Datable between the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd century A.D., it is located in the western area of the ancient city. The monument, whose cavea measures about 98 meters in diameter, is built with concrete work with limestone blocks and brick facing. The steps and the frons scenae were covered in marble, as were marble slabs and stuccoes, still partially preserved, decorating the aulae, the two large rooms that, through corridors (parodoi), lead into the orchestra. The cavea, semicircular in plan, is built on substructures and has three orders: Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian. Of these, only the lower order is preserved, consisting of twenty-five arches on pillars with Tuscan semicolumns. The arches of the cavea, with a wide finished cornice, had keystones shaped in relief, represented by busts in the lower order and very likely by masks in the upper orders. Some of these masks have been reused in buildings of the Historic Center, where they are still visible. The cavea ended at the top with a gallery, in which niches opened.
Information about the Roman Theatre of Benevento
Piazza Ponzio Telesino
82100 Benevento (Benevento)
082429970 082447213
sar-cam.benevento@beniculturali.it
https://www.archeosa.beniculturali.it/
Source: MIBACT
