DOI article:
Cushing, William: The Theatre of Thoricus: supplementary report
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8561#0041
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THE THEATRE OF THORICUS. 2J
" It lies between two spurs of the hill, and is enclosed by a wall
■of military style, which is composed of marble blocks of different
sizes. The seats are formed of broad stone slabs, in great part
destroyed. The additions northwest and northeast on the outside of
the surrounding wall probably served as foundations for flights of
stairs, by means of which the spectators ascended to the top of 1jhe
wall and thence gained the auditorium.
"The northwest addition is in a fair state of preservation. To
save material without loss of strength it is pierced by a low passage-
way, the roof of which is made by corbelling.
"Whether the quadrangular chamber, cut into the rock, and
opening toward the auditorium before the east end of the main wall,
was a side building connected with the stage must remain unsettled."
A. Miiller, in Die Griechischen Biihnenalterthiimer (1886), briefly
designates the form of the theatre at Thoricus as " utterly irregular,"
and refers to the report of Peltz already quoted.
The work of excavating the Theatre of Thoricus, described by Mr.
Miller in his Preliminary Report, was suspended on the second of
June, 1886. It was resumed in the autumn of the same year by other
members bf the American School at Athens. This supplementary
work consisted in thoroughly excavating the temple at the west end
of the orchestra and the orchestra floor in front of the temple, and
in a general examination, by means of a number of shafts, of the
various walls entering into the construction of the theatre, with refer-
ence to their purposes and limitations. The later excavations served
to establish the correctness of most of Mr. Miller's opinions and to
settle some questions which were before in doubt, while a few expla-
nations that had been suggested in the absence of necessary evidence
were found to be unsatisfactory.
The Main or Outer Wall {A A'A", Plate I.). — This wall is
built of "rock-faced " or "quarry-faced " ashlar. Its construction is
distinguished by the so-called " broken range " work. The abutting
THE THEATRE OF THORICUS. 2J
" It lies between two spurs of the hill, and is enclosed by a wall
■of military style, which is composed of marble blocks of different
sizes. The seats are formed of broad stone slabs, in great part
destroyed. The additions northwest and northeast on the outside of
the surrounding wall probably served as foundations for flights of
stairs, by means of which the spectators ascended to the top of 1jhe
wall and thence gained the auditorium.
"The northwest addition is in a fair state of preservation. To
save material without loss of strength it is pierced by a low passage-
way, the roof of which is made by corbelling.
"Whether the quadrangular chamber, cut into the rock, and
opening toward the auditorium before the east end of the main wall,
was a side building connected with the stage must remain unsettled."
A. Miiller, in Die Griechischen Biihnenalterthiimer (1886), briefly
designates the form of the theatre at Thoricus as " utterly irregular,"
and refers to the report of Peltz already quoted.
The work of excavating the Theatre of Thoricus, described by Mr.
Miller in his Preliminary Report, was suspended on the second of
June, 1886. It was resumed in the autumn of the same year by other
members bf the American School at Athens. This supplementary
work consisted in thoroughly excavating the temple at the west end
of the orchestra and the orchestra floor in front of the temple, and
in a general examination, by means of a number of shafts, of the
various walls entering into the construction of the theatre, with refer-
ence to their purposes and limitations. The later excavations served
to establish the correctness of most of Mr. Miller's opinions and to
settle some questions which were before in doubt, while a few expla-
nations that had been suggested in the absence of necessary evidence
were found to be unsatisfactory.
The Main or Outer Wall {A A'A", Plate I.). — This wall is
built of "rock-faced " or "quarry-faced " ashlar. Its construction is
distinguished by the so-called " broken range " work. The abutting