Timgad Theatre
About
Timgad's theater climbed the hillside south of the forum between 161 and 169 CE, under the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. Its curved seating held roughly 3,500 spectators, a striking scale for a colony of a few thousand veterans and their descendants. Soldiers stripped stone from it in 539 CE to raise a Byzantine citadel nearby. In 117 CE the hillside it now occupies still stood open ground beside the young forum. Built under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, roughly half a century after this map's snapshot date.
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.
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 →