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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 731 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ASCI .EPIEION ee, Ar'" 41E41 9 a INirew A See also:

GREEK See also:theatre was planned according to See also:Vitruvius. 730 See also:orchestra, which may be supposed to have been used for the See also:appearance of actors (e.g. as ghosts) in the orchestra: they do not exist, however, at See also:Athens or See also:Epidaurus, so that no See also:general See also:argument can be founded on their remains. The See also:stage buildings of the earliest Greek theatres have been destroyed See also:save for the See also:foundations and architectural fragments, and the See also:interpretation of their remains presents a difficult problem. Whether built on level ground or (as at See also:Sicyon and elsewhere) excavated in See also:rock or See also:earth they consisted of a rectangular structure two stories high, usually with projecting See also:side wings (aapaoin'vca). Between these wings was the irpooxiwcov (stage), which at Athens and indeed in all See also:early theatres was built of See also:wood, but was after-wards reconstructed in See also:stone, with a front formed by a See also:row of columns from 10 to 13 ft. high; its See also:depth varied from 8 to toe ft. It has been argued by Dorpfeld that the arpos n)vcov was not a stage, but a background, which could be characterized as a See also:palace, See also:temple, &c., by means of painted insane-s set up in the intervals between the columns, and that throughout the See also:history of the Greek See also:drama actors as well as See also:chorus performed in the orchestra. This theory has been supported by arguments See also:drawn from passages of the classical dramatists, which seem to imply that actors and chorus were on the same level, and by a priori considerations regarding the unfitness of so high and narrow a See also:platform, unconnected with the orchestra by stairs (except such temporary wooden steps as may have See also:left no trace in extant remains), for a stage. But these arguments are outweighed by the See also:positive testimony of See also:ancient writers and See also:inscriptions that the actors in the Greek drama mounted on a platform (or:pidas) which was also called the XoyeIov (" speaking-See also:place "), and the description of the Greek theatre by Vitruvius, who tells us that the Xoysiov (See also:Lat. pulpitum) was narrower than that of the See also:Roman theatre, and was from 10 to 12 ft. high. Moreover the background afforded by the Hellenistic irpoo-in i' a would have been diminutive in its proportions—it must be remembered that Greek actors stood some 6 ft. 6 in. high when wearing the cothurnus and tragic mask—and quite unlike a palace or temple. They never have more than one See also:doorway in the centre, though Vitruvius prescribes three, and in some theatres (where the stage-buildings were partly excavated) there are no rooms at the back of them, but either virgin rock or earth. We may therefore dismiss Dt'rpfeld's theory: but it is more than probable that the wooden stage of the 5th See also:century B.C. was much See also:lower than that of Hellenistic times, when the chorus had either disappeared from dramatic performances or performed musical interludes unconnected with the See also:action of the See also:play.

See also:

Horace, in fact, says of See also:Aeschylus: " Aeschylus . . . modicis instravit pulpita tignis," and doubtless preserves a fragment of genuine tradition. When chorus and actors came into contact, wooden steps could be used, and that such were employed even in the later drama is proved by the See also:evidence of See also:South See also:Italian See also:vase-paintings which represent the Phylakes or burlesques popular at See also:Tarentum. The See also:facade of the O-KnVii furnished an architectural background, and this was supplemented by painted scenery, which, according to See also:Aristotle, was introduced by See also:Sophocles: Vitruvius, however, tells us that the first See also:scene-painter, See also:Agatharchus, worked for Aeschylus. In their days the oKojv$ was, of course, a See also:mere See also:booth. Changes of scene were very rare—there are only two in the extant classical tragedies—and were brought about by the use of revolving prisms (irepiaKroc). Other appliances used in the Greek drama were the iK,< Xt0p.a, a See also:low platform on rollers which was pushed forward in See also:order to show an action supposed to take place in the interior of the oKTpii (the scene in a Greek play was always laid in the open See also:air), and the p,7Xavii, a See also:crane by which an actor representing a See also:god could be suspended in See also:mid-air (hence the phrase See also:dens ex machina). In the upper See also:part of the eKrwit was a See also:balcony called the SeoTEyia (" second See also:story "), and at the See also:top a narrow platform called the OeoXoyeiov, upon which gods supposed to be stationary in See also:heaven could appear. Ghosts ascending from the underworld mounted the Xapwcoc KXiµasES, whose position is uncertain. The ,Spovrddov was a See also:machine for imitating See also:thunder by means of stones rolled in See also:metal jars. It is far from certain whether a drop-scene was used in the classical See also:period of the Greek drama; in later times and in the Roman theatre a See also:curtain (at), aia, Lat. aulaea, siparium) was let down into a narrow slit in front of the stage before the play began and drawn up at the end. It has been mentioned above that in the later Hellenistic theatres the stage was made broader, lower and deeper, and in the Roman theatre, the principle of whose construction, as explaided by Vitruvius, is illustrated by fig.

