Theatrum Meridionale Gerasae
About
Domitian's governor of Syria dedicated this 3,000-seat theatre in 91/92 CE, and the donors who paid for it had their names carved straight into the seating. Greek numbering still marks the ringside blocks, and two vaulted passages funnelled crowds beneath the tiers. In 117 CE Gerasenes packed it, eleven years after Rome annexed Arabia. Trajan and Hadrian later dressed up the stage wall with Corinthian columns.
What happened here
Seating is the message: the front rows are reserved by law for the town council, and everyone can see who is sitting where. The building is a half-circle against a tall stone backdrop that also serves as a permanent set, and the acoustics are good enough that an actor can be heard without effort. The programme is mime and pantomime more than the old tragedies — bawdy, topical, sometimes politically sharp enough that performers get exiled. Audiences are loud, partisan, and quite prepared to shout a piece down. Awnings and perfumed water sprays are laid on when the sponsor is generous. Shows are attached to religious festivals and paid for by a magistrate who wants the credit, and his name is on the seating.
In ancient writing
- Anonymous, Greek dedicatory inscription of the South Theatre, Gerasa year 154 of the local era, 91/92 CE
Dedicates the theatre to Domitian by order of the legate Lappius Maximus.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →