G G G, The three external galleries through the circumference of
the building, open to the arcades of the exterior.
_g g_, Inner gallery.
The situation and arrangement of the staircases, &c., are not
expressed, as they could not be rendered intelligible without plans
at various levels of the building.]
AMPHĬTHĔĀTRUM, an amphitheatre, was a place for the exhibition of
public shows of combatants, wild beasts, and naval engagements, and
was entirely surrounded with seats for the spectators; whereas,
in those for dramatic performances, the seats were arranged in a
semicircle facing the stage. An amphitheatre is therefore frequently
described as a double theatre, consisting of two such semicircles,
or halves, joined together, the spaces allotted to their orchestras
becoming the inner inclosure, or area, termed the _arena_. The
form, however, of the ancient amphitheatres was not a circle, but
invariably an ellipse. Gladiatorial shows and combats of wild beasts
(_venationes_) were first exhibited in the forum and the circus; and
it appears that the ancient custom was still preserved till the time
of Julius Caesar. The first building in the form of an amphitheatre
is said to have been erected by C. Scribonius Curio, one of Caesar’s
partisans; but the account which is given of this building sounds
rather fabulous. It is said to have consisted of two wooden theatres,
made to revolve on pivots, in such a manner that they could, by
means of windlasses and machinery, be turned round face to face, so
as to form one building. Soon after Caesar himself erected, in the
Campus Martius, a stationary amphitheatre, made of wood; to which
building the name of _amphitheatrum_ was for the first time given.
The first stone amphitheatre was built by Statilius Taurus, in the
Campus Martius, at the desire of Augustus. This was the only stone
amphitheatre at Rome till the time of Vespasian. One was commenced by
Caligula, but was not continued by Claudius. The one erected by Nero
in the Campus Martius was only a temporary building, made of wood.
The amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus was burnt in the fire of Rome
in the time of Nero; and hence, as a new one was needed, Vespasian
commenced the celebrated _Amphitheatrum Flavium_ in the middle of
the city, in the valley between the Caelian, the Esquiline, and the
Velia, on the spot originally occupied by the lake or large pond
attached to Nero’s palace. Vespasian did not live to finish it. It
was dedicated by Titus in A.D. 80, but was not completely finished,
till the reign of Domitian. This immense edifice, which is even
yet comparatively entire, covered nearly six acres of ground, and
was capable of containing about 87,000 spectators. It is called at
the present day the _Colosseum_ or _Colisaeum_. The interior of an
amphitheatre was divided into three parts, the _arena_, _podium_, and
_gradus_. The clear open space in the centre of the amphitheatre was
called the _arena_, because it was covered with sand, or sawdust,
to prevent the gladiators from slipping, and to absorb the blood.
The size of the arena was not always the same in proportion to the
size of the amphitheatre, but its average proportion was one-third
of the shorter diameter of the building. The arena was surrounded
by a wall distinguished by the name of _podium_; although such
appellation, perhaps, rather belongs to merely the upper part of
it, forming the parapet, or balcony, before the first or lowermost
seats, nearest to the arena. The arena, therefore, was no more than
an open oval court, surrounded by a wall about fifteen feet high;
a height considered necessary, in order to render the spectators
perfectly secure from the attacks of wild beasts. There were four
principal entrances leading into the arena; two at the ends of each
axis or diameter of it, to which as many passages led directly from
the exterior of the building; besides secondary ones, intervening
between them, and communicating with the corridors beneath the seats
on the podium. The wall or enclosure of the arena is supposed to
have been faced with marble, more or less sumptuous; besides which,
there appears to have been, in some instances at least, a sort of
net-work affixed to the top of the podium, consisting of railing, or
rather open trellis-work of metal. As a further defence, ditches,
called _euripi_, sometimes surrounded the arena. The term podium was
also applied to the terrace, or gallery itself, immediately above
the arena, which was no wider than to be capable of containing two,
or at the most, three ranges of moveable seats, or chairs. This, as
being by far the best situation for distinctly viewing the sports
in the arena, and also more commodiously accessible than the seats
higher up, was the place set apart for senators and other persons
of distinction, such as foreign ambassadors; and it was here, also,
that the emperor himself used to sit, in an elevated place, called
_suggestus_ or _cubiculum_, and likewise the person who exhibited
the games on a place elevated like a pulpit or tribunal (_editoris
tribunal_). Above the podium were the _gradus_, or seats of the other
spectators, which were divided into _maeniana_, or stories. The first
_maenianum_, consisting of fourteen rows of stone or marble seats,
was appropriated to the equestrian order. The seats appropriated
to the senators and equites were covered with cushions, which were
first used in the time of Caligula. Then, after an interval or space,
termed a _praecinctio_, and forming a continued landing-place from
the several staircases in it, succeeded the second maenianum, where
were the seats called _popularia_, for the third class of spectators,
or the populus. Behind this was the second praecinctio, bounded
by a rather high wall; above which was the third maenianum, where
there were only wooden benches for the _pullati_, or common people.
