Most Romans favorite form of entertainment was going to see plays at the theater. Even the slaves were allowed to go to the theaters. A common problem the people faced was the scorching heat during these plays. Roman theaters were outside to avoid the heat of an indoor theater. Romans did not know how to ventilate an indoor theater at the time but if someone had presented them with the idea it could have easily been executed. Many ancient civilizations found ways to ventilate and keep rooms cool with the lesser technology that was available to them. Romans could have easily kept spectators cool if they had built large indoor theaters with wind towers all over their roofs. This would harvest cool air from breezes and bring it into the room through a series of tunnels. This would help keep the room cool and would also take away the risk of there being rain during a performance, therefor making it much more comfortable for any Roman citizen to enjoy a play.
Roman Architecture was already advanced so it would not have been a problem for Romans to build. The wind towers could also aid to improving the look of Roman Architecture. Many creative twists could have been put on the wind tower. Also the domed roof the theaters would have needed could have also been used to improve acoustics in the theater which would also aid to the viewing of the play. The indoor theater would enhance Roman everyday life by a landslide if the ventilation was executed properly. Although the windtowers in other ancient civilizations were built over hundreds of years ago they are still up and functioning to this day. If something this efficient had been added to Roman everyday life then it would have been a whole lot better for the people.
Klar, Laura S. "Theater and Amphitheater in the Roman World". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tham/hd_tham.htm (October 2006)
"Roman Theatre." Roman Theatre. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/roman-theatre.htm
I think it's very interesting how stable and well-made these roman wind towers were. Romans were obviously very advanced if they built such structures that are still standing today. The Romans seem like they were very intelligent people.
ReplyDeletei think its interesting how the Romans were very advanced when it came to building towers I also think its very interesting how they made the theater so the vocals were better and the viewing from the audience.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how many people could typically fit in a theater? Or what and where the biggest theater was?
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