Studio39Designs

Roman Theater

After we walked around the sea wall, on our way back to the ship, we did manage to figure out where to find this Roman Theater.  It is believed this theater was built in the 1^st century BC, and it is believed to have been one of the largest in the Roman Empire.  Unfortunately, much of it is still not excavated, so we were only able to see a relatively small portion of it.

Part of the Roman Theater

When we first came across it, this is what we saw.  It was interesting in that we had to walk around a block or two, around some recent buildings, and down a narrow street that seemed more the size of an alleyway to get to the entrance. 

New Build on Top of the Old

This is why so little of this theater can be seen.  What would happen in ancient times is that when one army conquered a city, they would tear down the buildings of the conquered people and build their own buildings on top of the foundations.  Here you can see that the Roman Theater runs right under what is a newer building.  The white portion is the newer building.

Seats in the Theater

Here you can see some of the seats that surrounded the arena portion of the theater, and what seems to be an entrance from the outer hall to the seating area.

Stadium Seating

This is actually a better view of a seating area.  It’s quite a bit rougher than other ruins we had seen on our trip, but this theater is still in the process of being excavated.  In fact, we were behind a barrier and couldn’t walk among these ruins like we had been allowed to for other ruins.

How it Fits

I know this seems like an odd image, but to me, this really told me a lot about what it means to work on an excavation.  The two white pieces are actual pieces of the column top that have been excavated.  The outlined area is what the archeologists have determined (guessed?) the column top looked like, and how the found pieces fit into the overall design. 

Enjoy!