Measurement and analysis of the acoustics of the Roman theatre of Segobriga (Spain)

Abstract

Segobriga (Cuenca) was the capital of the Celtiberia region. The specular gypsum of its mines, used as glass in windows, was exported across the whole Empire through the port of Cartago Nova (Cartagena). Its Roman theatre has one of the best conserved cavea of Hispania, although there is no scaenae frons. Its construction dates back to the year 79 A.D. In this work, experimental results and analysis are presented of impulse responses and of the values of the monaural and binaural acoustic parameters recorded in situ. These results correspond to the source-receiver combinations of three positions of the source, located in the proscaenium(2), and in the orchestra (1), and of 19 reception points, distributed across the cavea, the proedria, and the proscaenium. This theatre features as part of one of the study cases of a research project that aims to evaluate and revalue the acoustics of the principal Roman theatres of Spain.