Theatre of Marcellus (13 BC): Rome's Ancient Stone Theatre

The Theatre of Marcellus is an ancient Roman theatre in the Campus Martius, near the River Tiber, begun by Julius Caesar and completed by Augustus, who dedicated it around 13-11 BC in memory of his nephew Marcellus. It was one of the largest theatres in ancient Rome and is the best preserved of the city’s three stone theatres. Its curved arcades survive because later generations turned it into a fortress and then a palace, which still stands on top of the Roman walls.

Background: Caesar’s plan and Augustus’s theatre

For most of the Republic, Roman theatre shows were held in temporary wooden structures, because conservative senators distrusted permanent theatres. Pompey broke this tradition in 55 BC with the first stone theatre in Rome. Julius Caesar planned a rival theatre near the Capitoline Hill and began clearing the site, reportedly demolishing older buildings, including temples, to make room.

After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, his heir Octavian, later Augustus, took over the project. Augustus states in his Res Gestae that he built the theatre on land mostly bought from private owners and named it after his son-in-law Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Marcellus, the son of Augustus’s sister Octavia and the husband of his daughter Julia, had been seen as a likely heir but died in 23 BC at the age of 19.

Ancient sources give different dates for the dedication, which is placed between 13 and 11 BC. The building was evidently far enough advanced by 17 BC to be used for the Secular Games, a great religious festival held that year.

Architecture

The theatre was built of concrete and tuff, with a facade of travertine, a hard local limestone. Its semicircular outer wall was made of arches set in tiers, framed by half-columns. The lowest tier used the Doric order and the second the Ionic. A third, upper level, now lost, is usually reconstructed as a solid attic decorated with Corinthian pilasters.

The building measured roughly 110-130 metres across, depending on the reconstruction, and its facade rose to more than 30 metres. Estimates of capacity range from about 11,000 to 20,000 spectators. Behind the stage stood a tall decorated wall, and next to the theatre were the temples of Apollo Sosianus and Bellona; three restored columns of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus still stand beside it.

This arrangement of stacked arcades with different orders became a model for later Roman buildings. The facade of the Colosseum, completed in AD 80, uses the same sequence on a larger scale.

Shows and spectators

Roman theatres hosted plays, but by the time of Augustus the most popular entertainments were mime and pantomime, in which a masked dancer acted out mythological stories to music and a chorus. Performances were part of public festivals, the ludi, funded by the state and by magistrates who wanted to win popularity.

Seating reflected Roman social order. Augustus passed rules that reserved the front rows for senators, set aside blocks for equestrians, soldiers and married citizens, and placed women in the upper seats at the back. A visit to the theatre therefore displayed the hierarchy of Roman society, with the emperor and his family at its centre.

Suetonius reports that during the dedication games the joints of Augustus’s curule chair gave way and he fell on his back. Spectacles held at the time of the dedication also reportedly included the killing of hundreds of wild animals, a common feature of Roman public games.

Later history: fortress and palace

The theatre was restored under Vespasian and again under Alexander Severus in the third century. In late antiquity it fell out of use, and stone from it was reused in other buildings, including repairs to a nearby bridge in the fourth century.

In the Middle Ages the solid structure attracted noble families looking for a defensible base. It was turned into a fortress held by the Pierleoni family and later passed to the Savelli family. In the early sixteenth century the Sienese architect Baldassarre Peruzzi designed a palace for the Savelli built directly on top of the ancient arcades. In 1712 the property passed to the Orsini family, and it is often called the Palazzo Orsini.

For centuries the lower arches housed shops and workshops, and the ground level had risen several metres. Between 1926 and 1932, under Mussolini’s government, the surrounding houses were demolished and the lower arcades were cleared and restored. The upper floors of the palace remain private apartments, among the most unusual addresses in Rome.

Timeline

• 55 BC: Pompey builds Rome’s first permanent stone theatre.
• c. 46-44 BC: Julius Caesar clears the site for a new theatre.
• 23 BC: Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Augustus’s nephew and son-in-law, dies.
• 17 BC: The unfinished theatre is used during the Secular Games.
• c. 13-11 BC: Augustus dedicates the Theatre of Marcellus.
• Early sixteenth century: Baldassarre Peruzzi builds the Savelli palace on top of the ruins.
• 1712: The palace passes to the Orsini family.
• 1926-1932: Surrounding buildings are cleared and the lower arcades restored.

Why it matters

The Theatre of Marcellus shows how Augustus completed Caesar’s projects and used architecture to honour his family. Its arcades influenced Roman building design, and its survival as a medieval fortress and Renaissance palace makes it a vivid example of Rome’s layered history, where ancient walls are still lived in today.