Peter D. Arnott

"The Ancient Greek and Roman Theatre is a clear, lively and readable study of the Greek and Roman theatre from its beginnings to the late Empire"--Back cover.

Peter Arnott has drawn a superb profile of Rome and the Romans ranging from the legendary Romulus and Remus through almost twelve hundred years of triumph and decay until the fall. Histories of Rome have been done before, but not quite like this one. the emphasis is on the people, the daily events, the culture and society - not on the warmaking. The approach in recounting the magnificent story is the same as the historian's in discoveing it: through the archaeology and the literature. The result is as true and vibrant a picture as we've yet had.

Peter Arnott discusses Greek drama not as an antiquarian study but as a living art form. He removes the plays from the library and places them firmly in the theatre that gave them being. Invoking the practical realities of stagecraft, he illuminates the literary patterns of the plays, the performance disciplines, and the audience responses. Each component of the productions - audience, chorus, actors, costume, speech - is examined in the context of its own society and of theatre practice in general, with examples from other cultures. Professor Arnott places great emphasis on the practical staging of Greek plays, and how the buildings themselves imposed particular constraints on actors and writers alike. Above all, he sets out to make practical sense of the construction of Greek plays, and their organic relationship to their original setting.