Chap. IV.
ROMAN.
107
Every city had its theatre, fragments of which remain. Herculaneum and Pompeii possessthem in a tolerable perfect state: that of Marcellus at Rome, Arles , Orange, and otherplaces in France , attest their grandeur and excellent construction ; every attention was paidto the approaches of their seats, and to the shelter and protection of the assembled multitudesduring a heated atmosphere, or inclement weather. Drains were contrived on each story,which below assumed the character of sewers, maintaining their cleanliness and comfort; allthe rain that fell was collected by earthenware or metal pipes, and carried to the severalconduits, studiously and carefully built up within the outer walls and inner piers. Sicily ,and the provinces generally, boasted, according to their population, of a well arrangedplace for theatrical amusement. It became, at an early period of the Roman empire, asnecessary an appendage to the city as-the forum.
The Greek Theatres were also formed by excavating the side of a hill: a vast numberof these are remaining in Asia Minor ; and the only part constructed, or built from thefoundation, is the wall of the scene. Many of the Roman theatres differ in their construction :being built with walls radiating to a centre, and arched from one to the other, to supportthe inclined plane, on which the marble seats were placed for the spectators. Between thesewalls all the spaces which were not left, for communication from the several corridorswere occupied by staircases, which served to mount to the precinctories, and for the egressof the spectators after the amusements were over, or during the intervals which wereallowed between the performances. These buildings, erected for the accommodation of thepeople, were the result of the munificence of individuals; and in the smaller provinces,distant from the seat of empire, there seems to have been frequently a difficulty in completingthem. The citizens of Nicea , after having expended a considerable sum in the erection ofone, could not terminate it, as we learn from one of Pliny’s letters to the Emperor Trajan .Augustus and Tiberius enlarged two theatres at Antioch, by adding a zone, or range of seatsto the upper part of the structure : the former emperor, at his own cost, erected a very largetheatre at Laodicea , placing in it a statue of himself in marble.
At Rome , in the first instance, these structures were of wood, raised at the expense ofediles, or other candidates for popular favour, and repaired or renewed as occasion required.Pompey , Balbus, and Marcellus were the first to build them of stone; and their use seemsto have been for the exhibition of gladiators, more than for the drama. Suetonius , in hislife of Augustus , says, that women were admitted to the upper porticoes to sec the games ;but that afterwards, it not being thought decent that they should be present, they wereprohibited from entering. These regulations were soon laid aside, as we learn from the sixthsatire of Juvenal .
Of the Theatre of Marcellus little now remains: twelve or thirteen arcades, with theirDoric columns and entablature, and as many above of the Ionic order, which formed apart of its magnificent exterior, is all that can be seen. It is of Tiburtine stone, and theprofile of the orders is well proportioned and executed. Augustus is said to have raisedit in honour of his nephew Marcellus; when dedicated, six hundred wild animals weresacrificed; and for the first time tigers were exhibited confined in cages. It was asemicircle, the diameter of which, probably, from out to out, was 270 feet; one half ofthis radius was applied to the walls and corridors, over which were the seats, and the otherto the orchestra; the dimensions given to the proscenium, as well as its arrangement, arenot at present known. The building seems to have been set out very regularly, judgingfrom what remains in the palace of Savelli Orsini, and from the plans left us by the architect,Baldassare Perruzzi of Sienna, who built the latter.
An outer and two internal corridors sweep round semicircularly, and on the outside wereforty piers with 39 arches. From the inner piers, diverging to the common centre, were 40walls, constructed as those of the Coliseum, though not with the same material.
The Theatre at Arles was a semicircle of more than 300 feet in diameter, and the prosceniumhad a depth of at least 180 feet: its exterior had three orders of Doric pilasters with archesbetween, surmounted by a bold niodillion cornice; it was built of large masses of stone,in regular courses. Like the Coliseum, it had two outer corridors, and the walls diverg-ing from a common centre composed the stairs, vaults, and vomitories, arranged in a similarmanner.
The Amphitheatre was formed of two theatres, or semicircles united in such a mannerthat the spectators had an equal view of what passed in the arena: for which reason theRomans gave them the name of visorium : they were used for gladiatorial shows, combatsof wild beasts, and other games. They were of large dimensions, made in the form of anoval: the arena or middle space was surrounded by rows of benches elevated one abovethe other.
Ihe Etruscans introduced amphitheatres and gladiatorial shows : the Romans borrowedfrom them this taste, which degenerated into a fury among that warlike people, withwhich they inspired all the nations they subdued. The remains of amphitheatres aremet with throughout the Roman empire. The first were probably mere excavations, thespectators being elevated on banks of earth ; the more persons they wished to accommodate,