Editing Amphitheatre

{{Short description|Open air entertainment venue}}
{{other uses}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2016}}
[[File:Rome Colosseum exterior panorama.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Colosseum]], an amphitheatre in Rome (built 72–80 AD)]]
[[File:Arles - 2017-05-24 - Roman Amphitheatre - 3804.jpg|thumb|[[Arles Amphitheatre]], France: a Roman arena still used<ref>Michel Tournier, ''Le coq de bruyère'', W. D. Redfern, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1996, p. 69</ref> for [[bullfighting]], plays, and summer concerts.]]

An '''amphitheatre'''  ([[American English|U.S. English]]: '''amphitheater''') is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated |year=2006 |isbn=9781593394929 |edition=1 |pages=64}}</ref> The term derives from the [[ancient Greek]] {{Lang|grc|ἀμφιθέατρον|italic=no}} (''{{Transliteration|grc|amphitheatron}}''),<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Da%29mfiqe%2Fatron ἀμφιθέατρον], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon'', on Peseus</ref> from {{Lang|grc|ἀμφί|italic=no}} (''{{Transliteration|grc|amphi}}''), meaning "on both sides" or "around"<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29mfi%2F ἀμφί], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> and {{Lang|grc|θέατρον|italic=no}} (''{{Transliteration|grc|théātron}}''), meaning "place for viewing".<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A199975579579579.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqe%2Fatron θέατρον], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Hoad|first = T.F.|title = The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 1996|pages = [https://archive.org/details/conciseoxforddic00tfho/page/14 14, 489]|isbn = 0-19-283098-8|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/conciseoxforddic00tfho/page/14}}</ref>

Ancient Greek [[Theater (structure)|theatres]] were typically built on hillsides and semi-circular in design. The first amphitheatre may have been built at Pompeii around 70 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grout |first=James |title=The amphitheater at Pompeii |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/amphitheatrum.html |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=Encyclopaedia Romana}}</ref> Ancient [[Roman amphitheatre]]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 theatre (structure)|Roman theatre]]s were built in a [[semicircle]], with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area.

Modern English parlance uses "amphitheatre" for any structure with sloping seating, including [[theater (structure)|theatre-style]] stages with spectator seating on only one side, [[Theatre in the round|theatres in the round]], and [[Stadium|stadia]]. They can be indoor or outdoor.

==Roman amphitheatres==
{{main|Roman amphitheatre}}
[[File:The new old amphitheater in Pula Istria (19629095974).jpg|thumb|[[Pula Arena]], [[Croatia]]]]About [[List of Roman amphitheatres|230 Roman amphitheatres]] have been found across the area of the [[Roman Empire]]. Their typical shape, functions and name distinguish them from [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theatres]], which are more or less semicircular in shape; from the [[Circus (building)|circuses]] (similar to [[hippodrome]]s) whose much longer circuits were designed mainly for horse or chariot racing events; and from the smaller [[Stadium|stadia]], which were primarily designed for [[Sport|athletics]] and footraces.<ref name="Bomgardner372">Bomgardner, 37.</ref>

Roman amphitheatres were circular or oval in plan, with a central [[arena]] 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 [[magnate]]s by their heirs, featuring fights to the death by [[gladiator]]s, usually armed prisoners of war, at the funeral pyre or tomb of the deceased. These games are described in Roman histories as ''{{Lang|la|[[Munera (ancient Rome)|munera]]}}'', gifts, entertainments or duties to honour deceased individuals, Rome's gods and the Roman community.<ref>Dodge, Hazel, ''Amphitheaters in the Roman World'', pp.545-553, Ch. 37 in "Blackwell companions to the Ancient World", edited by Christesen, P & Kyle, Donald, Wiley Blackwell, 2014</ref>

