Theater of Marcellus
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Theater of Marcellus
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Theatre of Marcellus and Temple of Apollo, Rome.
The Theatre of Marcellus is the first theater built in stone in Ancient Rome. Erected in the Fields of Mars in the 1st century BC, its existence has been long and hazardous but the building is still partially preserved.
It was promoted by Julio César and finished by Augustus between the years 13-11 BC. Until that time, theaters had been provisional and erected in wood, so it was also the first permanent theater of the capital.
The building was dedicated to Marco Claudius Marcellus, nephew of Augustus, after his premature death in the 23 BC, before this building was erected in the Field of Mars. In the year 17 BC, when the works still had not been finished, Augustus celebrated there the famous Secular Games (ludi saecularis), sung by Horatio.
The theater, about 130 yards in diameter, could hold some 15-20,000 spectators.
The structure was damaged in the great fire of Rome in 64 AD and in the war between Vespasian and Vitellius. It fell out of use in the beginning of the 4th century and quickly used as an improvised quarry.
The remains were turned into a fortress in 1150 ad, which probably saved them. The Orsini family acquired it in the 18th century and added a Renaissance style palace to the third floor of the structure.
The theater, as we see it today, is the result of an arduous labor of restoration and clearing of many subsequent additions.
Only three columns of the front right corner of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus, some twenty years older than the theatre, have survived.
More roman buildings, sculptures and paintings at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/rome
Weston Westmoreland.
Uploaded
February 12th, 2019
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