Transcription
« In profanis est circus sive theatrum, magnificum olim, hodiè aliqua ex parte dirutum, integrum satis, ut Romani splendoris majestatem testari possit. Videamus ejus formam & partes. Illa est in modum arcûs; cujus antica pars murum habet stupendi operis, longum CXXXVI, altum C pedes ; area interior C pedum est, maximam partem ædificiis & habitationibus occupata. Partes sunt : suggestus, proceres & caveæ. Hæ, penes muros conspiciuntur, olim ferarum receptacula, è quibus ad pugnam educebantur. Isti, sunt è marmore præeminentiæ, quæ in superiore muri illius quadrati parte extant perforatæ, quibus antennæ mali & trabes immittebantur ; ab iis dependebant vela tanquam totius theatri tegmina, ne vel æstu solis pluviâve spectacula impedirentur. Ammianus lib. XIV. horum velorum inventorem facit Catulum, aut ab aliis populis ad Romanos derivatorem ; inquiens : Ex turba minimæ sortis et paupertinæ in tabernis aliqui pernoctant : atris [469] nonnulli velabris umbraculorum theatralium : quæ Campanam imitatus lasciviam Catulus in ædilitate sua suspendit omnium primus. Vela ista variegata coloribus & interstincta solere esse, ait Lucretius in princ. lib. iv :
Et volgò faciunt id lutea russaque vela,
Et ferrugina, cùm magnis intenta theatris,
Per malos volgata, trabeisque, trementia pendent.
Namque ibi confessum caveai. subter et omnem
Scenai speciem, patrum, matrumque, Deorumque
Inficiunt, coguntque suo fluitare colore.
Ille, suggestus nimirum, erat in muri quadrati inferiori parte sive in podio locus elevatior, Romæ pro Caesare : in provinciis verò pro Procoss. & Prætore, qui ludis præsidebant. »
= “Among the profane monuments, there is circus or theatre, once magnificent, today partly destroyed, but conserved enough to attest the majestic splendour of the Romans. Let us consider its shape and constituent parts. It is curved in shape and the wall at the front is a wonderful piece of work; 136 feet long and 100 high. The inside area measures 100 feet and is for the most part filled with buildings and houses. The constituent parts [of the theatre] are: the scene, the upper parts, the vaults. The latter can be seen in the walls; it was here that the wild animals were kept and whence they were let out for the games. In the upper parts, marble blocks can be seen sticking out of the highest part of the wall, some of which are perforated with large holes, into which were inserted poles, beams and rafters; on these were hung sheets which covered the whole theatre so that neither sun nor rain could hinder the spectacle. Ammien Marcelin (Book 14) informs us that this covering system was invented by Catulus, who met with the idea abroad and introduced it to Rome: 'some of the mob, the very poor, spent their nights in the taverns; others slept under the sheets that covered the theatre, which Catulus, during his aedileship, was the first to hang up, imitating in this the Campanians'. These sheets were very tightly woven and came in a variety of colours, as Lucretius tells us at the beginning of Book 4 :
Et volgo faciunt id lutea russaque vela,
Et ferrugina, quum magnis intenta theatris,
Per malos volgata, trabesque trementia pendent :
Namque ibi confessum caveai. subter et omnem
Scenai speciem, patrum, matrumque, Deorumque
Inficiunt, coguntque suo fluitare colore.
The scene, not surprisingly, was the lowest part of the theatre, while the podium, which, in Rome, was used by the emperors, and, in the provinces, by the proconsuls and praetors who presided the games, was placed in an elevated position.”
|
