. Pompeii; its history, buildings and antiquities : an account of the destruction of the city, with a full description of the remains, and of the recent excavations and also an itinerary for visitors . Literature, sect. viii. t Which, however, is the case with the theatre of Vitruv. V. 3. 192 POMPEII. building. At Nyssa the theatre occupies an angle in a ravinepartially filled up ; and it is said that the only instances nowknown of Grecian theatres built in a plain, are those ofMantineia and Megalopolis, and a small one in Asia Minor.*The Roman theatres, on the other hand, were usual
. Pompeii; its history, buildings and antiquities : an account of the destruction of the city, with a full description of the remains, and of the recent excavations and also an itinerary for visitors . Literature, sect. viii. t Which, however, is the case with the theatre of Vitruv. V. 3. 192 POMPEII. building. At Nyssa the theatre occupies an angle in a ravinepartially filled up ; and it is said that the only instances nowknown of Grecian theatres built in a plain, are those ofMantineia and Megalopolis, and a small one in Asia Minor.*The Roman theatres, on the other hand, were usually elevatedupon arches, wherever a suitable situation could be found,without regard to economical considerations. That at Pom-peii, however, is hollowed out of a hill; which may leadus to conclude that it was originally founded by a Greekpopulation, though it was evidently reconstructed after theRoman occupation. In a Roman theatre the orchestra was bounded towardsthe cavea by a semicircle. Complete the circle, draw thediameters BB, HH, perpendicular to each other, and inscribefour equilateral triangles, whose vertices shall fall severallyupon the ends of the diameters; the twelve angles of the. Plan of the Roman Theatre. triangles will divide the circumference into twelve equall^ortions. The side of the triangle opposite to the angle atB will be parallel to the diameter HH, and determines theplace of the scene, as HH determines the front of the stage, * Stuarts Atkms, vol. iv. THE THEATRES. 193 or pulpitum. By tliis construction the stage is brought nearerto the audience, and. made considerably deeper than in a Greektheatre; its depth being determined at a quarter of the dia-meter of the orchestra, which itself was usually a third orsomewhat more of the diameter of the whole building. Thelength of the stage was twice the diameter of the increased depth of the stage was rendered necessary bythe greater number of persons assembled on it, the chorusand musicians bei
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