![Rome Colosseum exterior panorama](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Rome_Colosseum_exterior_panorama.jpg)
An amphitheatre (
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
) or amphitheater (
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for viewing".
Ancient
Roman amphitheatre
Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, '' venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...
s were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air
stadium. In contrast, both ancient Greek and ancient
Roman theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area.
Modern parlance uses "amphitheatre" for any structure with sloping seating, including
theatre-style
A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique featur ...
stages with spectator seating on only one side,
theatres in the round, and
stadia
Stadia may refer to:
* One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums"
* The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes'').
* Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey
* Stadi ...
. They can be indoor or outdoor.
Natural formations of similar shape are sometimes known as natural amphitheatres.
Roman amphitheatres
About
230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
. Their typical shape, functions and name distinguish them from
Roman theatres, which are more or less semicircular in shape; from the
circuses
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
(similar to
hippodromes) whose much longer circuits were designed mainly for horse or chariot racing events; and from the smaller
stadia
Stadia may refer to:
* One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums"
* The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes'').
* Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey
* Stadi ...
, which were primarily designed for
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
and footraces.
[Bomgardner, 37.]
Roman amphitheatres were circular or oval in plan, with a central
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
surrounded by perimeter seating tiers. The seating tiers were pierced by entrance-ways controlling access to the arena floor, and isolating it from the audience. Temporary wooden structures functioning as amphitheaters would have been erected for the funeral games held in honour of deceased Roman
magnates
The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
by their heirs, featuring fights to the death by
gladiators, usually armed prisoners of war, at the funeral pyre or tomb of the deceased. These games are described in Roman histories as ', gifts, entertainments or duties to honour deceased individuals, Romes' gods and the Roman community.
Some Roman writers interpret the earliest attempts to provide permanent amphitheaters and seating for the lower classes as populist political graft, rightly blocked by the
Senate as morally objectionable; too-frequent, excessively "luxurious" ' would corrode traditional Roman morals. The provision of permanent seating was thought a particularly objectionable luxury.
[See Appian, ''The Civil Wars'', 128; Livy, ''Perochiae'', 48.]
The earliest permanent, stone and timber Roman amphitheatre with perimeter seating was built in the in 29 BCE.
Most were built under Imperial rule, from the
Augustan period (27 BCE–14 CE) onwards.
[Bomgardner, 59.] Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman Empire, especial in provincial capitals and major colonies, as an essential aspect of ''
Romanitas''. There was no standard size; the largest could accommodate 40,000–60,000 spectators. The most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were decorated with
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
,
stucco and statuary.
[Bomgardner, 62.] The best-known and largest Roman amphitheatre is the
Colosseum
The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre ('), after the
Flavian dynasty
The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known ...
who had it built. After the ending of gladiatorial games in the 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th, most amphitheatres fell into disrepair. Their materials were mined or recycled. Some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places; in some of these, churches were sited.
[Bomgardner, 201–223.]
Modern amphitheatres
![Hollywood_Bowl_USGS_2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Hollywood_Bowl_USGS_2010.jpg)
In modern usage, an amphitheatre is a circular, semicircular or curved, acoustically vibrant performance space, particularly one located outdoors. Contemporary amphitheatres often include standing structures, called
bandshell
In theater, a shell (also known as an acoustical shell, choral shell or bandshell) is a curved, hard surface designed to reflect sound towards an audience.
Often shells are designed to be removable, either rolling away on wheels or lifting into ...
s, sometimes curved or bowl-shaped, both behind the stage and behind the audience, creating an area which echoes or amplifies sound, making the amphitheatre ideal for musical or theatrical performances. Small-scale amphitheatres can serve to host outdoor local community performances.
Notable modern amphitheatres include the
Shoreline Amphitheatre
Shoreline Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater located in Mountain View, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The venue has a capacity of 22,500, with 6,500 reserved seats and 16,000 general admission on the lawn. When the parking lot ...
, the
Hollywood Bowl and the
Aula Magna at Stockholm University. The term "amphitheatre" is also used for some indoor venues, such as the (by now demolished)
Gibson Amphitheatre
Universal Amphitheatre (later known as Gibson Amphitheatre) was an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles, California within Universal City. It was built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1972 with a production of ''Jesus Christ ...
.
Natural amphitheatres
![Bryce Amphitheater from Sunrise Point Highres 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Bryce_Amphitheater_from_Sunrise_Point_Highres_2013.jpg)
A natural amphitheatre is a performance space located in a spot where a steep mountain or a particular rock formation naturally amplifies or echoes sound, making it ideal for musical and theatrical performances. An amphitheatre can be naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose, even if no theatre has been constructed there.
Notable natural amphitheatres include the
Drakensberg Amphitheatre in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
,
Slane Castle
Slane Castle (Irish ''Cáisleán Bhaile Shláine'') is located in the village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family seat of the Conyngham family since it was built in the late 18th century, on ...
in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, the
Supernatural Amphitheatre in
Australia, and the
Red Rocks
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind th ...
and
the Gorge Amphitheatres in the western
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
See also
* Ancient theatres
**
Theatre of ancient Greece
Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...
**
List of ancient Greek theatres
This is a list of ancient Greek theatres by location.
Attica and Athens
* Theatre of Dionysus, Athens
*Odeon of Athens, Athens
* Theatre of Oropos, Oropos, East Attica
* Theatre of Zea, Piraeus, Athens
* Theatre of Thoricus, East Attica
* Theatr ...
*
Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
*
Thing
Thing or The Thing may refer to:
Philosophy
* An object
* Broadly, an entity
* Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant
* Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuse ...
platz
*
List of Roman amphitheatres
The remains of at least 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found widely scattered around the area of the Roman Empire. These are large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised 360 degree seating and not to be confused with the more common ...
*
List of contemporary amphitheatres
This is a list of Amphitheatre#Modern amphitheatres, amphitheatres in use today.
})
,
, align="right", 3,000
, -
, Rhode Island
, Providence, Rhode Island, Providence
, Waterplace Park, Waterplace Park Amphitheatre
, Not covered
,
, -
, rowspan ...
*
List of indoor arenas
The following is a list of indoor arenas.
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Canada
United States
Oceania
South America
See also
*Arena
*Stadium
*Sport venue
*Lists of stadiums
*List of buildings
This is a list of ...
Notes
References
*
{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2018
Buildings and structures by type