Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre (or amphitheater) is a type of freestanding, open-air building typically used for entertainment purposes. Traditionally, amphitheatres are circular and built with climbing rows of seats built around a large central open space called an arena. These facilities host sports competitions, concerts, plays, and a variety of other types of public performances. Their origins date back to antiquity, where they were the sites of gladiatorial contests and other large scale activities in Ancient Rome. The most famous of these Roman amphitheatres is the Colosseum in Rome, which dates back to the first century C.E.

In contemporary society, many large cities have their own amphitheatres, although the term is often used to describe an assortment of structures of varying shapes. By one definition, amphitheatres differ from stadiums and arenas by virtue of their lack of roofs; modern arenas have an enclosed roof, while stadiums have a roof that can be opened and closed. However, the differences between the three categories have blurred somewhat in the modern era, and the names often are used interchangeably.

Brief History

The word amphitheatre comes from the Greek language and is derived from the words amphi, meaning "on both sides," and theasthal or theatron, meaning "to behold." As the name suggests, the first amphitheatres were designed to be fully circular (like a double theater) in contrast to existing theaters, which primarily were semicircular in shape. Theaters were the creations of the Greeks, who placed great importance on the public performance of plays.

Unlike theaters, the architectural model of the amphitheatre is entirely Italic in origin and was the result of the Roman love of spectacle. Evidence of gladiatorial games dates back to a painted fourth-century B.C.E. depiction of a gladiator from a grave in southern Italy. These early incarnations of gladiatorial games used wooden stands to house the audience. The growing monumentalization of Roman architecture during the Roman Republic, however, led to bigger and grander facilities. The first true amphitheatres probably were constructed in the first century B.C.E.; however, the oldest known remains, which are located in the destroyed city of Pompeii, date back to about 70 C.E. The Pompeii amphitheatre is an open air facility built from stone and sunken into the earth. Although the population of Pompeii was only ten to eleven thousand, its amphitheatre could host crowds of up to twenty thousand.

The Colosseum in Rome was the largest and most complex amphitheatre of the ancient world. Completed in 80 C.E., it was designed to hold fifty thousand people. The building was three stories high with an ornate façade consisting of Corinthian, Ionic, and Tuscan columns and a series of statues of war heroes and Roman gods in the upper levels. Underneath the central arena were two subterranean basement levels—a feat of great technical engineering. In these sublevels, the builders constructed pens for both animals and gladiators as well as mechanical elevators to transport people, goods, and scenery for plays to the surface. These vertical pulleys were even capable of lifting elephants to the arena floor. Access to a nearby aqueduct allowed the arena floor to be flooded for the reenactment of sea battles. Other large examples of existing Roman-style amphitheatres can be found in the southern French cities of Nîmes and Arles. Both of these amphitheatres still are used in the modern era in a limited capacity for bullfights and other spectator events.

As the Roman Empire collapsed, the era of large-scale amphitheatres passed with it. Few amphitheatres were constructed over the next few centuries, in part due to their expense and maintenance. Instead, many existing amphitheatres were repurposed during this period for various functions, including religious ceremonies, housing, and public works. In the medieval era, small amphitheatres began to be constructed again for such events as knightly tournaments.

Modern technological advancements such as the development of steel cables and other less expensive and durable materials have allowed contemporary amphitheatres to rival their ancient counterparts in size. As a result, amphitheatres have reemerged as a popular architectural model for entertainment complexes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Overview

Amphitheatres served important social and political functions in the Roman Empire. From a political standpoint, amphitheatres allowed the emperor to show his power through the construction of massive public works that were popular with the citizenry. These amphitheatres would play host to colossal pageants and gladiatorial contests staged by political leaders to help spur favor from their constituents. The successful promotion of a gladiatorial show or pageant at a public amphitheatre often was key to a Roman politician's future. From a social perspective, the shows at amphitheatres were important public gatherings for the Roman masses. They enabled them to mix in an audience with the Roman elite, including the emperor and members of the Roman Senate, and voice their approval of or unhappiness with an event.

These contests often were epic in scale. They would be staged during state-sponsored festivals called ludi, or as part of a munera, which were privately-funded pageants held by wealthy figures to win popularity. The most elaborate of these munera were held during so-called "funeral games," which honored recently-deceased figures of great importance. The most popular shows involved gladiatorial contests in which combatants would fight to the death in violent displays of bloody pageantry. A second-century set of gladiatorial contests held by Emperor Trajan lasted 123 days and involved more than ten thousand fighters.

Amphitheatres also hosted the equally violent venationes (singular, venatio), which typically were held the day before a gladiatorial contest. During venationes, exotic animals such as lions, tigers, bears, and elephants were placed into the arena and then hunted en masse in front of huge crowds. Nine thousand animals were killed in an elaborate venatio staged for the opening of the Colosseum. Amphitheatres in the ancient world also were the sites for a variety of other functions, including plays, reenactments of famous battles, and public executions.

Contemporary amphitheatres retain most of the functionality of their ancient counterparts, but they typically lack their spectacle. In modern parlance, amphitheatres most frequently are associated with outdoor music arenas and sporting facilities located outside urban centers. However, the term has been used to describe such indoor facilities as the now-demolished Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, likely in recognition of their prominent role as performance sites in the ancient world.

A modern example of a sports amphitheatre is the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, which has a seating capacity of 160,000. Similarly, the well-known Hollywood Bowl is an outdoor amphitheatre that has been host to concerts and shows by many famous artists.

Bibliography

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