Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
THE'ATRE, a place of public amusement, where popular assemblies, courts, elections, etc., were often held. Acts 19:29, 1 Chr 24:31. "The taste for theatrical amusements was never strongly developed among the Jews, though some of their later rulers, especially the Herods, favored them and established theatres in Palestine. Herod the Great introduced Greek actors at his court in Jerusalem, greatly to the scandal of the Jews, and built a theatre and
amphitheatre at Caesarea." - Hackett.