Teatro Romano di Benevento

Benevento's Roman Theatre preserves twenty-five arcaded bays and a semicircular auditorium that once held about 7,000 spectators. Built in the early 2nd century AD and dedicated to Hadrian, it is among the best-preserved Roman theatres of southern Italy.

Why it matters

The theatre combines monumental Roman architecture with a long story of burial and rediscovery. Medieval housing covered the building, known locally as the Grottoni di Mappa, before excavations uncovered it between the late 19th century and the 1950s.

What to notice

The surviving lower level of the facade has twenty-five arcades with theatrical masks carved into the keystones above portrait busts. The original facade had three orders: Tuscan, Ionic and Corinthian. The theatre's dedicatory inscription names Hadrian; the building was inaugurated around 125–128 AD. A Severan dedication records Caracalla as heir between 197 and 198 AD. The scene building retains two side wings with large niches, one lined with polychrome marble, beside the collapsed central Porta Regia.

Context and history

From about the 4th century, earthquakes damaged the theatre and it was gradually reused for housing. Architect Saverio Casselli surveyed the ruins around 1781; the following year, the church of Santa Maria della Verità was built over part of the site. Excavations began in 1890 under Almerico Meomartini. Roberto Pane led campaigns from 1923 to 1930 and again after the 1934 expropriation of houses over the ruins. The theatre was returned to use on 26 June 1957.