Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:04:06.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The theatre at Taormina — a new chronology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2013

Frank Sear
Get access

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Articles
Information
Papers of the British School at Rome , Volume 64 , November 1996 , pp. 41 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © British School at Rome 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Wilson, R.J.A., Sicily under the Roman Empire (Warminster, 1990), 71.Google Scholar

2 Coarelli, F. and Torelli, M., Sicilia (Guide archeologiche Laterza) (Rome/Bari, 1984), 359.Google Scholar

3 Houel, J., Voyage pittoresque des îles de Sicilie, de Malte et de Lipari, II (Paris, 1784), pls XCI-XCVI.Google Scholar

4 Goldicutt, J., Antiquities of Sicily (London, 1816).Google Scholar

5 Pietrasanta, D. Lo Faso, Duca di Serradifalco, Le antichità della Sicilia, V (Palermo, 1842), pls XX-XXV.Google Scholar

6 Bieber, M., Die Denkmäler zum Theaterwesen in Altertum (Leipzig, 1920), 61–2.Google Scholar

7 ‘Il teatro di Taormina’, Dioniso 2 (1930), 111–21.Google Scholar

8 Santangelo, M., Taormina e dintorni (Rome, 1950)Google Scholar; and Il teatro di Taormina (Rome, 1955).Google Scholar

9 Mitens, K., Teatri greci e teatri ispirati all'architettura greca in Sicilia e nell'Italia meridionale (Analecta Romana, suppl. XIII) (Rome, 1988), 121–4.Google Scholar

10 Bulle, H., Untersuchungen an Griechischen Theatern (Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philos.- Hist. Klasse xxxiii) (Munich, 1928), 206–8Google Scholar, and Tafel 45.

11 It gives me great pleasure to record my thanks to Dott.ssa Giovanna M. Bacci of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali, Messina, for her support of this project and for granting us permission to carry out the survey. I am also grateful to Prof. L. Bernabò Brea for undertaking the long journey from Lipari to visit Taormina and give us much information about his restoration of the theatre in the 1950s.

12 The team was led by Frank Sear of the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Melbourne. The architects were Barry Rowney and Zig Kapelis of the University of Adelaide. Andrew Hutson of the University of Melbourne joined the team as an architect in 1995. Mrs Belinda Morgan of the Art Gallery of South Australia was the other full-time member of the team. During this time the team was also completing a survey of the theatre at Gubbio and beginning a new project on the south theatre at Jerash.

13 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 70–8.Google Scholar As a recent reviewer has pointed out, this ‘monumental book is a landmark in the study of ancient Sicily and is already indispensable’ (Bell, Malcolm, in Journal of Roman Archaeology 7 (1994), 382CrossRefGoogle Scholar). The same reviewer goes on to say: ‘[Wilson's] views on the dating and interpretation of monuments should be debated and eventually tested in the sort of detailed studies that are still often lacking’.

14 Wilson, (Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 76Google Scholar) believes that this rebuilding may have been as late as the Flavian period.

15 The theatre faces a little south of southwest. In order to simplify my references to the various parts of the building I follow Wilson in taking the cavea to face south.

16 Wilson, on the whole has preferred a Hadrianic dating: Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 76Google Scholar, and in his chapter ‘Roman architecture in a Greek world: the example of Sicily’, in Henig, M. (ed.), Architecture and Architectural Sculpture in the Roman Empire (Oxford Committee for Archaeology, Monograph 29) (Oxford, 1990), 81.Google Scholar

17 I use this term for the large rooms flanking the scene building instead of versurae which has no specific textual authority for the rooms themselves. Vitruvius used the term to denote the corners of the stage, where the walls turn inwards towards the audience (De Arch. 5. 6.8). The word basilica on the other hand is used in a number of inscriptions, notably CIL XI, 5820 from the theatre at Iguvium (Gubbio) in Umbria and CIL VIII, 26528, 26606–7 from the theatre at Thugga (Dougga) in Tunisia.

18 The discoveries relating to the scaenae frons are summarized in a recent article: Sear, F., ‘The scaenae frons of the Theater of Pompey’, American Journal of Archaeology 97 (1993), 687–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

19 Examples in Greece include Megalopolis (later fourth century BC); Dodona (third century BC); Cassope (third century BC); Sparta (Hellenistic rebuilt in the Augustan period). Examples in Asia Minor are more numerous and include Alinda (202–175 BC); Pinara (c. 50 BC); Kadyanda (c. 50 BC); Stratonicea (second half of first century BC); Telmessos (Augustan); Prusias ad Hipyum (10 BC–20 AD); Nysa (25–50 AD); Kaunos (c. 50 AD); Hierapolis (Hadrianic); Aspendos (Antonine); and Limyra (141–50 AD).