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 [[Roman Senate|Senate]] as morally objectionable; too-frequent, excessively "luxurious" ''{{Lang|la|munera}}'' would corrode traditional Roman morals. The provision of permanent seating was thought a particularly objectionable luxury.<ref>See Appian, ''The Civil Wars'', 128; Livy, ''Perochiae'', 48.</ref>

The earliest permanent, stone and timber Roman amphitheatre with perimeter seating was built in the {{Lang|la|[[Campus Martius]]|italic=no}} in 29 BCE.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |date=2017 |editor-last=Edelman |editor-first=Robert |editor2-last=Wilson |editor2-first=Wayne |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sports History |series=Oxford Handbooks Online |first=Donald G. |last=Kyle |chapter=Ancient Greek and Roman Sport |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwJLDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 |page=89 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858910.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-985891-0 }}</ref> Most were built under Imperial rule, from the [[Augustus|Augustan]] period (27 BCE–14 CE) onwards.<ref name="Bomgardner59">Bomgardner, 59.</ref> 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]], [[stucco]] and statuary.<ref name="Bomgardner62">Bomgardner, 62.</ref> The best-known and largest Roman amphitheatre is the [[Colosseum]] in [[Rome]], also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (''{{Lang|la|Amphitheatrum Flavium}}''), after the [[Flavian dynasty]] 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.<ref name="Bomgardner201">Bomgardner, 201–223.</ref>

==Modern amphitheatres==
{{See also|List of contemporary amphitheatres}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Hollywood_Bowl_USGS_2010.jpg|thumb|Aerial photograph of the [[Hollywood Bowl]], showing the seating after the 2005 renovation.]]

In modern english usage of the word, an amphitheatre is not only a circular, but can also be a semicircular or curved performance space, particularly one located outdoors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Encyclopaedia |first=B. I. |url=https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=361914 |title=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia |date=2006-03-04 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated |isbn=9781593394929 |edition=1 |pages=64}}</ref> Contemporary amphitheatres often include standing structures, called [[bandshell]]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]], the [[Hollywood Bowl]] and the [[Aula Magna (Stockholm University)|Aula Magna]] at Stockholm University. The term "amphitheatre" is also used for some indoor venues, such as the (by now demolished) [[Gibson Amphitheatre]] and Chicago [[International Amphitheatre]].
 

==Natural amphitheatres==
[[File:Bryce Amphitheater from Sunrise Point Highres 2013.jpg|left|thumb|[[Bryce Canyon National Park|Bryce Canyon]] Amphitheatre from Sunrise Point]]

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 [[Amphitheatre (Drakensberg)|Drakensberg Amphitheatre]] in [[South Africa]], [[Slane Castle]] in [[Ireland]], the [[Meredith Music Festival|Supernatural Amphitheatre]] in [[Australia]], and the [[Red Rocks Amphitheatre|Red Rocks]] and [[The Gorge Amphitheatre|the Gorge]] Amphitheatres in the western [[United States]].

There is evidence that the [[Anasazi]] people used natural amphitheatres for the public performance of music in [[Pre-Columbian era|Pre-Columbian]] times including a large constructed performance space in [[Chaco Canyon]], [[New Mexico]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Loose |first=Richard W. |date=March 2008 |title=Tse'Biinaholts'a Yalti (Curved Rock That Speaks) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2752/175169608783489080 |journal=Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=31–49 |doi=10.2752/175169608783489080 |issn=1751-696X |via=Taylor & Francis|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Odeon (building)]]
* [[Colosseum]]
* Ancient theatres
** [[Theatre of ancient Greece]]
** [[List of ancient Greek theatres]]
* [[Arena]]
* [[Thing (assembly)|Thing]]platz
* [[List of Roman amphitheatres]]
* [[List of contemporary amphitheatres]]
* [[List of indoor arenas]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{Commons}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{cite book|last=Bomgardner|first=David Lee|title=The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=October 2000|isbn=0-415-16593-8}}

{{Infrastructure}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}

[[Category:Amphitheaters| ]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures by type]]