theatres & amphitheatres

As I was driving to Marka yesterday I noticed the sign to the downtown Roman theatre written as amphitheatre so decided to educate anyone who is interested what the difference is! The following explanation was sent to me by Professor David Kennedy -

'There are no amphitheatres in Jordan and they are rare anywhere in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. The term is regularly misused. What you see downtown in Amman and at Jerash etc are theatres (usually a half circle). An amphitheatre is a circle (as at Pompeii) or oval (e.g. the Colosseum or Cirencester and many other places - this is the commonest form). The amphitheatre was normally the place used for wild beast hunts, gladiatorial fights, executing criminals for public entertainment, etc. The theatre would be for plays, mime, pantomime, etc. It all sounds much more refined but the reality is that in the Roman East they often used their theatres for the sort of bloody activities usually put on in the amphitheatre elsewhere.'
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