A dictionary of Greek and Roman . ace from the seve-ral staircases which opened on to it, succeeded thesecond maenianum, where were the seats calledpopularia (Suet. Domitian. 4), for the third classof spectators, or the popzdus. Behind this was thesecond praecinctio, bounded by the high wall al-ready mentioned ; above which was the thirdmaenianum, where there were only wooden benchesfor the pullati, or common people. (Suet. ) The open gallery at the top was the onlypart of the amphitheatre, in which women werepermitted to witness the games, except the vestalvirgins, and
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . ace from the seve-ral staircases which opened on to it, succeeded thesecond maenianum, where were the seats calledpopularia (Suet. Domitian. 4), for the third classof spectators, or the popzdus. Behind this was thesecond praecinctio, bounded by the high wall al-ready mentioned ; above which was the thirdmaenianum, where there were only wooden benchesfor the pullati, or common people. (Suet. ) The open gallery at the top was the onlypart of the amphitheatre, in which women werepermitted to witness the games, except the vestalvirgins, and perhaps a few ladies of distinction andinfluence who were suffered to share the spaceappropriated to the vestals (Suet. Octav. 44). Theseats of the maeniana did not run in unbroken linesround the whole building, but were divided intoportions called cunei (from their shape), by shortflights of stairs which facilitated the access to theseats. (Suet. Oct. 44 ; Juv. Sat. vi. 61.) Seethe plan, and the annexed section of a small portionof the Not only were the different ranges of seats ap-propriated to different classes of spectators, but itis pretty certain also that the different cunei ofeach maenianum were assigned to specific portionsof the people, who were at once guided to theirplaces by numbers placed over the external archesby which the building was entered : these numbersstill exist. The office of preserving order in thedistribution of the places was assigned to attend-ants called locarii, and the whole management wasunder the superintendence of the villicus amplti-iheatri. It only remains to describe the arena, orcentral open space for the combatants, which de-rived its name from the sand with which it wascovered, chief!} for the purpose of absorbing theblood. Such emperors as Caligula, Nero, andCarinus, showed their prodigality by using cinna-bar and borax instead of the common sand. Itwas bounded, as already stated, by the wall of thepodium, but in the earlier amp
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithwilliam18131893, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