3, the orchestra is reduced to a semi-circle (acd). The See also:

line of is that of the background (scenae irons) and its limits are those of the caved or auditorium. The See also:Romans, by their use of the See also:arch in construction and also of See also:concrete for vaulting, were enabled to erect theatres on level ground, such as the Campus See also:Martius at See also:Rome, where an elaborate structure, usually in three stories of arcades,' took the place of Vitruvius prescribes for the Roman theatre a See also:portico See also:running See also:round the interior of the auditorium on the level of the topmost row of seats; remains of such a portico (or, as at See also:Aspendus, of a See also:series of arcades) can sometimes be traced.the natural See also:hill-slope of Greek theatres. The Roman theatre thus became an organic whole; the auditorium and stage-buildings were structurally connected, and the orchestra was entered from the wings, not by open passages (irapo oi) as in See also:Greece, but by vaulted corridors. The orchestra was no longer used for the performances (whether dramatic, musical or merely spectacular), but was reserved for senators and other persons of distinction. Hence (as Vitruvius points out) arose the See also:necessity for lowering and enlarging the stage. It is hard to say when this See also:change was made' or at what date it was first introduced into See also:Italy (if it did not originate in the See also:west). The larger of the two theatres at See also:Pompeii See also:dates from the Hellenistic period, but was thrice reconstructed, and it is not clear to what date we are to assign the low stage of Roman See also:pattern; possibly it belongs to the earliest period of the Roman See also:colony at Pompeii founded by See also:Sulla (B.c. 8o). The theatre of See also:Pompey (see below) is said by See also:Plutarch to have been copied from that of Mytilene, which suggests that the Roman theatre was de-rived from a See also:late Greek See also:model; and this is made probable by the existence of transitional forms. During the Republican period the erection of permanent theatres with seats for the spectators was thought to savour of Greek luxury and to be unworthy of the stern simplicity of the Roman citizens. Thus in 154 B.C.

Phoenix-squares

Scipio Nasica induced the See also:

senate to demolish the first stone theatre which had been begun by C. See also:Cassius See also:Longinus (" tanquam inutile et nociturum AMbb& See also:ARM& ROMAN theatre was planned according to Vitruvius. publicis moribus," Liv. Epit. 48). Even in 55 B.C., when Pompey began the theatre of which remains still exist in Rome, he thought it See also:wise to place a See also:shrine to See also:Venus Victrix at the top of the See also:cavea, as a sort of excuse for having stone seats below it—the seats theoretically serving as steps to reach the temple: This theatre, which was completed in 52 B.C., is spoken of by Vitruvius as " the stone theatre " See also:par excellence: it is said by See also:Pliny to have held 40,000 See also:people .2 It was also used as an See also:amphitheatre for the bloody shows in which the Romans took greater See also:pleasure than in the purer intellectual enjoyment of the drama. At its inauguration 500 lions and 20 elephants were killed by See also:gladiators. Near it two other theatres were erected, one begun by See also:Julius See also:Caesar and finished by See also:Augustus in 13 B.C., under the name of his See also:nephew See also:Marcellus,3 and another built about the same date by See also:Cornelius See also:Balbus (See also:Suet. Aug. 29; Pliny, H. N. See also:xxxvi. 59).

Scanty remains exist of this last theatre, but the ruins of the theatre of Marcellus are among the most imposing of the buildings of ancient Rome. A See also:

long See also:account is given by Pliny (H. N. xxxvi. 5 and 114) of a most magnificent temporary theatre built by the See also:aedile M. See also:Aemilius See also:Scaurus in 58 B.c. It is said to have held the in-credible number of 8o,000 people, and was a See also:work of the most costly splendour. Still less credible is the account which Pliny gives (H. N. xxxvi. 116) of two wooden theatres built by C. See also:Curio in 50 B.C., which were made to revolve on pivots, so that the two together could See also:form an amphitheatre in the after-See also:noon, after having been used as two See also:separate theatres in the See also:morning. All Roman provincial towns of any importance possessed at least one theatre; many of these are partly preserved. On 2 Huelsen has shown that this statement is exaggerated, and estimates the number of spectators at 9000 to 10,000.

3 According to See also:

Livy (xl. 51), the theatre of Marcellus was built on the site of an earlier one erected by A.emilius See also:Lepidus. P1. II. will be found reproductions of two of the most important —that of Aspendus in See also:Pamphylia, which illustrates the Eastern type showing Hellenistic See also:influence, and that of Arausio (See also:Orange) in South See also:Gaul. Covered theatres were sometimes built, whether on account of See also:climatic conditions (as at See also:Aosta) or more commonly for musical performances. These latter were generally called Odea (Gr. r,A€lov, a place for singing). The best preserved is the See also:Odeum of Herodes See also:Atticus, at the south-west See also:angle of the Athenian See also:Acropolis, which has a semicircular orchestra. It was built in the reign of See also:Hadrian by Herodes Atticus,' a very wealthy Greek, who spent enormous sums in beautifying the See also:city of Athens, in See also:honour of his wife Regilla. Its cavea, which is excavated in the rock, held about 6000 people; it was connected with the See also:great Dionysiac theatre by a long and lofty porticus or See also:stoa, of which considerable remains still exist, probably a late restoration of the stoa built by See also:Eumenes II. of See also:Pergamum. It was also a See also:common practice to build a small covered theatre in the neighbourhood of an open one, where performances might take place in See also:bad See also:weather. We have an example of this at Pompeii. The Romans used scenery and stage effects of more elaboration than was the See also:custom in Greece.

Vitruvius (iii. 7) mentions three sorts of movable scenery:-(1) for the tragic drama, facades with columns representing public buildings; (2) for comic plays, private houses with practicable windows and balconies; 2 and (3) for the satyric drama, rustic scenes, with mountains, caverns and trees.

End of Article: ASCI

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