Large open-air structures with seating for sports and other types of entertainment, as well as seating for spectators, are called stadiums or arenas. The word “stadium” is a Latinized form of the Greek word ” stade” about 606 feet (185 meters) long. The track in the original Olympic Games was exactly one stadium . Gradually the name of the event was transferred to the place where the event took place.
Originally, the arena was an open sandy place. The Romans used the term to describe a place of gladiatorial fights or an enclosed space where public entertainment was held. Seating for spectators was arranged around the arena. In common usage today, there is little difference between a stadium and an arena. Arena, however, is often used as the name for an enclosed building, which can serve as a convention center as well as a theater or sports palace.
Most stadiums are open to the sky, but some were built with roofs. The Astrodome in Houston, Texas, built in 1965, was the first stadium with a dome and air conditioning. Similar domed arenas have since been built in New Orleans, Louisiana; Seattle, Washington; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Pontiac, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Petersburg, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; and Toronto and Montreal, Canada.
Other terms that are actually synonymous with stadium and arena are hippodrome, circus, and amphitheater. In ancient Greece, a hippodrome (literally “run for the horses”) was a stadium designed for racing and chariot races. It was a U-shaped arena with seats on the hill around it. One of the largest hippodromes of the ancient world was in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). It was completed in 330 AD.
In Rome, the hippodrome was called the Circus (circle) Maximus. It was one of the largest sports arenas ever built, and its outlines can still be seen today. It, too, was a U-shaped structure with seats on three sides. When it was built in the first century B.C. , it seated 150,000 people. It was enlarged by Constantine in the 4th century A.D. to a capacity of 250,000 people-more than any stadium built since then. Today’s hippodromes are not called stadiums or arenas. Sometimes they are just called parks – for example, Hialeah Park near Miami, Florida. The Kentucky Derby is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. (Fluff is a treeless piece of land.)
HISTORY
An amphitheater is a freestanding circular or more often oval-shaped building with a central room, arena, and concentrically arranged spectator seats around it. The word is Greek, meaning “theater with seats on all sides,” but as an architectural form amphitheater has early Italian origins and reflects the demands of the special forms of entertainment that the Romans cherished: gladiatorial games, the contest of beasts against each other. , or combat between men and beasts. Originally such games took place in the forum or town square, and from time to time wooden stands were erected to accommodate spectators. The earliest permanent amphitheater of which remains are from 80 BC at Pompeii, in which the arena is sunk below the natural level of the surrounding ground. It is built of stone measuring 445 by 341 feet (136 by 104 meters) and holds about 20,000 people.
The Great Amphitheater of the Flavians, or Colosseum , in Rome, Italy, was built by Emperors Vespasian and Titus around 70-82 A.D. on the site of Nero’s Golden House. It measured 513 by 620 feet (155 by 190 meters). The name Colosseum was applied to this structure sometime after the 8th century because of its enormous size and capacity of almost 50,000 spectators.
Great Roman amphitheaters were also built in Verona and in ancient Capua (modern Santa Maria Capua Vetera), where the amphitheater, built in the 1st century, is inferior to the Colosseum in size. Its dimensions are 560 by 460 feet (170 by 140 meters) and 95 feet (29 meters) high. Roman amphitheaters were also built in Nîmes and Arles in France, Poule in Istria, Croatia, and Tisdre (El Djem) in Africa. Some of them are still used for bullfighting and other events. The main bullfighting arenas in Madrid, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and Mexico City, Mexico are very similar in appearance and function to the ancient Colosseum.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, sports and other performances were rarely seen in the West. In the Byzantine Empire in the East, such events lasted for several centuries. No significant modern stadium was built until 1896. Then, to match the revival of the Olympic Games, a new arena was built in Athens, Greece, in place of the ancient arena. Its capacity was 66,000 people. Other arenas built in the 19th century were mostly in Spain or Mexico for bullfighting.