20 Bonadonna, G., in Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità (1880), 35–7.Google Scholar It may also be observed that the theatres at Catania and Syracuse are also divided into nine cunei.

21 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire, (above, n. 1), 73.Google Scholar

22 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 75.Google Scholar

23 Wilson, 's suggestion (Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 71Google Scholar) that the architect ‘made a concession to the stupendous setting by providing it with three uncharacteristically generous arched openings’ cannot be sustained. There would have been doors in these openings and any glimpses beyond would have ended with the postscaenium wall or its doors.

24 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 71.Google Scholar Unfortunately he did not comment further upon this unusual and significant feature.

25 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 72.Google Scholar This observation, crucial for an understanding of the chronology of the scaenae frons, was explained as ‘probably nothing more than a structural quirk’.

26 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 77.Google Scholar

27 For a detailed plan of the scaenae frons, see Sear, , ‘The scaenae frons’ (above, n. 18), 694.Google Scholar

28 Bulle, , Untersuchungen an Griechischen Theatern (above, n. 10), Taf. 45.Google Scholar

29 For a plan see Sear, , ‘The scaenae frons’ (above, n. 18), 691.Google Scholar

30 Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 72–3.Google Scholar

31 Sear, ‘The scaenae frons’ (above, n. 18), 687–701.Google Scholar

32 I recently inspected the stage building of the theatre at Catania and found that the hospitalia are enclosed in curved niches and, as far as one can see, the regia is enclosed in a large rectangular niche which may well have a triple opening, but not enough of it has yet been uncovered for certainty.

33 Cassius, Dio, Epit. 66.24.Google Scholar It is possible that Gellius was referring to the same event when he said: ‘many years later [i.e many years after the consecration of the Temple of Victory in 52 BC] the back wall of the stage had fallen and was restored’ (Noctes Atticae 10. 1.6–9).

34 An inscription dating to between AD 83 and 96 records that a certain T. Flavius donated 3,000 drachmas to build a kerkis of the theatre (Jones, A.H.M., ‘Inscriptions from Jerash’, Journal of Roman Studies 18 (1928), no. 13, 152–3CrossRefGoogle Scholar). An inscription dating to AD 90 records the consecration of the theatron (Pouilloux, J., ‘Deux inscriptions au théâtre sud de Gérasa’, Liber Annuus Studii Biblici Franciscani 27 (1977), 246–54Google Scholar), but the whole theatre was not complete at this time (Pouilloux, J., ‘Une troisième dedicace au théâtre sud de Gérasa’, Liber Annuus Studii Biblici Franciscani 29 (1979), 276–8Google Scholar). A cylindrical stone basis found near the west end of the stage (Jones, , ‘Inscriptions from Jerash’, no. 14, 153–6Google Scholar) with a long inscription dating to between AD 102–14 suggests that the building of the scaena was well advanced or complete in the reign of Trajan.

35 Belvedere, O., in Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt II.11.1 (Berlin/New York, 1988), 365–6.Google Scholar

36 Verzone, P., ‘Hierapolis di Frigia nei lavori della Missione archeologica italiana’, in Un decennio di ricerche archeologiche I (Rome, 1978), 396, 417–22, 426–36.Google Scholar

37 Lowering the orchestra level to transform it into an arena has parallels elsewhere, for example, at Tyndaris, where it was lowered 0.9 m (Brea, L. Bernabò, ‘Due secoli di studi, scavi e restauri del teatro greco di Tindari’, Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte 13–14 (1964–1965), 99–144Google Scholar). At Aphrodisias the orchestra was lowered 1.53 m — see, de Chaisemartin, N. and Theodorescu, D., ‘Recherches préliminaires sur la frons scaenae du théâtre’, in Smith, R.R.R. and Erim, K.T. (eds), Aphrodisias Papers 2, The Theatre, a Sculptor's Workshop, Philosophers, and Cointypes (Journal of Roman Archaeology suppl. 2) (Ann Arbor, 1991), 29–65.Google Scholar At Iol-Caesarea in Mauretania, the orchestra was lowered 3.0 m — see, Golvin, J.-C. and Leveau, P., ‘L'amphithéâtre et le théâtre-amphithéâtre de Cherchel: monuments à spectacle et histoire urbaine à Caesarea de Maurétanie’, Mélanges de l'Ecole Française de Rome. Antiquité 91 (1979), 817–43.Google Scholar

38 In order to avoid using the word ‘podium’, which is also used for this feature, I am forced to use the clumsy expressions ‘protective wall’ and ‘corridor’.

39 The architectural ornament of the present scaenae frons is certainly late Trajanic or Hadrianic period, as Wilson, has pointed out (Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 76Google Scholar).

40 There are numerous inscriptional references to collapsing scene buildings. One such example (CIL XII, 1375), from Vasio (Vaison la Romaine), dated to the first half of the second century AD, records a restoration of the proscaenium which is described as ‘vetustate consumpt(um)’. In this case the theatre is Tiberian. So the restoration took place when the building was about 100 years old. For the scene building at Casinum (Cassino), restored after about 100 years, see, Carettoni, G.F., in Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità (1939), 129, no. 159.Google Scholar

41 The columnatio probably played an integral part in supporting the roof over the stage. See, Sear, F., ‘A new proposal for the restoration of the theatre at Ferento’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 7 (1994), 357.Google Scholar

42 The theatre at Stobi, which was used for both mimes and gladiatorial contests, has no stage, but the scaenae frons has an elaborate columnatio (Gebhard, E.R., ‘The theater at Stobi: a summary’, in Aleksova, B. and Wiseman, J. (eds), Studies in the Antiquities of Stobi III (Titov Veles, 1981), 13–27Google Scholar; Gebhard, E.R., ‘The scaenae-frons in the theater at Stobi’, in Antiquities of Stobi, 197–201Google Scholar).

43 The low wall is actually the west wall of the hyposcaenium.

44 The north wall of the west basilica is of course the west analemma wall.

45 Graefe, R., Vela Erunt. Die Zeltdächer der Römischen Theater und Ähnlicher Anlagen (Mainz, 1979), 47–8.Google Scholar

46 Ferrero, D. De Bernardi, Teatri classici in Asia Minore 3 (Rome, 1970), 161–74.Google Scholar

47 Ferrero, D. De Bernardi, Teatri classici in Asia Minore 2 (Rome, 1969), 9–34.Google Scholar

48 There are no corresponding patches on the outer side of the wall, which means that the patching is not evidence of blocked-up windows, as Wilson believed (Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 74).Google Scholar

49 The springings of the vault were restored in about 1958 by L. Bernabò Brea. I discussed the restoration of the theatre with him when he visited Taormina in 1992 and he assured me that the restoration was based upon firm evidence.

50 It is possible that when the building was still a theatre there were entrances at each end of the praecinctio between the ima cavea and media cavea, as there was when the building was turned into an arena. However, these would have been inadequate to cope with the thousands of spectators in the ima cavea and media cavea.

51 For the seating arrangements of Roman theatres and amphitheatres, see, Rawson, E., ‘Discrimina ordinum: The Lex Julia Theatralis’, Papers of the British School at Rome 55 (1987), 83–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

52 There are good reasons for believing that these staircases were of wood. A wooden staircase would have caused less obstruction in a low narrow passageway than a more substantial brick structure. The fact that the lowest steps are in brick is not in itself a problem. Steep staircases with the first two or three steps in masonry and the rest in wood are extremely common in Pompeii and Herculaneum. However, a brick structure is also possible.

53 Wilson has pointed out that brick thickness in Sicily is no guide to chronology (Wilson, , Sicily under the Roman Empire (above, n. 1), 75–6Google Scholar). However, in this case it is clear that the thin bricks continue along the face of the podium wall and into the niches, leaving little doubt that the doorways and niches are contemporary. Moreover, the old wall face with much larger bricks can be seen behind the niches at one point (see below).

54 Although most of the doorways have been heavily restored with new brick, at least two doorways on the west side of the cavea have traces of old brick extending down to the lowered floor level, as Bernabò Brea was able to confirm.

