Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

1 24 THEATRUM. THEATRIUM
zain besse rl Verstehen desr Gsriech. Dramatiker; As.isAtop7. Equit. 572), and they appear to have
Stieglitz, Archiiologie der Baukuenst der GriechZ. been sometimes covered with a sort of canopy.
und RBmer; Ferrara, Storia e descrip. de' princip. (Aeschin. I. c.) The rows of benches above these
teatri ant. c modferni, Milano, 1830; the Sap- were occupied by the senate of 500, those next in
plement to Stuart's Antiq. of' Athens. A general succession by the ephebi, and the rest by the
outline is also given, by Miiller, Hist. of' CG. Lit. people -of Athens. But it would seem that they
i. p. 299, &c.; and by Bode, Gescl. der dasnmat. did not sit indiscriminately, but that the better.Dichtkunst d. Hetlen. i. p. 156, &c. places were let at a higher price than the others,
It remains to speak of a few points respecting and that no one had a right to take a place for
the attendance in the Greek theatres. Theatrical which le had not paid. (Plat. Apolog. p. 26;
representations at Athens began early in the morn- Aelian. V. H. ii. 13; Demosth. in Mid. p. 572.)
ing, or after breakfast (Aeschin. c. Ctesiph. p. 466; The question, whether in Greece, and more especiAthen. xi. p. 464); and when the,concourse of ally at Athens, women were present at the perpeople was expected to be great, persons would even formance of tragedies, is one of those which have
go to occupy their seats in the nigt... The sun given rise to much discussion among modern schocould not be very troublesome to;the actors, as lars, as we have scarcely any passage in ancient
they were in a great measure protected by the writers in which the presence of women is stated
buildings surrounding the stage, aad the spectators as a positive fact. But Jacobs ( Vermischt. Schliftenz,
protected themselves against it by hats with broad iv. p. 27'2), and Passow (in Zimmermann's Zeitsci'r.
brims. (Suidas, s. vv. IIe'asos and ACpdsKcv.) filr die Altertl. 1837. n. 29), have placed it almost
When the weather was fine, especially at the beyond a doubt, from the various allusions made by
Dionysiac festivals in spring, the people appeared ancient writers, that women were allowed to be
with garlands on their heads; when it was cold, present during the performance of tragedies. This
as at the Lenaea in January, they used to wrap opinion is now perfectly confirmed by a passage in
themselves up in their cloaks. (Suidas, 1. c.) Athenaeus (xii. p. 534), which has been quoted
When a storm or a shower of rain came on sud- by Becker (Charikles, ii. p. 560), in corroboration
denly, the spectators took refuge in the porticoes of the conclusion to which the above mentioned
behind the stage, or in those above the uppermost writers had come. In this passage we find that at
row of benches. Those who wished to sit com- Athens, and at the time of the Peloponnesian war,
fortably brought cushions with them. (Aeschin. the spectators in the theatre consisted of men and
c. Ctesiph.. c.; Theophr. Csar. 2.) As it was not women. We have, however, on the other hand,
unusual for the theatrical performances to last from every reason to believe that women were not
ten to twelve hours, the spectators required re- present at comedies, while boys might be present
freshments, and we find that in the intervals be- both at tragedy and comedy. (Theoph. Cliaract.
tween the several plays, they used to take wine 9; Isaeus, de C'ison. hered. p. 206; Aristoph.
and cakes. (Athen. xi. p. 464; Aristot. Eth. Nub. 537, &c.; Lucian, de Gymnast. 22.) The
Nicol. x. 5.)' seats which women occupied in the Greek theatres
The whole of the cavea in the Attic theatre appear to have been separated from those of the
must have contained about 50,000 spectators. The men. (Gittling, in the Rheinisch. l/Mus. 1834,
places for generals, the archons, priests, foreign am- p. 103, &c.)
bassadors, and other distinguished persons, were For the purpose of maintaining order and prein the lowest rows of benches, and nearest to the venting excesses, the ancients had a sort of theatreorchestra (Pollux, iv. 121 viii. 133; Schol. ad police; the persons who held this office were called