Roman Theater at Aspendos-Turkey
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Transcript of Roman Theater at Aspendos-Turkey
Jonathan DiazArchitecture 130Roman Architecture
The Roman Theater at Aspendos
The Roman Theater is located in Lycia, Turkey, and the theater was built probably during
the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161 – 180 AD). Although history indicates that Romans were
trying to copy their amphitheaters from the Greek theater’s architecture, the theater at
Aspendos is known for being one of the most well preserved Roman Theaters. Also, an
amphitheater is a fusion of two horseshoe-shape theaters for example (The Coliseum) is a place
for massive spectacles such as wild animals shows, gladiator fights, and probably naval battles
while the Roman Theater at Aspendos was used for small performance such as entertaining and
musical roman events. There are inscriptions in Greek and Latin that indicates two wealthy
brothers Curtius Crespinus and Curtius Auspicatus built the theater and then they dedicated it
to the Gods of the country and the imperial house. The construction of the building was
influenced by the Hellenistic practice of building a horseshoe- shape cavea (the stepped slope
zone diminished) against a hillside.
In addition, Because of the steeply slope cavea, this theater design is most likely to
cause echo and absorb low frequencies from the environment or the people around when
using; however, the cavea is made of marble and limestone which they could impact a lost
reduction noise from low frequencies around giving a clear sound at the time of events. At the
top of the cavea there is a colonnaded gallery with fifty-nine vaulted arches, and they
contribute to the excellent acoustics.
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The Roman Theater diameter is 96 meters (315 ft.) and it can provide seats for almost
10,000- to 15,000. There are upper levels and lower levels of the cavea (the stepped semi-
circular diminished zone), and they are separated by a single diazomata. Even though the
seating capacity of the Aspendos’ theater is estimated over 10,000, some evidence indicates
that women only sat in the upper rows of seat. Moreover, the first row of seats was reserved
for senators, judges, and ambassadors while the second row was reserved for other notable
and important social class. There are forty-one rows of seat in the cavea area subdivided by ten
staircases in the lower seating and also there are twenty-one staircases for the upper section.
Also, there is a barrel vault which can support the upper cavea and it is set behind the
diazomata’s sole which it’s separated in two seating levels.
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Parts of the Roman Theater at Aspendos
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Diazomata
Orchestra
Cavea Vomitoria
Aditus MaximusPulpitum
Scaena: Stage building