This chapter moves from the physical and visual aspects of the theatre to discuss the nature and varieties of performance as these may have been experienced by ancient spectators, while taking into account too what we believe we know about the cultural role of theatrical and spectacle entertainments. The various diverse forms of theatrical performance are detailed included Atellan farce, mime and shows in the arena. We discuss the varieties of scenic provision, and also explore the nature of the theatricalised experience and perception of ancient spectators. We describe at length the particularly important and highly popular art of pantomime.

I am not aware of any other book that has shed so much light on species diversity patterns and generalities across time and space as has M. L. Rosenzweig’s (1995) Species diversity in space and time. Rosenzweig compared the study of species diversity patterns with a dinosaur that has come alive and is challenging us. He then listed 10 major challenges that we as ecologists and biogeographers have to address. Some of these are focused on arguably the most general pattern, and definitely one of the oldest known patterns, in nature, i.e. the species–area relationship (SAR). Rosenzweig, 25 years ago, was signifying that, regardless of the vast number of studies on SARs, we were still lacking, at his time of writing, a complete understanding of the pattern. All of the preceding chapters in this volume highlight the amount of progress that has been made since Rosenzweig’s book, the range of new methods and patterns that have been brought to light and the many new and insightful questions that have been asked; some have been answered, others still challenge us. Herein, I discuss issues related to the SAR that still require our attention, some of which have been noted in the preceding chapters.