A New Look at Pompey's Theater: History, Documentation, and Recent Excavation

Gagliardo, Maria C.; Packer, James E.

doi:10.3764/aja.110.1.93

Cited by 21 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The Theatre of Pompey, dedicated in 55 bce, was the first permanent theatre in Rome, and may have been larger and more complex (Pliny,Naturalis historia 33.54;35.58,114,126,132;Cicero,In Pisonem 65) but less is known about the quality and composition of its stone and concrete materials, because the building is covered by later constructions (Gagliardo and Packer 2006;Packer et al 2007). Dio 53.49.2).…”

Section: Vitruvius On Fine Workmanship and Architectural Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Materials of the Theatre of Marcellus, Rome*

Jackson

Rossetto²,

Kosso

et al. 2011

Archaeometry

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The building materials of the Theatre of Marcellus, reflect Roman builders' careful selections of tuff and travertine for dimension stone and volcanic aggregates for pozzolanic concretes. The vitric-lithic-crystal Tufo Lionato tuff dimension stone contains a high proportion of lava lithic fragments, which increase its compressive strength and decrease water sorption, enhancing durability. Sophisticated installations of travertine dimension stone reinforce the tuff masonry, which is integrated with durable concrete walls and barrel vaults. The pozzolanic mortars of the concretes contain harenae fossiciae mainly from the intermediate alteration facies of the mid-Pleistocene, scoriaceous Pozzolane Rosse pyroclastic flow. They have pervasive interpenetrating pozzolanic cements, including strätlingite, similar to highquality, imperial era mortars. Concrete walls are faced with refined Tufo Lionato opus reticulatum and tufelli, and opus testaceum of fired, greyish-yellow brick. The exploratory concrete masonry, which includes some of the earliest examples of brick facings and strätlingite cements in Rome, and the integration of these materials in complex architectural elements and internal spaces, reflect the highly skilled workmanship, rigorous work-site management and technical supervision of Roman builders trained in republican era methods and materials.

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Section: Vitruvius On Fine Workmanship and Architectural Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Materials of the Theatre of Marcellus, Rome*

Jackson

Rossetto²,

Kosso

et al. 2011

Archaeometry

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“… 9 From an enormous bibliography see especially Gagliardo and Packer (2006) and Packer (2014). Packer (2014: 38–9) suggests that one reason the structure did not survive intact was the damage caused by an earthquake in the early seventh century.…”

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TheFamaof the Theatre of Pompey between Antiquity and Antiquarianism

Muecke

2023

Antichthon

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This article shows how, from the time of its construction up until late antiquity and beyond, written sources reflected and perpetuated the fama of Pompey's theatre. Such was its reputation as the Roman theatre par excellence that, even after its absorption into the fabric of medieval Rome, in the earlier fifteenth century Italian proto-antiquarians were prompted by what they had read to attempt to locate it. A key figure in the process of sifting and applying the ancient sources was Biondo Flavio (1392–1463). Roughly contemporary with the early stages of Alberti's De re aedificatoria, but probably preceding the blueprint of the Roman theatre in that work, Biondo's pioneering ‘theatre-made-of-words’ in his Roma instaurata presented a newly accurate understanding of its structure and use (clearly distinguishing it from the amphitheatre) which proved influential in inspiring further topographical and antiquarian interest and research in the early sixteenth century.

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“…On the theatre: Baltard 1837; Canina 1845; LTUR V.35–8, s.v. Theatrum Pompei (P. Gros) with extensive bibliography; Gagliardo and Packer 2006; Montesorro Checa 2006; Packer 2006; Sear 2006: 57–61; Packer et al . 2007; Filippi et al .…”

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confidence: 99%

A Republican Dilemma: City or State? Or, the Concrete Revolution Revisited

Davies¹

2017

Pap. Br. Sch. Rome

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In a well-known passage, the Greek historian Polybius, writing in the mid-second century BC, attributes Rome's success as a republic to a perfect balance of power between its constituent elements, army, senate and people (Histories 6.11); and indeed, the Republic's long survival was an achievement worth explaining. On another note, over a century later, Livy remarked how Republican Rome, with its rambling street plan and miscellany of buildings, compared unfavourably with the magnificent royal cities of the eastern Mediterranean; he put this down to hasty rebuilding after a great Gallic conflagration around 390 BC. Few scholars now accept his explanation. A handful of scholars argue for underlying rationales, usually when setting up the early city as a foil for its transformation under Augustus and subsequent emperors, and their conclusions tend towards characterizing the city's design as an unintended corollary to the annual turnover of magistrates. This article, likewise, argues for the role of government in the city's appearance; but it contends that the state of Republican urbanism was deliberate. A response, of sorts, to both ancient authors' observations, it addresses how provisions to ensure equilibrium in one of the Republic's components, the senatorial class, in the interests of preserving the res publica, came at a vital cost to the city's architectural evolution. These provisions took the form of intentional constraints (on time and money), to prevent élite Romans from building like, and thus presenting themselves as, Mediterranean monarchs. Painting with a broad chronological stroke, it traces the tension between the Roman Republic in its ideal state and the physical city, exploring the strategies élite Romans developed to work within the constraints. Only when unforeseen factors weakened the state's power to self-regulate could the built city flourish and, in doing so, further diminish the state. Many of these factors — such as increased wealth in the second century and the first-century preponderance of special commands — are known; to these, this article argues, should be added the development of concrete.

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A New Look at Pompey's Theater: History, Documentation, and Recent Excavation

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Building Materials of the Theatre of Marcellus, Rome*

Building Materials of the Theatre of Marcellus, Rome*

TheFamaof the Theatre of Pompey between Antiquity and Antiquarianism

A Republican Dilemma: City or State? Or, the Concrete Revolution Revisited

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