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Bible Dictionaries
Theatre
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or THEATRE . The name is Greek (lit. ‘a place for viewing’ [a spectacle]), and the thing appears to be of Greek origin also. From the cities of Greece proper, theatres spread all over the Greek and Roman world. The auditorium consisted regularly of a semicircular cavity cut on the side of a hill, much broader at the upper end than the lower. The seats were placed concentrically, being commonly carved out of the rock. The part level with the ground, the orchestra, was occupied by the choir. The stage and scene were on the diameter, and were of artificial construction, being very often like the front of a temple. The theatres were used for public meetings, as being generally the largest buildings in the cities ( Acts 19:29; Acts 19:31; cf. also art. Ephesus).
A. Souter.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Theatre'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/t/theatre.html. 1909.
