arles,
   the Antique Theatre

 

Following the wooden edifices, which were mostly dismantled after the performances the first stone theatre was not built in Rome
until 55 BC by Pompey. The two that followed, including the so-called "de Marcellus" theatre, were not erected until 13 BC.

The Theatre of Arles is their contemporary, as it was erected on top of colline de l'Hauture at the end of the 1st century BC.
Its precocity and the richness of its marble decoration show the importance of the Arles colony from the Augustus period.
Whereas in Greece, the theatre was dedicated to Dionysos, the decoration of the altars indicates that this theatre was dedicated to Apollo by Augustus.
 

The cavea, with a diameter of 102 metres,
could seat 10,000 spectators sitting on the
33 stepped rows of seats. Those were divided,
following Augustus's orders, according to
social membership: The masses were seated
 on the upper and middle parts, the knights on
the lower tiers and the Elite in the orchestra.
 

 

 

 

All that remains from the antique elevation supporting the cavea is a bay, which,
during the Middle Ages, was included in the rampart of the town and was changed
into a defence tower. This helps us understand the exterior elevation composed
of three levels of arcades and an attic.

At the foot seat rows, the orchestra, paved with precious marbles, conserves in its centre the trace of the sealing of the altar devoted to Apollo.
Between the orchestra and the proscenium (or the stage), the wall of the pulpitum with the entrances on the north and on the south side was richly
decorated with catchflies serving as fountains, by the very beautiful Apollo's altar and by two small altars à la "couronne civique".
The stage was a 50 m long and 6 m wide wooden stage, and underneath was the curtain machinery. The frons scaenae (rear stage wall)
was decorated at three levels by some hundred Corinthian pillars of which only two have resisted time and are still to be found there.
They reflect the diversity and the richness of the marbles and breccias. The wall, no doubt decorated on the outer façade, also supported
a porch roof protecting the stage against bad weather.

 

In the centre of the first level of pillars, there was a royal door with a niche above it holding a monumental statue of Augustus.
Other niches sheltered a statuary inspired by Greek models, like dancers and particularly the Venus d'Arles.

  


Colonnade and ceiling of stage wall under construction

Whether usual or exceptional, the theatre plays were mostly played during festivals held to honour gods. The monument was
then open free of charge for everyone to attend the comedies, the tragedies (Roman or translated from Greek), mimes and pantomimes.   

 

In the beginning of the medieval period, the theatre was systematically demolished, part of it during the construction of the
Early Christian basilica. The terrain was built and occupied by different owners, including the Jesuits who established
their first college and the Sisters of Mercy. In 1755 – 1789, the court of the convent where the two pillars were visible,
served to present to the public the archaeological discoveries made there.

 

 

     
   


Reconstitution of the Antique Theatre in the Roman Period.
scale: 1:100, dimensions: 1m x 1.30m
Executed in polyurethane resin cast in elastomer moulds.
Models machined by numerical control on resin polyurethane plates.
 

The cavea is built in laminated polyester


machining of stage wall

 

         

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