Cavea
The cavea (plural: caveae) was the seating area of a theater or amphitheater. The name is derived from the same word in Latin meaning cavernous or an enclosure. Horizontal walkways typically divided the seating into three tiers from the lowest to the highest; the imma cavea, media cavea, and summa cavea. The cavea would further be divided vertically by stairway breaks called cunei (singular; cuneus) that ran between the walkways of the horizontal divisions.
The seating areas of theaters and amphitheaters are often reconstructed for aesthetic reasons or in order to replicate the monumentality of the structures. In some cases, theaters and amphitheaters are used to host modern performances, and so reconstruction or heavy handed conservation of the cavea is necessary to provide seating for the audience. Frequently much of the cavea is missing from these buildings otherwise. For example, none of the original seating remains at the Colosseum in Rome, though the supporting structures of the cavea are visible.
