Roman Theatre (ca. 10 AD) 

The theatre was built in local stone on an artificial terrace just inside the city wall.  Some 400 Guelfs were held prisoner here in 1320-2, before being executed.  The theatre was covered by the convent of Sant' Agata after 1395.  

Interest in the Roman remains here is evident at least from the 16th century:

• The architect  Baldassare Peruzzi sketched the visible Roman remains in the 16th century. 
  

• The site was used  to provide building materials in the 17th and 18th centuries.
  

However, these remains were thought to have belonged to the civic baths until Giuseppe Sordini began the excavation of the area in 1891.   Excavation was hampered by the existence of a women's prison that was built on the site in 1870.  It was demolished in 1954 and systematic excavation was carried out in 1954-60.

The theatre was bounded by a semi-circular ambulatory, with three entrances to the cavea (seating area). The arched left entrance still survives.  The cavea collapsed at an early date and only the left part (seen from the orchestra in the illustration above) survives.  The rest was rebuilt in 1954-60 (see below).  The floor of the orchestra, which was paved with white and coloured marble, is one of very few that survive from Roman times. 

Marble busts (1st century AD) of Julius Caesar and the young Emperor Augustus, which were found during the excavations of 1954-60, are now in the Museo Archeologico.

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