55 De Architectura 5. 3.1.

56 Such buildings used to be termed ‘theatre-amphitheatres’. However, the expression ‘theatres of the Romano-Gallic type’, first coined by Kenyon, Kathleen (‘The Roman theatre at Verulamium, St. Albans’, Archaeologia 84 (1935), 213–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar) is now preferred. See, Dumasy, F., ‘<Théâtreamphithéâtre> vie et mort d'une expression’, Dossiers d'Archéologie 134 (January, 1989), 56–7.Google Scholar

57 Laur-Belart, R., Führer durch Augusta Raurica (fourth edition) (Basel, 1966), 49–79.Google Scholar It is interesting to note that the amphitheatre was later replaced by a second theatre.

58 Stucchi, S., Architettura cirenaica (Rome, 1975), 286–9.Google Scholar

59 Harrison, R.M., ‘The theater’, in Humphrey, J.H. (ed.), Apollonia. The Port of Cyrene. Excavations by the University of Michigan 1965–1967 (supplements to Libya Antiqua IV) (Tripoli, n.d.), 163–74Google Scholar; Stucchi, , Architettura cirenaica (above, n. 58), 135–7, 208–10, 228, 293.Google Scholar

60 Golvin, and Leveau, , ‘L'amphithéâtre et le théâtre-amphithéâtre de Cherchel’ (above, n. 37), 817–43.Google Scholar

61 Ponsich, M., ‘Le théâtre-amphithéâtre de Lixus (Maroc). Note preliminaire’, in Homenaje a Garcia Bellido IV (Madrid, 1979), 297–323.Google Scholar

62 Gebhard, E.R., ‘Protective devices in Roman theaters’, in Aleksova, and Wiseman, (eds), Studies in the Antiquities of Stobi III (above, n. 42), 43–63Google Scholar; Gebhard, ‘The theater at Stobi’ (above, n. 42); Gebhard, ‘The scaenae-frons of the theater at Stobi’ (above, n. 42).

63 Ferrero, De Bernardi, Teatri classici 3 (above, n. 46), 47–66.Google Scholar

64 Ferrero, De Bernardi, Teatri classici 3 (above, n. 46), 23–34.Google Scholar

65 Capps, E., ‘Observations on the painted venatio of the theatre at Corinth and on the arrangements of the arena’, Hesperia, suppl. VIII (1949), 64–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

66 Dakaris, S.I., in Archaiologikon Deltion 16 (1960), 17–40Google Scholar; Dakaris, S.I., Dodona (in Greek) (Ioannina, 1986), 68–75.Google Scholar

67 Stillwell, R., ‘Kourion: the theater’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 105 (1961), 37–78.Google Scholar

68 Erim, K.T., ‘Aphrodisias’, in Ferrero, D. De Bernardi, Teatri classici in Asia Minore 4 (Rome, 1974), 162–6Google Scholar; Erim, K.T., Aphrodisias. City of Venus Aphrodite (London, 1986), 79–88Google Scholar; Smith, and Erim, (eds), Aphrodisias Papers 2 (above, n. 37).Google Scholar

69 GRP, III, 360Google Scholar = L. Robert, Les Gladiateurs, no. 97 = Gallina, M., in Ferrero, De Bernardi, Teatri classici 4 (above, n. 68), no. 5, 200–1Google Scholar; Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, 4377 = L. Robert, Les Gladiateurs, no. 98 = Gallina, , in Ferrero, De Bernardi, Teatri classici 4 (above, n. 68), no. 6, 202.Google Scholar

70 Ferrero, De Bernardi, Teatri classici 2 (above, n. 47), 35–58Google Scholar; Vandeput, L., ‘The theatre-facade at Sagalassos’, Anatolian Studies 42 (1992), 99–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

71 The only major theatre in north Italy to be remodelled for gladiatorial games was Volterra, although the absence of any protective wall around what is assumed to be the arena creates problems of interpretation. See, Munzi, M., ‘Il teatro romano di Volterra: l'architettura’, in Cateni, G. (ed.), Il teatro romano di Volterra (Florence, 1993), 52.Google Scholar

72 Mertens, D., in Atti del 16 Convegno di Studi sulla Magna Grecia (Taranto, 1976), 454–7.Google Scholar

73 Bulle, , Untersuchungen an Griechischen (above, n. 10), 131–52, 236–8, 240Google Scholar; Bernabò Brea, ‘Due secoli di studi, scavi e restauri del teatro greco di Tindari’ (above, n. 37).

74 Houel, J., Voyage pittoresque des îles de Sicilie, de Malte et de Lipari I (Paris, 1782), 104–5Google Scholar, pls LVII-LVIII.

75 Dio Cassius 78. 9.7.