Teatro di Marcello
Marcellus Theatre is an ancient Roman theater, still partially preserved, erected by order of Augustus in the Campus Martius. Julius Caesar planned the initial construction, to rival the one built by Pompey. The work was resumed by Augustus, which he commissioned a building larger than originally expected. The first use for shows from the year 17 BC, during the secular games (ludi saeculares). A first restoration took place under Vespasian. In the Middle Ages it was gradually occupied by small buildings and turned into a fortified castle. The Theatre is one of the oldest buildings for Romans shows come down to us: the auditorium (cavea) has a semicircular shape, the radial inclined walls are connected by vaults and interrupted by two concentric ambulatories, one external, that opens with arches, and one inner. The Theater could accommodate about 15.000 spectators. The travertine facade has three orders: the bottom two with arches framed by an order of Doric columns on the ground floor and Ionic on the upper level, separated by a band with ridges at acting as a string course; the top one, of which few traces remain, it appeared continuous wall, decorated with Corinthian pilasters. The alternation of materials responds to static requirements. The scene, celebrated for its sumptuousness and restored several times, is completely lost.
