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Public Buildings (continued)
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The Large Theatre, built into the slopes of a hillside, dates from the the end of the 3rd century B.C. During the Augustan period it was enlarged and modified, as stated in many inscriptions, under the auspices of the brothers M. Holconius Rufus and M. Holconius Celer. The modifications converted what had been a Hellenistic theatre into the Roman form we see today, complying very much with the definitions specified by Vitruvius in his Ten Books on Architecture (Book V, chapter VI, 'Plan of the Theatre').
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The cavea was divided into three tiers (ima, media and summa) and could accommodate up to 5,000 spectators.
The Roman stage, built over the original, has a monumental facade (scaena) adorned with columns, cornices, pediments and statues.
The housing for the curtain, which was dropped rather than raised for a performance, can stilll be seen.
The seating area was protected from the elements by a velarium held up by poles located around the back of the cavea.
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The Macellum, or food market, stands in the north-east corner of the Forum.
It was a complex built in the imperial age as a covered market, and had large shops on its periphery on the Via degli Augustali and on the Forum as well as on the inside under a colonnade around its large internal square.
The internal square, measuring 37 x 27 metres, had, in its centre, a rotunda with 12 columns covered by a cupola containing a fish pond.
The facade of the Macellum looking onto the Forum, pictured right, contains shops which may have been used for money changing.
The Macellum had three entrances, the main one accessing off the Forum. This entrance was divided into two passageways by an aedicule set in the centre, containing a statue of a member of the Imperial family.
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