The next and last division, namely, that in the highest part of the
building, consisted of a colonnade, or gallery, where females were
allowed to witness the spectacles of the amphitheatre, but some parts
of it were also occupied by the pullati. Each maenianum was not
only divided from the other by the praecinctio, but was intersected
at intervals by spaces for passages left between the seats, called
_scalae_, or _scalaria_; and the portion between two such passages
was called _cuneus_, because the space gradually widened like a
wedge, from the podium to the top of the building. The entrances to
the seats from the outer porticoes were called _vomitoria_. At the
very summit was the narrow platform for the men who had to attend
to the _velarium_, or awning, by which the building was covered as
a defence against the sun and rain. The velarium appears usually to
have been made of wool, but more costly materials were sometimes
employed. The first of the preceding cuts represents a longitudinal
section of the Flavian amphitheatre, and the second, which is on a
larger scale, a part of the above section, including the exterior
wall, and the seats included between that and the arena. It will
serve to convey an idea of the leading form and general disposition
of the interior. For an account of the gladiatorial contests, and the
shows of wild beasts, exhibited in the amphitheatre, see GLADIATORES,
NAUMACHIA, and VENATIO.
[Illustration: Amphorae. (British Museum.)]
AMPHŎRA (ἀμφορεύς), a vessel used for holding wine, oil, honey,
&c. The following cut represents amphorae in the British Museum.
They are of various forms and sizes; in general they are tall and
narrow, with a small neck, and a handle on each side of the neck
(whence the name, from ἀμφί, _on both sides_, and φέρω, to carry),
and terminating at the bottom in a point, which was let into a stand
or stuck in the ground, so that the vessel stood upright: several
amphorae have been found in this position in the cellars at Pompeii.
Amphorae were commonly made of earthenware. Homer mentions amphorae
of gold and stone, and the Egyptians had them of brass; glass vessels
of this form have been found at Pompeii. The most common use of the
amphora, both among the Greeks and the Romans, was for keeping wine.
The cork was covered with pitch or gypsum, and (among the Romans)
on the outside the title of the wine was painted, the date of the
vintage being marked by the names of the consuls then in office; or,
when the jars were of glass, little tickets (_pittoria_, _tesserae_)
were suspended from them, indicating these particulars.--The Greek
amphoreus and the Roman amphora were also names of fixed measures.
The amphoreus, which was also called _metretes_ (μετρητής) and
_cadus_ (κάδος), was equal to three Roman urnae = 8 gallons, 7·365
pints, imperial measure. The Roman amphora was two-thirds of the
amphoreus, and was equal to 2 urnae = 8 congii = to 5 gallons, 7·577
pints; its solid content was exactly a Roman cubic foot.
AMPLĬĀTĬO, an adjournment of a trial, which took place when the
judices after hearing the evidence of the advocates were unable to
come to a satisfactory conclusion. This they expressed by giving in
the tablets, on which were the letters N. L. (_non liquet_), and the
praetor, by pronouncing the word _amplius_, thereupon adjourned the
trial to any day he chose. The defendant and the cause were then said
_ampliari_.
