amphitheatre

[In Dan., Dut., & Ger. amphitheater; Fr. amphithéâtre; Sp. & Ital. anfiteatro; Port. amphitheatro; Lat. am phi the at rum. From Gr. αμφιθεάτρον ( amphi the at ron): ἀμφί (amphi) = on both sides, and θέατρον ( the at ron ) = a theatre, from θεάομαι (theaomai) = to see.] 1. As the name implies, a double theatre. The ancient theatres were nearly semicircular in shape; or, more accurately, they were half ovals, so that an amphitheatre, theoretically consisting of two theatres, placed with their concavities meeting each other, was, loosely speaking, a nearly circular, or, more precisely, an oval building. Amphitheatres were first constructed of wood, but in the time of August us stone began to be THE COLISEUM AT ROME. employed. The place where the exhibitions took place was called the arena (Lat. = sand), because it was covered with sand or sawdust. The part next the arena was called podium , and was a igned to the emperor, the senators, and the amba adors of foreign nations. It was separated from the arena by an iron railing and by a canal. Behind it rose tiers of seats, the first fourteen, which were cushioned, being occupied by the equites , and the rest, which were of bare stone, being given over to the common people. Except when it rained, IMG:content-0473.png:[blocks in formation] in Great Britain at Cirencester, Silchester and Dor chester; but the most splendid ruins existing are those of the Coliseum at Rome, which was said to have held 87,000 people. "Conceive a man placed in the burning iron chair at Lyons, amid the insults and mockeries of a crowded amphitheatre, and still keeping his seat; or stretched upon a grate of iron, over coals of fire, and breathing out his soul among the exquisite sufferings of such a tedious execution, rather than renounce his religion or blaspheme his Saviour."-Add is on. 2. The upper gallery in a theatre. In England, the front seats in such gallery. 3. Fig .: The place or scene of any contest or performance; also, a valley resembling an amphitheatre in shape. 4. Gardening: (a) The disposition of trees or shrubs in an amphitheatric form their arrangement for this purpose on a slope, or with the smaller ones in front, so as to make it appear as if they were growing on a slope. (b) The arrangement of turf in an amphitheatric form. 193 2. Zool.: A genus of animals belonging to the cla Annelid a, and the order Tubicola. They have golden-colored bristles, arranged like combs, or a crown, in one or more rows, on the anterior part of the head. There are very numerous tentacula round their mouths. Some form light tubes, which they carry along with them. 3. Astron.: An asteroid, the twenty-ninth found. It was discovered by Marth and Pogson March 1, 1854, the date on which Bell on a was first seen by Luther.