Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1998 - 60

ner: there is one for evelY passageway that goes to the orchestra. It, then, is accompanied by other apertures which correspond to it in the determined order that is required. 61 All of
them also correspond to each other in height, width, design
and ornamentation. The breadth of the longitudinal walking
area is the same as the space in the aperture between each pilaster. Also, the width of each pilaster, itself, is one half the
space of the aperture in the wall. 6; Regarding all these things
the most exact skill and diligent care are absolutely essential.
Moreover, the columns are not insulateM as in triumphal
arches, but set in half way from the fronr' and pedestals one
SL\th their height are set beneath them. The rest of the ornaments are the same as those in temples.
The heights of the columns with their ornanlents and COI~
nices, will be exactly one half tlle height of the gradients inside. 66 Consequently, in tllis way tllere will be two orders of
colonnades on the outside so that the top of the second will be
equal in height to the top of the gradients, at which level the
pavement for the upper portico is also laid, wllich, as I said
earlier, faces the orchestra in tlle nliddle of the theatre. The
design of tllis area resembles the impression left by a horse's
hoof. This finishes the construction beneatll tlle upper portico.
The front of the upper portico and its colonnade will not
be like those below which receive their light from the outside,
but tlle opposite of tllem; as was said earlier, it faces inward,
towards the orchestra of tlle theatre. This work, through
which the voice is not only preserved from being lost but is
gathered together and returned to us more fully, is called tlle
circumvallation. 6The height of the circumvallation will be one and a half of
that of the first colonnade on the outside and these are its
parts: The low wall beneath tlle columns wllich we may call a
continuous pedestal. It continues all the way around the
circumvallation, and should not comprise more than one thjrd
of tlle total height in large theatres, nor less than one fourth in
small tlleatres, from the top gradient of the theatre to its roof.
The columns stand on tllis low wall, and their height, including their capitols and bases, should be equal to one half
the total height of tlle circumvallation. Above the columns are
the ornaments and above them a plain wall, such as tllOse in
basilicas. Tllis wall makes up the one siA1h of tlle remaining
height of tlle circumvallation.
The aforementioned columns are insulate and are aI~
ranged as those in basilicas. Their number is equal to those in
the colonnades on the exterior and they are aligned on tlle
sanle radial lines. The radjallines to which I refer are drawn
from tlle center of tlle theatre68 to the individual columns on
tlle outside. In the low wall of the circumvallation on wllich the
columns stand, which we call the "continuous pedestal," there
are openings wllich correspond exactly to the entrances below
in the theatre and are in tlle form of niches. Bronze vases may
be hung in them, moutll down, so that tlle voice reverberating

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witllin tllem, may be returned more sonorous.
I shall not pursue here tllOse things in Vitruvius wllich he
takes from the precepts of music and from whose rules he favors. He places the just mentioned vases in theatres and they
are supposed to correspond to low, medium and high pitched
voices. This is sometlling easy to talk about, but let those who
know how it is done inform us. Tllis much I will acknowledge:
Aristotle was convinced of them. Hollow vessels of any sort
and wells served to resonate the voice. But, let us return to the
portico wllich is tlle circumvallation.
The back wall of tllis portico is completely shut, enclosing the entire circumvallation so tllat the voice, upon aITiving
tllere, will not be lost. To this wall, on tlle outside of the tlleatre, which faces those who are arriving, columns may be applied 69 whose number, height and position above correspond
in every way to those in tlle colonnades on the front below
them. From what has already been said, it is easy to distinguish
the difference in these matters between laI'ge and small tlleatres. In the former, the exterior portico below is doubled and
in the latter single. Moreover, in the former there may be tluee
orders of columns, one over the other, on tlle outside, willie in
tlle latter only two. There is also tllis difference, that in tlle velY
small tlleatres tllere is no portico at all on the inside but simply a wall and cornice for tlle circumvallation, and this crown
serves the same purpose of strengthening the voice as in the
large theatres wllich have a circumvallation and said portico.
In some of the laI'gest theatres tllis portico is even doubled.
Finally, those levels which serve both as roofs and pavements are plastered over and made as sloped gradients so water will run off. Moreover, to catch the rain, canals run to
drains in tlle corners of the walls; it is conducted by concealed
pipes to llidden drains.
Around the topmost cornice on the extelior of the theatre
stays and brackets70 aI'e affixed, into wllich poles like the
masts of a sllip are set and ropes and straps are attached to
hold the large canopy or covering of the theatre during a completely arrayed public representation. 71
And since such a massive structure must be raised to tlle
appropriate height, the proper tllickness of the walls must be
adapted to support tlle weight. Therefore, tlle outside wall of
the first colonnade should be one fifteenth part of the height of
the entire structure, The nliddle wall between tlle two porticos, which separates one from the otller when they are
double, is one fourth less the tllickness of the outer wall. The
wall which is raised over tllis one may be one twelfth less in
tllickness than the lower one. *:.
C. Thomas AIIlt regular0' contributes to TD&T on
matters ofantiquity. He is a Fulbrigbt alld Smilbsonian
scbolm; current0' teacbing at I1Idiana University of
Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1998