THEATRE. Although theatres and amphi theatres were erected by the Herods in Jerusalem and other towns of Syria (Joseph. Antiq. xv. 8. ; xvi. 5. ; xix. 7. 5 ; Bell. Yud. i. 21. 8), in which mag nificent spectacles were exhibited, principally in honour of the Roman emperors, there is no re ference to them in the Gospels or Acts. Even in narrating the death of Herod Agrippa (Acts xii. 2 I, 22), whose fatal seizure, according to the Jewish historian, took place in the theatre at Cmsarea (Antiq. xix. 8. 2), the word does not occur. The only mention of a theatre in the O. or N. T. is in the account of the outbreak of popular fanaticism at Ephesus (Acts xix. 29-31). The theatre of that city is stated to have been the scene of the infuri ated assembly called together by the inflammatory speech of Demetrius, which for two hours rang with the cry, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' The shell of this theatre remains unmistakably to to be recognised on Mount Priar, though the mar ble seats have been removed. Its ruins are de scribed by Fellows (As. p. 274) as 'a wreck of immense grandeur,' and it is said to be the largest of any that have come down to us from ancient days (Howson's Life and Letters of St.
Paul, ii. 67). Laborde gives a view of it, copied in Smith's Dictionary.
The First Epistle to the Corinthians contains two probable references to theatrical representations, neither of which are very apparent in our version. The word translated spectacle ' Cor. iv. 9) is Okrpop, and the whole passage seems to refer to the band of gladiators brought out at last for death, the vast range of an amphitheatre ,under the open sky well representing the magnificent vision of all created beings, from men up to angels, gazing on the dreadful death-struggle ; and then the contrast of the selfish Corinthians sitting by unmoved at the awful spectacle' (Stanley, Corinthians, 73). Again, in vii. 31, the fashion of this world passeth away,' ra crxiiva Kbattou rapci-yet, many have seen an allusion to the drama, drawn either from the shifting of the scenes, or the passing across the stage of the gorgeous processions then so com mon.—E. V.