ELi5: How did public address work before amplification? Like, Caesar addressing his troops on the field
In: 23
Relevant account from Benjamin Franklin on hearing a sermon from George Whitefield, regarded as one of the great public speakers of his day:
>He had a loud and clear Voice, and articulated his Words and Sentences so perfectly that he might be heard and understood at a great Distance, especially as his [audience]… observed the most exact Silence… I had the Curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring backwards down the Street towards the River; and I found his Voice distinct till I came near Front Street, when some noise in that Street, obscured it. Imagining then a Semicircle, of which my Distance should be the Radius, and that it were filled with [listeners], to each of whom I allowed two square feet, I computed that he might well be heard by more than Thirty Thousand. This reconciled me to the Newspaper Accounts of his having preached to 25,000 People in the Fields, and to the ancient Histories of Generals haranguing whole Armies, of which I had sometimes doubted.
Short answer: the right terrain and a quiet audience can accommodate someone with good ability to project their voice.
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