Roman Theatre of Mogontiacum, Mainz · Wikimedia Commons

Roman Theatre of Mogontiacum

Theatrum Mogontiacense

TheaterGermania Superior · Mainz, GermanyBuilt 90 CE

About

One of the largest Roman theatres north of the Alps, roughly 116 meters across with a 42-meter stage front and seating for about 10,000. An earlier timber theatre likely stood here from the early 1st century CE, tied to annual funerary games in honor of Drusus; the monumental stone structure whose remains survive today went up under Domitian (81-96 CE). Rediscovered in 1884 during railway construction but not correctly identified until 1914-16, then comprehensively excavated in 1998-99 under a parking area — it stayed in active use through the 4th century, when it was finally stripped for stone to build the shortened late-Roman city wall.

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

Tacitus, Histories 4.24
Describes soldiers of the First, Fourth, and Twenty-Second legions marching to relieve the besieged fortress of Mogontiacum during the Batavian revolt.