Buildings for Mass Entertainment

Tradition and Innovation in Herodian Construction

Bibliographic Data

ID4860797
AuthorsZeev Wei, Zeev Weiss (0000-0001-8951-9527, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume77
Issue2
Pages98-107
Publication date2014-06-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNear Eastern Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-2076 • E-ISSN: 1557-5594
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.5615/neareastarch.77.2.0098
OpenAlexW2476605330
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited11

Herod the Great was the first king to introduce games and spectacles into the Roman East. His building projects to house these activities were a grandiose expression of the king's desire to maintain a positive rapport with Rome and to integrate Roman cultural patterns into his realm — an ambitious agenda that ultimately revolutionized the leisure habits of the indigenous populations in ancient Palestine. This paper discusses theaters and hippo-stadia — buildings for mass entertainment constructed by Herod the Great in Jerusalem, Samaria, and Caesarea, as well as near his palaces in Jerichoand Herodium. It traces the architectural models that Herod used to shape the buildings in his realm and demonstrates that they, like his other monumental projects, were also characterized by creativity, daring, and innovation, exhibiting local yet eclectic features that combined a variety of Greco-Roman traditions

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Creativity · Entertainment · Indigenous · Palestine · Political science · Realm · Visual arts · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History · Law

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