The Large Theatre of Pompeii: Acoustic Evolution

Abstract

This paper reports the acoustic evolution of the “Large Theatre” of Pompeii: during the Greek-Hellenistic and Roman period, and through to the present time. Initially the style of the theatre was Greek-Hellenistic with an elongated U shape and a cavea built into the top of a hill. During the Roman period the theatre shape was changed with a larger scene and a summa cavea added to accommodate about 5.000 spectators. After being recovered from under the Vesuvius lava it was partially reconstructed. Most recently the original grass-covered cavea has been paved with bricks and today the theatre provides a venue for a variety of types of performance. Its acoustic characteristics have been analysed using a virtual model for the Greek- Hellenistic and Roman period, and then, for the later configurations, when the cavea was grass-covered and then paved with bricks, with acoustic measurements.