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25-504: The summit of Iroquois Park presents an all-at-once vista of the city of Louisville, seen from the south. A bronze plaque at the site demonstrates the plan of the city's park and parkway system as planned and executed by Olmsted's firm. The park features an amphitheater , basketball courts, 18-hole golf course , a disc golf course and a riding stable. Louisville Metro Parks and partner companies stage concerts, musicals, and other shows each summer at Iroquois Amphitheater . Iroquois Park

50-424: A central arena surrounded by perimeter seating tiers. The seating tiers were pierced by entrance-ways controlling access to the arena floor, and isolating it from the audience. Temporary wooden structures functioning as amphitheaters would have been erected for the funeral games held in honour of deceased Roman magnates by their heirs, featuring fights to the death by gladiators , usually armed prisoners of war, at

75-756: A particular rock formation naturally amplifies or echoes sound, making it ideal for musical and theatrical performances. An amphitheatre can be naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose, even if no theatre has been constructed there. Notable natural amphitheatres include the Drakensberg Amphitheatre in South Africa , Slane Castle in Ireland , the Supernatural Amphitheatre in Australia , and

100-467: A range of obligatory services rendered to the Roman State. Munera patrimonialia (the compulsory rendering of property) or personalia (service rendered in person) included the quartering of soldiers and members of the imperial household, the provision of various raw materials for imperial use, services and supplies for the public post, the production of horses and recruits, services connected with

125-539: Is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον ( amphitheatron ), from ἀμφί ( amphi ), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and θέατρον ( théātron ), meaning "place for viewing". Ancient Greek theatres were typically built on hillsides and semi-circular in design. The first amphitheatre may have been built at Pompeii around 70 BC. Ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded

150-761: The Red Rocks and the Gorge Amphitheatres in the western United States . There is evidence that the Anasazi people used natural amphitheatres for the public performance of music in Pre-Columbian times including a large constructed performance space in Chaco Canyon , New Mexico . Munera (ancient Rome) In ancient Rome , munera ( Latin plural; singular munus ) were public works and entertainments provided for

175-404: The (by now demolished) Gibson Amphitheatre and Chicago International Amphitheatre . In other languages (like German ) an amphitheatre can only be a circular performance space. A performance space where the audience is not all around the stage can not be called an amphitheatre—by definition of the word. A natural amphitheatre is a performance space located in a spot where a steep mountain or

200-592: The 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th, most amphitheatres fell into disrepair. Their materials were mined or recycled. Some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places; in some of these, churches were sited. In modern english usage of the word, an amphitheatre is not only a circular, but can also be a semicircular or curved performance space, particularly one located outdoors. Contemporary amphitheatres often include standing structures, called bandshells , sometimes curved or bowl-shaped, both behind

225-623: The Board of Park Commissioners. Frederick Law Olmsted was invited to tour the park, and gave an influential speech at the Pendennis Club on May 20, 1891, and signed a contract to design the city's park system two days later. Work was soon underway on the park, by then renamed Iroquois, which Olmsted envisioned as "providing the grandeur of the forest depths in the dim seclusion of which you may wander musingly for hours". Amphitheatre An amphitheatre ( U.S. English : amphitheater )

250-534: The Later Empire these compulsory services, an integral part of the tax system, fell increasingly on the middle and lower classes. Other personalia included the production of garments, buying flour and oil for the city, monitoring the sale of bread and other food stuffs, collection and distribution of the Cura Annonae , collection in money of the capitatio , collection of civic revenues, police duties,

275-499: The area of the Roman Empire . Their typical shape, functions and name distinguish them from Roman theatres , which are more or less semicircular in shape; from the circuses (similar to hippodromes ) whose much longer circuits were designed mainly for horse or chariot racing events; and from the smaller stadia , which were primarily designed for athletics and footraces. Roman amphitheatres were circular or oval in plan, with

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300-479: The benefit of the Roman people by individuals of high status and wealth. Munera means "duty, obligation" (cf. English " munificence "), expressing the individual's responsibility to provide a service or contribution to his community. The word was often a synonym for gladiatorial combat , which was originally sponsored as a funeral tribute at the tomb of a deceased Roman magnate by his heir. Munera depended on

325-505: The central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium . In contrast, both ancient Greek and ancient Roman theatres were built in a semicircle , with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area. Modern english parlance uses "amphitheatre" for any structure with sloping seating, including theatre-style stages with spectator seating on only one side, theatres in the round , and stadia . They can be indoor or outdoor. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across

