What is an amphitheater in a theater?

There are a lot of terms that we use today, they originate in Latin. The Roman Empire, dying under the onslaught of the barbarians, nevertheless, influenced the development of culture and civilization throughout Europe and Asia Minor. But how the modern world is based to a greater extent on the achievements of this state, and so, in turn, it borrowed much from the Greek predecessors conquered by it. Researchers consider this culture to be a single whole. It was in ancient Greece that the theater was born as such. However, subsequent generations transformed it into a somewhat different phenomenon. It began to bear the name "Roman amphitheater". What it is? What is it different from the classical Greek theater?

In ancient Greece were very popular mysteries in honor of the god Dionysius. The festivities lasted several days, which were declared non-working. They were accompanied by solemn processions and religious rituals. An integral part of the rites were the performances of playwrights, choristers and reciters. For this purpose, special facilities were erected under the open sky. On the slope of the hill, a smooth semicircle broke out in the ground or cut down in the rock. Benches for spectators were raised by ledges so that the sitting people in front did not interfere with the survey from behind and above. The merit of the ancient Romans was that they from the ranks for the spectators created a vicious circle. Thus, they built an amphitheater in the theater.

The Greeks did not need to look at the actors from all sides. "Teatron" - in Greek "spectacle" - suggested the actors' play or the performance of the choir. Therefore, the public mostly looked at their faces. In ancient Rome, the function of the theater has changed. There, gladiator fights were more often organized, beasts were hounded, even battles were fought, including on the water (such performances were called Naumakhi). Therefore, the audience was interested in looking at what is happening on stage from all sides. Ancient architects had to solve the problem of preserving acoustics, increasing the roominess of the hall, protecting spectators from the attack of animals, possible crowding on spectators' stands. Amphitheater in the theater -   Clear evidence that they coped with their task "perfectly".

Otherwise, things were in Ancient Greece. There the space of the theater consisted of several parts. First of all, from the orchestra - on it stood the altar of Dionysus and all actions took place. Then followed Skene - a small extension, where the actors disguised themselves and from where they left. The last was a theatron - a semicircle of spectators. Roman architects moved the place for the preparation of actors under the bench for the public. How did they do it? The revolution in the erection of the Roman stage for the spectacles was that the main premises were not torn out in the ground, but built on a flat surface. In this way, Amphitheater in the theater Had a dead outer wall, equal in height to the upper row of spectators' chairs.

Having removed the picture from the eyes, the architects received a huge space of round or ellipsoidal shape. For mortal battles it was sprinkled with sand, so that it would be easier to remove traces of blood. Thus, this place became known as "arena" ("sand"). From the animals and accidental hits of copies, the public was defended by the podium - a high wall that served as a partition of the stage and auditorium. The largest buildings, such as the Flavian Amphitheater In Rome (the Colosseum), as well as in Verona, Nimes, Pompeii, Arles and elsewhere in the great Roman Empire, are still preserved, we can admire them.

Depending on the size of the city, such structures could accommodate from five to 50 thousand spectators. Usually they did not have a ceiling. Acoustics was preserved due to the use of resonant stones in the construction of marble and other varieties, as well as the insertion of empty amphorae into the voids between the walls. A complex system of arcades and passages naturally distributed the flow of spectators through the rows, helping to avoid crowding. From the scorching rays of the sun, the public covered the tent, which was tied to the mast. But as Rome's predatory policy extended its warlike hand far to the north, it became necessary to build a covered building. Such an amphitheater in the theater With the roof began to wear the name of an odeon.