DOI article:
Miller, Walter: The Theatre of Thoricus: preliminary report
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8561#0018
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THE THEATRE OF THORICUS.
have been rounded. There might indeed have been a small saving
of material and labor in the adoption of the present form. But the
difference is not enough to counterbalance the sacrifice of beauty
and symmetry.
The irregular shape of this theatre remains therefore unexplained.
It has been suggested that it was not originally intended for a theatre
at all. The difficulty in this is to see what else it could have been.
A theatre it is, and as it seems adapted to no other use, we must
conclude that its final purpose was also its original purpose.
Descrifiion.— i. Of the scene-structure little was discovered. At
a distance of 16.07 m. from the lowest seat we came upon the foun-
dations of what must have been one of the walls of the a-K^vrj, C C C
on the plan. It is 29.60 m. in length, much longer than we should
expect it to be ; it is not straight, but at the right it bends off toward
the outside at an angle of about 35 degrees.. What remains must
have been entirely underground, as the masonry is exceedingly rough,
though strong.
Inside this wall, at a distance of 2.90 m. from it, were found very
scanty remains of a second substructure, D on the plan, which would
seem to be the scene-wall belonging to the front of the stage, but it
is so badly broken and destroyed that it cannot be identified as such.
Connected with the scene-appurtenances in some way may have
been the chamber on the southeast corner, V W. It might seem at
first to be a later addition to the theatre, owing to the fact that the
wall A A'A" is abruptly broken off a.tB", from top to bottom, and
then hastily reconstructed in a manner far inferior to the general char-
acter of the wall.1 But after the discovery of the wall B B'B", it was
evident that the little chamber is as old as any other part; for the wall
BB'B", one of the oldest parts, is a prolongation of the back wall of
this chamber, EE. This wall BB'B" must originally have been the
boundary of the theatre, for on the outer or convex side the facing is
smooth, showing that that side was intended to be seen. From this
three things are evident: (1) That the chamber did belong to the
original design ; (2) that the theatre was originally not as large as
afterward; and (3) that the building of the chamber was not the
cause of the break in the wall.
1The Rock-cut Chamber is shown in Plate IV., and this break in Plate VII.
(Frontispiece).
THE THEATRE OF THORICUS.
have been rounded. There might indeed have been a small saving
of material and labor in the adoption of the present form. But the
difference is not enough to counterbalance the sacrifice of beauty
and symmetry.
The irregular shape of this theatre remains therefore unexplained.
It has been suggested that it was not originally intended for a theatre
at all. The difficulty in this is to see what else it could have been.
A theatre it is, and as it seems adapted to no other use, we must
conclude that its final purpose was also its original purpose.
Descrifiion.— i. Of the scene-structure little was discovered. At
a distance of 16.07 m. from the lowest seat we came upon the foun-
dations of what must have been one of the walls of the a-K^vrj, C C C
on the plan. It is 29.60 m. in length, much longer than we should
expect it to be ; it is not straight, but at the right it bends off toward
the outside at an angle of about 35 degrees.. What remains must
have been entirely underground, as the masonry is exceedingly rough,
though strong.
Inside this wall, at a distance of 2.90 m. from it, were found very
scanty remains of a second substructure, D on the plan, which would
seem to be the scene-wall belonging to the front of the stage, but it
is so badly broken and destroyed that it cannot be identified as such.
Connected with the scene-appurtenances in some way may have
been the chamber on the southeast corner, V W. It might seem at
first to be a later addition to the theatre, owing to the fact that the
wall A A'A" is abruptly broken off a.tB", from top to bottom, and
then hastily reconstructed in a manner far inferior to the general char-
acter of the wall.1 But after the discovery of the wall B B'B", it was
evident that the little chamber is as old as any other part; for the wall
BB'B", one of the oldest parts, is a prolongation of the back wall of
this chamber, EE. This wall BB'B" must originally have been the
boundary of the theatre, for on the outer or convex side the facing is
smooth, showing that that side was intended to be seen. From this
three things are evident: (1) That the chamber did belong to the
original design ; (2) that the theatre was originally not as large as
afterward; and (3) that the building of the chamber was not the
cause of the break in the wall.
1The Rock-cut Chamber is shown in Plate IV., and this break in Plate VII.
(Frontispiece).