Theatre of Leptis Magna
About
Dedicated around 1 or 2 CE by Annobal Tapapius Rufus, the same benefactor behind the city's market, this is the oldest stone theatre anywhere in Roman Africa. Its builders cut the curved seating bank straight into a hillside that had previously served as a cemetery. By 117 CE the theatre has staged performances for well over a century, its colonnaded stage building faced in imported marble.
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, Bilingual dedicatory inscription, Theatre of Leptis Magna IRT 322
Names Annobal Tapapius Rufus as builder and dedicates the theatre to Augustus.
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 →