily designed for athletics and footraces.[9]
The earliest Roman amphitheatres date from the middle of the first century BCE, but most were built under Imperial rule, from the Augustan period (27 BCE–14 CE) onwards.[10] Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman empire; the largest could accommodate 40,000–60,000 spectators. The most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were elaborately decorated with marble, stucco and statuary.[11] The best-known ancient amphitheatre is the Colosseum in Rome, which is more correctly termed the Flavian amphitheatre (Amphitheatrum Flavium), after the Flavian dynasty who had it built.[citation needed] After the end of gladiatorial games in the 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th, most amphitheatres fell into disrepair. Their materials were mined or recycled. Some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places; in some of these, churches were sited.[12]
Modern amphitheatres[edit]
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In modern usage, an amphitheatre is a circular, semicircular or curved, acoustically vibrant performance space, particularly one located outdoors. Contemporary amphitheatres often include standing structures, called bandshells, sometimes curved or bowl-shaped, both behind the stage and behind the audience, creating an area which echoes or amplifies sound, making the amphitheatre ideal for musical or theatrical performances. Small-scale amphitheatres can serve to host outdoor local community performances.
Notable modern amphitheatres include the Shoreline Amphitheatre, the Hollywood Bowl and the Aula Magna at Stockholm University. The term "amphitheatre" is also used for some indoor venues such as the (by now demolished) Gibson Amphitheatre.
Natural amphitheatres[edit]
A natural amphitheatre is a performance space located in a spot where a steep mountain or a particular rock formation naturally amplifies or echoes sound, making it ideal for musical and theatrical performances. An amphitheatre can be naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose, even if no theatre has been constructed there.
Notable natural amphitheatres include the Drakensberg amphitheatre in South Africa, Slane Castle in Ireland, the Supernatural Amphitheatre in Australia, and the Red Rocks and Gorge amphitheatres in the western United States.
See also[edit]
- Ancient theatres
- Arena
- Thingplatz
- List of Roman amphitheatres
- List of contemporary amphitheatres
- List of indoor arenas
Notes[edit]
- ^ New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. 2010.
- ^ "Definition of Amphitheatre in Oxford dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation and origin of the word". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ ἀμφιθέατρον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, '56'An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, on Peseus
- ^ ἀμφί, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ θέατρον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ Hoad, T.F. (1996). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford University Press. pp. 14, 489. ISBN 0-19-283098-8.
- ^ Michel Tournier, Le coq de bruyère, W. D. Redfern, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1996, p. 69
- ^ Porath, Yosef (2004). "Why did Josephus Name the Chariot-Racing Facility at Caesarea 'Amphitheater'?". Scripta Classica Israelica. Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies. XXIII: 63–67 [64–65, fn. 12]. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ Bomgardner, 37.
- ^ Bomgardner, 59.
- ^ Bomgardner, 62.
- ^ Bomgardner, 201–223.
References[edit]
- Bomgardner, David Lee (October 2000). The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-16593-8.
