Mimetic exhibitions, which perhaps had always been common with the people, just as the genius of the Italians to this day shows a remarkable skill in mimicry, took the place of other representations; with the increas ing numbers of the audiences the subjects of these exhibitions attained greater unity and compass. But the development of the Roman drama belongs to the history of literature.
the beginning there was no fixed place for the various games. As occasion arose, a space was cleared and seats arranged in the market-square or on any open ground, though the Circus Alaximus was chiefly used. Caesar built the first permanent amphitheatre of wood. Enlarged, burnt down, rebuilt, it finally became the Colosseum, whose immense ruins are still the admiration of the world.' Soon every import ant city had its amphitheatre, though on a smaller scale. On Plate 31 we present a section of the amphitheatre of Pompeii (fig. one can easily recognize the seats arranged in ascending tiers, the entrance for the gladi ators in the centre, the barrier separating the spectators from the arena, and (in the section of the wall) the cage for the wild animals. The theatre was developed in a similar manner. Each individual brought his own chair, even in the time when spaces were still set apart for the differ ent classes of society. The belief that scenic plays were enervating prevented for a long time the erection of a permanent theatre. Finally, Pompey erected the first theatre of stone, in 55 R. C. The chorus never became developed in the Roman drama; the orchestra was reserved for seats for the senators; but in other arrangement remained the usual one.
In technical matters the Romans soon surpassed the Greeks. Our illustrations (pl. 30, 5) show several actors with their masks; the stage of the theatre of Herculaneum, reconstructed from its ruins, is shown on Plate 31 (fig. 12). Professional actors arose at an early period, and united themselves into companies under the management of a director. Consisting as they did exclusively of freedmen and slaves, they enjoyed no social position whatever down to the time of the emperors, though they frequently received high compensation. The thirst for applause and the nuisance of noise or of hired cicupecurs were as fully developed as in our day. Alen alone were the performers among the
Romans as well as among the Greeks; but in the mimes and pantomimes (which reached a high degree of development in Rome) women also took part. The greatest splendor was introduced in the decoration of the theatre and in the setting of the play. The Romans employed apparatus to imitate thunder and to produce other illusions, while the Greeks had nothing of the kind, and such accessories would probably have appeared unnecessary to them.
the theatres, the public baths are to be mentioned as places of recreation and pleasure. They originated during the Empire, and were fitted out with a splendor probably unsurpassed by any other public institution. Their size is evident from their ruins, and their mag nificence has been the theme of more than one ancient writer. They not only contained baths of various kinds, but also gymnasiums after the Greek fashion, libraries, collections of works of art, porticos, parks, etc. The Baths of Caracalla could accommodate twenty-three hundred persons at one time. There were in the city of Rome alone, up to the time of Constantine, ten such institutions. Bathing-resorts or watering-places, as we understand the term—that is, at choice spots along the sea-coast were also much in vogue. Bake, for example, was a famous one.
Aqzteriztcts.—The Romans surpassed all other nations, ancient and modern, in the construction of aqueducts, which were among the grand est and most enduring of their works. They were compelled to construct those which supplied the capital by reason of the scarcity of springs in the neighborhood of the city and the impurity of the water obtained from the Tiber. What Pliny says of the Claudian aqueduct is true of all: " If any one will carefully calculate the quantity of the public supply of water for baths, reservoirs, houses, trenches, gardens, and suburban villas, and the arches built, the mountains perforated, and the Valleys elevated along the distance which it traverses, lie Nvill confess that there never was anything more wonderful in the whole world." Some remains of these great structures, which extended in more than one direction many miles across the Campagna, are still among the most striking of ancient ruins.