Cavea illustration - Roman theatre at Bosra

The ''cavea'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "enclosure") are the seating sections of

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and Roman theatres and

amphitheatres An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. In Roman theatres, the ''cavea'' is traditionally organised in three horizontal sections, corresponding to the social class of the spectators: * the ''ima cavea'' is the lowest part of the ''cavea'' and the one directly surrounding the arena. It was usually reserved for the upper echelons of society. * the ''media cavea'' directly follows the ''ima cavea'' and was open to the general public, though mostly reserved for men. * the ''summa cavea'' is the highest section and was usually open to women and children. Similarly, the front row was called the ''prima cavea'' and the last row was called the ''cavea ultima''. The ''cavea'' was further divided vertically into ''cunei''. A ''cuneus'' (Latin for "wedge"; plural, ''cunei'') was a wedge-shaped division separated by the ''scalae'' or stairways. Cavea also referred to the subterranean cells in which the wild beasts were confined prior to the combats in the Roman arena.

References

Ancient Roman architecture {{AncientRome-stub