The Attic theatre : $b a description of the stage and theatre of the Athenians, and of the dramatic performances at AthensHaigh, A. E. (Arthur Elam)
History
The Attic theatre : $b a description of the stage and theatre of the Athenians, and of the dramatic performances at Athens
Haigh, A. E. (Arthur Elam)
Athens (Greece) -- Intellectual life; Greek drama -- History and criticism; Theater -- Greece -- Athens -- History -- To 500
The second great reconstruction of the stage-buildings took place in the
reign of Nero, after a lapse of perhaps two hundred years. The whole
of this part of the theatre was then adapted to the Roman fashion. An
elaborate architectural façade, consisting of columns and entablatures,
was erected at the back of the stage, the old Lycurgean wall _n_ being
used as a foundation. A portion of the frieze from this façade is still
in existence, and contains the dedication to Nero which has already been
referred to.[388] Two of the columns are also preserved in part. Behind
the columns and frieze a wall was erected, according to the Roman custom;
and at the same time new side-wings were built, slightly diminishing
the length of the whole structure. The foundations of these erections
are marked _p_ in the plan. In Roman theatres, as we have seen, the
stage projected much further forward than in the Greek. It was also
reduced in height to five feet, so that the spectators in the orchestra
might be able to see over the top. A stage of this type was doubtless
erected in the Athenian theatre at the time of these reconstructions,
though it has now entirely disappeared. But part of it seems to have
been used for the existing stage, that of Phaedrus, by which it was
replaced in the third century A.D. This stage, which is four feet three
inches high, is adorned in front with a bas-relief. The bas-relief has
obviously been constructed out of old materials, and has been much cut
about, and curtailed several inches in height, before being placed in
its present situation. It seems clear that it was intended originally
for the Neronian stage, which must therefore have been about five feet
high. The position of the front-wall in the Neronian stage cannot be
determined from the ruins, but was probably much the same as in the stage
of Phaedrus (_h-h_). One peculiarity of the Neronian reconstruction is
the fact that the old Greek side-wings, with their rows of columns, were
allowed to remain. But how they harmonized with the new Roman wings and
columns it is difficult to conjecture.[389]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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