Seating and Spectacle in the Graeco-Roman World

Abstract

This dissertation examines the organization of audiences in spectacular venues (theatres, amphitheatres, stadia, and odea) throughout the Graeco-Roman world. The arrangements in Rome are discussed but the main focus is the organization of spectators in Italian and provincial venues, revealed through inscriptions found on the seats themselves indicating for which individual or group the seat or area was reserved. Included with this dissertation is a catalogue of seating inscriptions from venues throughout the empire, the first to be compiled. This study compares provincial communities within the same region, across regions, and also with Rome. Topics discussed include to what extent legislation passed in Rome influenced seating outside of the city, the contrast between the display in the theatre of the egalitarian ideology of classical Athens and the display of the hierarchically-based Roman ideology, the different uses of venues as they are revealed by seating inscriptions, and the relationship of spectacular venues to the power of the Roman emperor and the ways in which this power was negotiated in the East. Spectacular venues, in which members of the local population as well as visitors were present, were ideal locations for the display of the local social hierarchy. This display was one that was, at least in the western regions of the empire, influenced to a certain degree by legislation passed in Rome but it was also influenced by the desires of the local elite throughout the empire who were responsible for the grant of reserved seats. The organization of spectacular audiences thus not only reflected the disparate social and civic structures of individual communities, but also projected an idealized vision created by those in charge of seating arrangements. Local inhabitants could, through their attendance at spectacles, determine their place within the ideal community on display.