In the Roman theatre the plan is very similar in outline, but the details differ widely. The orchestra was only a semicircle, and was used commonly for seats of honor. The other half of the circle was covered by a low stage ( pul pitum), whose depth was somewhat less than a radius of the orchestra, and its width not over two diameters. In the rear wall were three or five doors, and in the side walls two, replacing the old paradoi. A new entrance into the orches tra was provided by an arched passage under the seats at the side. In the Roman theatre there was a curtain which disappeared below the stage when the performance began.
In Greece, outside of Athens, the chief theatres are at Epidaurus, Eretria, Sieyon, Megalopolis, Mantinea, Delphi, Oropus, and Delos. In Asia Minor Greek theatres have been studied at Per gallium, Magnesia on the Al wander, and Priene, while line examples not fully excavated are at Aspendus, Telmessus, and other sites. In Sicily and Lower Italy the Greek theatres have been altered in Roman times. Fine ruins remain at Taormina, Syracuse, Segesta, Pompeii, and Fiesole.
In Athens plays were performed only in con nection with the festivals of Dionysus (see GREEK FESTIVALS) . i.e. the Country Dionysia, the Lemea, and the Greater or City Dionysia. It was at the latter that tragedy developed, and here the great tragedies were first produced. Comedy was at first confined to the Lemea, but after about B.C. 465 was also part of the Greater Dionysia. At this festival three tragic poets competed. each producing a tetralogy, i.e. three tragedies and a -satyr play. One tetralogy seems to have been performed on each of the three days. The three comedians produced only one comedy each, which seems to have followed on each day the group of tragedies. The arrangements were in charge of the Archon Eponymus, who chose the three poets from among those submitting works, and assigned to each a choregus, i.e. a wealthy citizen upon whom devolved the expense of the production. The production was a compe tition between the choruses, and the victorious choregus dedicated a tablet to Dionysus. The poets received a crown of ivy and a sum of money. Only three actors were allowed, and at first it seems to have been usual for the poet to play the leading role. Later, acting became a regular profession, and troupes of three actors were organized. After the fifth century B.C., and perhaps earlier. the leading actors also competed for a prize. The profession was not dishonorable, and the actors seem to have been always free citizens, as were the chorus. Women did not
appear on the stage, unless possibly as flute girls. The costume of the tragic actor was a long tunic, with close-fitting sleeves often richly embroidered, and a cloak or mantle, with some times a shorter tunic under the cloak. _Masks were also worn. and the stature was somewhat increased by padding. a high top to the mask, and thick-soled shoes (rothurni), which also served to raise the actor somewhat above the level of the chorus. The dress of the chorus seems to have resembled that of daily life, except of course in such cases as the Eumenides of Eschylus, where the Furies produced a great impression by their awe-inspiring appearance. The satyr chorus wore masks reproducing the typical satyr countenance, a goatskin around the loins, and phalloi. The comic actors wor,.! tights, apparently often of gay colors, a short tunic and cloak, a phallus, and comic mask; the costume of the chorus varied with its character, and the poets allowed free scope to the imagina tion, as in the Birds and Clouds of Aristophanes. 1n the new comedy the dress was modified and more nearly approached that of daily life, from which the characters were taken. At the same time there was introduced a typical series of masks, so deigned that the mask at once indi cated the character.
At Rome the drama, like the theatre, was largely borrowed from the Greek, but it was not a state performance by citizens, at least in its developed form. The actors were troupes (greges) of freedmen or slaves, and the plays were in general adapted from the Greek, espe cially in tragedy, though the prwtext(r, in which the hero wore the toga prirtexta and not the Greek costume, were an attempt to treat na tional subjects in the Greek tragic style. In the comedy were distinguished the palliata, based on the Greek new comedy in which the Greek cloak (pallium) was worn, and the togata, treating of native life and character, and appro priately costumed. The plays were produced at public games, and also at the games o• shows given on special occasions by private individuals. The magistrate o• giver of the games paid the leader of a troupe (domians gregis), who owned plays and produced them. The theatre thus never entered into or reproduced the national life in Rome as in Greece. and in later times the favorite Roman shows were the .]limes and Atteliana', both of which seem to have been marked by buffoonery and indecency.