DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25500#0107
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE.
63
upon the spectator. (In Viollet-le-Duc’s lectures, there is a
drawing of the Frigidarium restored, which gives one a
good idea of the effect produced.) In the construction
of the vaults the system was that described on page 60 for
the Basilica of Maxentius; while the Caldarium, or hot
room, followed that given on page 58 for the Pantheon, so
that the latter has been sometimes mistaken for part of
Agrippa’s Baths.
St. George’s Hall, Liverpool, is a reproduction, both in
scale and design, of the great hall of Caracalla’s Bath, but
with five bays instead of three,
Other Remains.—The Ephebium, or Great Hall, of
Diocletian’s Baths at Rome (a.d. 314), converted by Michael
Angelo into the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The small private bath or balneum was also much used,
as at Pompeii, where a painting now existing exhibits their
manner of use; they were heated by flues under the floors,
in the walls, and lining the vaults, through which passed
air, heated in the basement by the hypocaust or furnace.
THEATRES AND AMPHITHEATRES.
The design of the theatres was taken from the Greeks,
but altered to suit Roman requirements as mentioned
below.
The plan consisted of a semicircular auditorium—thus
differing from the Greek theatre, which was rather more
than semicircular—of tiers of seats one above the other,
with wide passages and staircases communicating with the
external porticoes on each storey. On the ground, sepa-
rating the auditorium from the stage, was a semicircular area
in which the Greeks placed the orchestra, while in Roman
times this portion was occupied by the Senators.
Remains.—At Orange, South France, are the remains of
a theatre, which must have been an important example; the
auditorium being 340 feet in diameter. The stage is rect-
angular, being inclosed by shallow return walls, at right
angles to the great scene or back wall. A ceiling, of
wood probably, bounded by these walls, sloped outwards
to the auditorium, and must have aided the voices of the
63
upon the spectator. (In Viollet-le-Duc’s lectures, there is a
drawing of the Frigidarium restored, which gives one a
good idea of the effect produced.) In the construction
of the vaults the system was that described on page 60 for
the Basilica of Maxentius; while the Caldarium, or hot
room, followed that given on page 58 for the Pantheon, so
that the latter has been sometimes mistaken for part of
Agrippa’s Baths.
St. George’s Hall, Liverpool, is a reproduction, both in
scale and design, of the great hall of Caracalla’s Bath, but
with five bays instead of three,
Other Remains.—The Ephebium, or Great Hall, of
Diocletian’s Baths at Rome (a.d. 314), converted by Michael
Angelo into the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
The small private bath or balneum was also much used,
as at Pompeii, where a painting now existing exhibits their
manner of use; they were heated by flues under the floors,
in the walls, and lining the vaults, through which passed
air, heated in the basement by the hypocaust or furnace.
THEATRES AND AMPHITHEATRES.
The design of the theatres was taken from the Greeks,
but altered to suit Roman requirements as mentioned
below.
The plan consisted of a semicircular auditorium—thus
differing from the Greek theatre, which was rather more
than semicircular—of tiers of seats one above the other,
with wide passages and staircases communicating with the
external porticoes on each storey. On the ground, sepa-
rating the auditorium from the stage, was a semicircular area
in which the Greeks placed the orchestra, while in Roman
times this portion was occupied by the Senators.
Remains.—At Orange, South France, are the remains of
a theatre, which must have been an important example; the
auditorium being 340 feet in diameter. The stage is rect-
angular, being inclosed by shallow return walls, at right
angles to the great scene or back wall. A ceiling, of
wood probably, bounded by these walls, sloped outwards
to the auditorium, and must have aided the voices of the