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The Theatre of Orange, in the Rhone Valley, France.

FINE ROMAN THEATRES feet wide and the auditorium was stage is 65 metres wide and varies in
Of three superb Roman theatres two almost 152 metres in diameter. depth between 12 metres and 16
are amazingly well preserved, the other, The theatre had a three-storey metres.
probably the greatest of all, is sadly left façade. It was probably the largest Restored in the 1800s, the theatre
to our imaginations. theatre ever constructed. A temple of returned to use in 1869. Today it hosts
Venus Victrix crowned the auditorium. lyrical and musical performances.
Theatre of Pompey, Rome
Behind the stage building was a
Inaugurated in 55BC, it was Rome's Theatre of Bosra, Syria
colonnaded garden adorned with
largest and first permanent theatre, Bosra is 140 km south of
fountains and statues.
intended to bolster General Pompey's Damascus. Though no longer complete
An accompanying Senate House
popularity and was dedicated to his with marble and silk, this superb
witnessed the murder of Julius Caesar
military conquests in Syria, Palestine theatre is arguably the most outstanding
in 44BC.
and the Near East. in North Africa. Constructed in the
The Emperor Nero performed at
The theatre employed an elaborate second century AD, the theatre was
Pompey, playing the lead in Oedipus
ticketing system. Probably for the first later surrounded by a fortress.
and in The Madness of Hercules, his
time, each patron was allocated a The theatre seats up to 15,000
own opera about Troy.
particular seat, row, tier and exit. persons and retains fine acoustic
By the sixth century AD, the
The class divisions of Roman quality. The stage is 45 metres long and
Theatre of Pompey, like theatre
society were clearly evident in the 8 metres deep. The large area in front
everywhere, was sadly decayed.
seating arrangements. The emperor and of the stage might have been used for
Significant subsequent building upon circus acts or gladiatorial combats. ★
senators were placed at the front,
the site prevents the excavation of the
aristocrats and generals in the next
theatre.
fourteen rows, then officials, priests,
vestal virgins and citizens. Women, Theatre of Orange, France
slaves and foreigners were only This theatre in the Rhone Valley is
permitted to watch from the back. one of the best-preserved. It was built
The Theatre of Pompey was the between AD10 and 25 and features a
first significant example of the imperial superb 103 metres long, 37-metre high
style of architecture in Rome. It was and 1.8 metre thick acoustic stage wall.
therefore influential not only in the The triumphal arch commemorates the
design of other theatres, but buildings Pax Romana (abstention from war as
generally. The stage was almost 300 imposed upon a colony by Rome). The
28 2007 CINEMARECORD