podium.
1. Continuous pedestal with base, plinth, die, and cornice, such as used to support an Order of Classical columns high above ground level in a monumental building. In Classical architecture it is essentially the platform on which stood a Roman temple or a peristyle of columns supporting a dome.

2. Platform around the arena of a Roman amphitheatre over which the seats of the nobility were placed.

po·di·um / ˈpōdēəm/ • n. (pl. -di·ums or -di·a / -dēə/ ) a small platform on which a person may stand to be seen by an audience, as when making a speech or conducting an orchestra. ∎  a lectern. ∎  a continuous projecting base or pedestal under a building. ∎  a raised platform surrounding the arena in an ancient amphitheater.

podium projecting base XVIII; (zool.) fore or hind foot XIX. — L., elevated place, balcony — Gr. pódion, dim. of poús, pod- FOOT.