ABSTRACT
The origin of drama in Western culture is rooted in the Greek theater. The playwrights of ancient Athens created dramatic structure. Its philosophers and rhetoricians, principally Aristotle in the Poetics , defi ned the theories of tragedy and comedy , concepts that hold true to the present day. Its architects
created amphitheaters. The Romans continued the theatrical tradition by writing and performing plays. The remains of their amphitheaters as well as their viaducts survive to this day in places far from Rome in what were then their colonial outposts in Europe.
