Roman Theaters

In Orange, France, the Roman Theater (constructed in BC times), is said to be the best preserved from that era. Of the stage wall (338 feet long, 118 feet high), Louis XIV said “… the finest wall in the kingdom.” There were seats for 8,000 people, and awnings could be used to protect the (important) people.

The Roman theater next door to the Amphitheater in Arles, France, was built in BC times, to seat 7,000 spectators. Not much remains, but they still present plays, and one year we saw an advertisement for a circus that would be playing soon.

When we first visited Nimes, France, we thought there was an ancient theater ruin across the street from Maison Carrée. A few years later we saw that whatever that ruin was, it had been replaced with a modern building, that looks like a library.

In Pompeii, Italy, the Teatro Grande (room for 5,000 onlookers), is next door to the smaller Odeum theater. Like Pompeii’s amphitheater, they survived because they were hidden below the ash of Vesuvius, protected from wind and rain, and stones could not be quarried and stolen for other building projects, as happened most everywhere else.

In the town of Fiesole, Italy (high above Florence), there is an archaeological site next to the market square, which includes a Roman theater dating from about 80 BC. It’s well preserved, and of course plays are still performed there.

Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theater) in Vicenza, is a small, roofed 3,000 seat Roman theater. The stage, designed to appear to be a city piazza, is painted in Trompe-l’œil, false relief, painted to fool the eye with flawless deceptive perspective. There are steep semi-circular wooden bleacher-type seats, an orchestra pit, and the unusual stage. The ceiling was painted with a cloud scene 100 years ago, and is still in good condition.

Near the edge of Gubbio, Italy, we discovered the ruins of an ancient Roman theater, dating from the time of the Emperor Augustus. In Ostia, once a bustling city and the harbor of ancient Rome, the renovated theater was in good condition, but it’s hard to tell which parts were original, which are new.

The Anatomy Theater, part of the medical school in Padova, Italy, was built in 1594 with six circular levels of seats for students to observe operations. It is perfectly preserved.