hyposcaenium : hy-po-SKAY-ni-um

(Latin; from Greek hyposkenion: area beneath the stage). The hyposcaenium was the substructure or basement area located directly underneath the stage platform (pulpitum) of a Roman theatre. According to Sear, “the area under the stage was called the hyposkenion in Greek, but the word, hyposcaenium, which is frequently used of Roman theatres, has no classical authority.” This space served multiple practical functions including housing the machinery for the aulaeum (drop curtain), whose slot was separated from the rest of the hyposcaenium by a parallel wall running 1.50-2.50 metres behind the proscaenium wall. The hyposcaenium also contained acoustic enhancement features, such as the large terracotta vessels (dolia) found at theatres like Nora in Sardinia, which may have been placed there for sound amplification. In some theatres, passageways were inserted into the hyposcaenium to allow animals access to the arena when buildings were converted for gladiatorial spectacles, as occurred at Tauromenium. Additionally, the space housed inclined platforms for stage machinery and sometimes contained tunnels running from under the proscaenium to the middle of the orchestra, facilitating special effects and dramatic entrances from below the stage level.