350-458: The city and the then-rural park to acquire the right of way for a 150-foot (46 m) wide "Grand Boulevard", today's Southern Parkway , which still leads to the park. The move was controversial at first and called " Jacob's Folly " by political opponents after early improvements were washed away by rain in the Spring of 1889. In 1890 control over the park, then called Jacob's Park , was given to

375-562: The erection of palaces, docks, post stations, and the heating of the baths. Munera (known as liturgies in Greek) were but one of many monetary taxes. Increasingly, taxes in kind made up munera /liturgies and burdens ( functiones ) and other charges that made up the tax liability of individuals and their municipality, expressed as abstract units of assessment, or iuga (originally a unit pertaining to agricultural land and estimations of its likely yield). The term origo denotes and identifies

400-648: The funeral pyre or tomb of the deceased. These games are described in Roman histories as munera , gifts, entertainments or duties to honour deceased individuals, Rome's gods and the Roman community. Some Roman writers interpret the earliest attempts to provide permanent amphitheaters and seating for the lower classes as populist political graft, rightly blocked by the Senate as morally objectionable; too-frequent, excessively "luxurious" munera would corrode traditional Roman morals. The provision of permanent seating

425-473: The governor and his representatives rather than the municipal aristocracies. From the time of the Tetrarchy (293–305), the munera of the curiales (city councilors) became subject to imperial regulation, apportionment and enforcement so that formerly voluntary "gifts" to the people became firstly civic obligations, then a form of taxation tied to a person's official status and social privilege, and finally

450-508: The legal residence, region, village or estate of the registered taxpayer and/or liturgist. The unified fiscal system devised by Diocletian gave the Roman Empire a budget in the modern sense for the first time. In the later empire, the performance of compulsory services was resented. The state made the obligation hereditary. The richest city councilors, principales, and others subject to the performance of munera or liturgies shifted

475-432: The private largesse of individuals, in contrast to ludi , which were games, athletic contests or spectacles sponsored by the state . The most famous munera were the gladiatorial contests, which began as a service or gift rendered by the heirs of the deceased at funeral games . Munera could refer to the provision of such public services, or to the services themselves. In describing Rome's provision of water to

500-600: The public, Frontinus describes certain lavishly decorated terminal fountains as munera . During the Republic and from 27 BC, many rich persons lavished funds on civic amenities, entertainments and banquets for citizens to gain their favor and enhance their own reputation. The crises of the Empire post-235 caused a rapid decrease in voluntary, private expenditures as evidenced by a dramatic drop in inscriptional attestations, for example of building works within cities credited to

525-636: The stage and behind the audience, creating an area which echoes or amplifies sound, making the amphitheatre ideal for musical or theatrical performances. Small-scale amphitheatres can serve to host outdoor local community performances. Notable modern amphitheatres include the Shoreline Amphitheatre , the Hollywood Bowl and the Aula Magna at Stockholm University. The term "amphitheatre" is also used for some indoor venues, such as

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550-436: The supplies for the army and transport of troops. Munera corporalia (bodily works) or munera sordida ("dirty" works) required physical labor such as making charcoal, lime-burning and breadmaking. In addition, the lower classes had to furnish labor ( corvée ) in the state factories, mines and quarries, and in the construction and repair of public buildings, highways, bridges and other public works ( opera publica ). During

575-662: Was no standard size; the largest could accommodate 40,000–60,000 spectators. The most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were decorated with marble , stucco and statuary. The best-known and largest Roman amphitheatre is the Colosseum in Rome , also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre ( Amphitheatrum Flavium ), after the Flavian dynasty who had it built. After the ending of gladiatorial games in

600-500: Was one of the three major suburban parks created in the late 19th century in Louisville. In 1889, Mayor Charles Donald Jacob purchased Burnt Knob , a 313-acre (1.3 km) tract of land 4 miles (6 km) south of the city, for $ 9,000, and was reimbursed by the city treasurer without approval from the city council or public referendum, meaning the original purchase was probably illegal. Jacob also negotiated with landowners between

625-551: Was thought a particularly objectionable luxury. The earliest permanent, stone and timber Roman amphitheatre with perimeter seating was built in the Campus Martius in 29 BCE. Most were built under Imperial rule, from the Augustan period (27 BCE–14 CE) onwards. Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman Empire, especial in provincial capitals and major colonies, as an essential aspect of Romanitas . There

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