The theatre presents a city gathering to watch a stage while also displaying itself. Its inauguration dates to 16–15 BCE and its patronage is associated with Marcus Agrippa. Seating divisions and honorary positions show that spectators did not occupy a socially neutral space. First take in the whole ensemble, then compare the curve of the tiers with the vertical stage front. Columns, statues and doorways created prestige as well as supporting performance. Do not imagine every part surviving untouched from Rome: excavation, conservation and recovery also explain today's appearance. An archaeological visit and a festival performance are different experiences, with separate admission arrangements. Allow time for the neighbouring amphitheatre within the same visit rather than treating it as a distant excursion.
Sources checked on 21 October 2026. Opening and access may change. The walk does not include admission; allow extra time for interiors. Routes have not been audited for accessibility.
Plan this visit
Look for the Seven Chairs
The Consortium recalls that, while the theatre lay buried, the visible upper seating blocks were known as the Seven Chairs. Try imagining the difference between that partly covered ruin and the recovered space before you. The comparison raises the question of how excavation transformed our reading of the site, without confusing its present image with an intact survival from antiquity.
Follow the stage axis
Observe the central doorway of the stage front and the line it establishes towards the back: a room associated with imperial worship was documented there. That connection adds a political dimension to performance. For a short visit, I would choose this axis and one seating viewpoint before continuing to the amphitheatre; comparing two carefully observed spaces offers more than photographing every column.