[Illustration: Ampulla. (Sketched by G. Scharf from a relief at
Athens, discovered in 1840.)]
AMPULLA (λήκυθος, βομβύλιος), a bottle, usually made among the Romans
either of glass or earthenware, rarely of more valuable materials.
Ampullae were more or less globular. From their round and swollen
shape, the word was used by Horace to indicate grand and turgid but
empty language. (“Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,” _Ar.
Poet._ 97.) Ampullae are frequently mentioned in connection with the
bath, since every Roman took with him to the bath a bottle of oil for
anointing the body after bathing. The dealer in bottles was called
_ampullarius_.
[Illustration: Ampulla. (From a tomb at Myra in Lycia.)]
AMPYX (ἄμπυξ, ἀμπυκτήρ, Lat. _frontale_), a frontal, a broad band
or plate of metal, which ladies of rank wore above the forehead as
part of the head-dress. The frontal of a horse was called by the same
name. The annexed cut exhibits the frontal on the head of Pegasus, in
contrast with the corresponding ornament as shown on the heads of two
females.
[Illustration: Ampyces, Frontlets. (From Paintings on Vases.)]
ĂMŬLĒTUM (περίαπτον, περίαμμα, φυλακτήριον), an amulet. This word in
Arabic (hamalet) means _that which is suspended_. It was probably
brought into Europe by Arabian merchants, together with the articles
to which it was applied. An amulet was any object,--a stone, a plant,
an artificial production, or a piece of writing,--which was suspended
from the neck, or tied to any part of the body, for the purpose of
warding off calamities and securing advantages of any kind. Faith in
the virtues of amulets was almost universal in the ancient world, so
that the art of medicine consisted in a very considerable degree of
directions for their application.
ĂMUSSIS or ĂMUSSĬUM, a carpenter’s and mason’s instrument, the use of
which was to obtain a true plane surface.
ĂNĂCEIA (ἀνάκεια, or ἀνάκειον), a festival of the Dioscuri or Anactes
(Ἄνακτες), as they were called at Athens. These heroes, however,
received the most distinguished honours in the Dorian and Achaean
states, where it may be supposed that every town celebrated a
festival in their honour, though not under the name of Anaceia.
ĂNACRĬSIS (ἀνάκρισις), an examination, was used to signify the
pleadings preparatory to a trial at Athens, the object of which was
to determine, generally, if the action would lie. The magistrates
were said ἀνακρίνειν τὴν δίκην or τοὺς ἀντιδίκους, and the parties
ἀνακρίνεσθαι. The process consisted in the production of proofs, of
which there were five kinds:--1. The laws; 2. Written documents;
3. Testimonies of witnesses present (μαρτυρίαι), or affidavits of
absent witnesses (ἐκμαρτυρίαι); 4. Depositions of slaves extorted
by the rack; 5. The oath of the parties. All these proofs were
committed to writing, and placed in a box secured by a seal (ἐχῖνος)
till they were produced at the trial. If the evidence produced at
the anacrisis was so clear and convincing that there could not
remain any doubt, the magistrate could decide the question without
sending the cause to be tried before the dicasts: this was called
_diamartyria_ (διαμαρτυρία). The archons were the proper officers
for holding the anacrisis; they are represented by Athena (Minerva),
in the _Eumenides_ of Aeschylus, where there is a poetical sketch of
the process in the law courts. For an account of the _anacrisis_ or
examination, which each archon underwent previously to entering on
office, see ARCHON.
ĂNĂGLỸPHA or ĂNĂGLYPTA (ἀνάγλυφα, ἀνάγλυπτα), chased or embossed
vessels made of bronze or of the precious metals, which derived their
name from the work on them being in relief, and not engraved.
ĂNĂGNOSTĒS, a slave, whose duty it was to read or repeat passages
from books during an entertainment, and also at other times.
ĂNĂGŌGĬA (ἀναγώγια), a festival celebrated at Eryx, in Sicily, in
honour of Aphrodite. The inhabitants of the place believed that,
during this festival, the goddess went over into Africa.