Teate Marrucinorum (Chieti)

TEATE MARRUCINORUM (Chieti), ancient Regio IV, modern Italy.

COORDENATES: 42º20’49.18’’N // 14º09’48.21’’E

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.

DATE: Second half of I A.D. or first II A.D.

TRANSFORMATIONS: Orchestra was transformed in colimbetra for water games.

CAPACITY:

CAVEA: Facing north-north-west. 84 m. diameter. Built against slope the centre of cavea.

ORCHESTRA:

STAGE BUILDING: Under modern buildings.

LOCATION: In south-west part of town.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Tosi, Giovana; “Gli edificio per spettacoli nell’Italia romana”. Roma, Quasar, 2003.// Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006.// Ciancio Rossetto, Paola; Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio (eds); “Teatri Greci e Romani: alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato”. Rome: SEAT, 1995.

OUT OF PRINT: If you pretend to find some columnatio in the  scaenae frons you will find clothes drying in the sun, anyway I have always thought both are pretty.

Side (Side)

SIDE (Side), ancient Pamphylia / Asia Minor, modern Turkey.

COORDENATES: 36º46’04.92’’N // 31º23’26.32E

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.

DATE: Last II A.D.

TRANSFORMATIONS: It may probably have been an earlier Greek theatre. In III A.D. it was transformed in amphitheatre.

CAPACITY: 10.000spectators.

CAVEA: Facing north-east. 120 m. diameter. Bilt against slope, although summa cavea have 2 levels of substructures. 23 radial barrel-vaults appear on façade. Maenianum: Ima cavea with 30 rows of seats in 11 cunei. Summa cavea with 25 rows in 24 cunei.

ORCHESTRA: 29 m. diameter, surrounded by podium.

STAGE BUILDING: Pulpitum have trapezoidal shape. Scaenae frons was rectilinear, with 5 doors; 2 storey for columnatio. Postscaenium with 9 rooms. Podium of scaenae frons with relief sculptures.

LOCATION: Side is 65 klm. east from Antalya.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Yilmaz, Yasar; “Anadolu Antik Tiyatrolari”. Istanbul, Yem Yanin, 2010 // Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006.// Ciancio Rossetto, Paola; Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio (eds); “Teatri Greci e Romani: alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato”. Rome: SEAT, 1995. // Bean, George; “Turkey´s southern shore”. London, Ernest Benn Limited, 1968.

 

 

OUT OF PRINT: In Side ancient theatre I played jigsaw... you only have to look at the scattered relief sculpture remains of the podium and let the mind to fly.

Athenae (Athina)

ATHENAE (Athina), ancient Achaia, modern Greece.

COORDENATES: 37º58’30.86’’N // 23º43’23.28’’E

TIPOLOGY: Roman odeon, known as Odeon of Agrippa. Urban.

DATE: Last I B.C.
TRANSFORMATIONS: In 150 A.D. was transformed for public lectures.
CAPACITY: 1.000 spectators.
CAVEA: Facing north. Auditorium square 25 x 25 m., 19 rows of seats in 6 cunei. Overall dimensions of the building 51,3 x 43,2 m.
ORCHESTRA: 18,5 m., paved in polychrome marble.
STAGE BUILDING: Pulpitum 25 x 3 m. Proscaenium rectilinear. Scaenae frons is rectilinear too, with three doors. There are three marble statues in the place, well preserved, they were part of the decoration; drum columns too of the Corinthian order.
LOCATION: The Roman odeon of Agrippa is in the Agora.
MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006. // Ciancio Rossetto, Paola; Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio (eds); “Teatri Greci e Romani: alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato”. Rome: SEAT, 1995. // Izenour, George. Roofed Theaters of Classical Antiquity. Yale University Press, 1992.

 

OUT OF PRINT: In Athens the Gods are still alive, but they are deaf to the cries of their people... “Because gods perceive future things, men what is happening now, but wise men perceive approaching things” wrote Philostratus in his “Kife of Apollonius of Tyana”... but, where are the wise men nowadays?

Iulia Concordia Sagittaria (Concordia Sagittaria)

IULIA CONCORDIA SAGITTARIA (Concordia Sagittaria), ancient Regio X, modern Italy.

COORDENATES: 45º45’31.93’’N // 12º50’26.10’’E

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.
DATE: I A.D.
TRANSFORMATIONS: Scaenae frons reformed in last I A.D.
CAPACITY:

CAVEA: Facing east south-east. 80 m. diameter. Maenianum: Ima cavea with 16 rows of seats; summa cavea: ?

ORCHESTRA: It was transformed for amphitheatre games.

STAGE BUILDING: Proscaenium was rectilinear. Porticus post scaenam traces found.

LOCATION: The place of the ancient Roman theatre is west of Concordia Sagittaria, 60 klm. south-west from Udine.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Tosi, Giovana; “Gli edificio per spettacoli nell’Italia romana”. Roma, Quasar, 2003. // Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006.// Ciancio Rossetto, Paola; Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio (eds); “Teatri Greci e Romani: alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato”. Rome: SEAT, 1995.

OUT OF PRINT: Also nowadays there´s not visible remains of the Roman theatre, in 1879 excavations revealed some traces;one century later, in 1980, new excavations reveled part of the scaena wall. Nothing visible today, but special for me, iConcordia Sagittaria was the first “theatre” I visited in my four travels to Italy

Scupi (Skopje)

SCUPI (Skopje), ancient Moesia Superior, modern FYR of Macedonia.

COORDENATES: 42º01’01.80’’N // 21º23’36.90’’E

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.

DATE: II a.D.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY:

CAVEA: Facing south-west. 98 m. diameter. Built against hillside, lower cavea rested on annular corridors.

ORCHESTRA: 28 m. diameter.

STAGE BUILDING: In scaenae frons, regia door in a curved niche, hospitalias in rectangular niches. Columnatio in Corinthian order. There is a passageway that connect stage building with orchestra.

LOCATION: Ancient theatre is west of modern Skopje.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: “Anticki teatar na tlu Jugoslavije”, Novi Sad, 1881. // Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006. // Ciancio Rossetto, Paola; Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio (eds); “Teatri Greci e Romani: alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato”. Rome: SEAT, 1995.

OUT OF PRINT: I will not forget my visit to ancient Scupi...in the evening I visited the roman theatre, by night Spanish national football team won the World Championship.