THEA-UT 510 Lecture 2: Roman Theatre
11 Sep 2016
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Almost all roman plays based on greek plays. Took a long time before they built their own theatres. Conflict between which god theatre will be dedicated to and who will play god on stage. Conflict between social need for everyone to work and theatre. Had temple which could switch out which god they were honouring. Is a building (man-made), not built on a hill. Because of above, costumes become more diverse. Circus maximus is largest one, seating 255k. Biggest civic building ever built at the time. Frons scaena is architectural backdrop to plays. We know because of paintings in pompeii. Aulaeum is a curtain rising from the stage floor. Velarium is a tent deployed over the cavea for shade. May or may not have actually existed. Roof over scaena acted as sounding board for actors. Wall around orchestra for gladiators and naumachaios (sea battles in which orchestra is flooded)
