Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
probably last 2,000 years). The theater is filled with 10,000 people. Thankfully, you mix
only with your class, the nouveau riche—merchants, tradesmen, and city big shots. The
people seated above you are the working class, and way up in the “chicken roost” section
is the scum of the earth—slaves, beggars, prostitutes, and youth hostellers. Scanning the
orchestra section (where the super-rich sit on real chairs), you notice the town dignitaries
hosting some visiting VIPs.
OK, time to worship. They're parading a bust of the emperor from its sacred home
in the adjacent temple around the
stage.
Next is the ritual animal sacrifice called
la pompa
(so fancy, future generations will use that word for anything full of such...pomp). Finally,
you settle in for an all-day series of spectacles and dramatic entertainment. All eyes are on
the big stage door in the middle—where the Angelina Jolies and Brad Pitts of the day will
appear. (Lesser actors come out of the side doors.)
The play is good, but many come for the halftime shows—jugglers, acrobats, and
striptease dancers. In Roman times, the theater was a festival of immorality. An ancient
writer commented, “The vanquished take their revenge on us by giving us their vices
through the theater.”
With an audience of 10,000 and no amplification,
acoustics
were critical. A roof
made of linen (called the velarium) originally covered the stage, somewhat like the glass-
and-iron roofyousee today (installed toprotect the stage wall). The original wasdesigned
not to protect the stage from the weather, but to project the voices of the actors into the
crowd. For further help, actors wore masks with leather caricature mouths that functioned
as megaphones. The theater's side walls originally rose as high as the stage wall and sup-
portedaretractable roofthatgavetheaudiencesomeprotectionfromthesunorrain.After
leaving the theater, look up to the stage wall from the outside and notice the supports for
poles that held the velarium in place, like the masts and sails of a ship.
The Roman Theater was all part of the “give them bread and circuses” approach to
winning the support of the masses (not unlike today's philosophy of “give them tax cuts
and
American Idol
”).Thespectacle grewfrom65daysofgames peryearwhenthetheater
was first built (and when Rome was at its height) to about 180 days each year by the time
Rome finally fell.
▲
Roman “Arc de Triomphe”
Technically the only real Roman arches of triumph are in Rome's Forum, built to com-
memorate various emperors' victories. The great Roman arch of Orange is actually a mu-
nicipalarcherected(inabout
A.D
.19)tocommemorateageneralnamedGermanicus,who
protected the town. The 60-foot-tall arch is on a noisy traffic circle (north of city center,
on Avenue Arc de Triomphe).
