Image Credit : Fabio Caricchia
Posted on 07/29/2023 10:25:31 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Excavations Conducted by the Superintendence of Rome Have Uncovered the Remains of the Theatrum Neroni, a Private Theatre Erected by Emperor Nero in Rome, Italy.
Nero was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68.
Ancient sources were critical of Nero’s obsession with the arts, describing him as the “actor-emperor” (scaenici imperatoris). He made public appearances as an actor, poet, musician, and charioteer, which scandalised his aristocratic contemporaries as these occupations were usually the domain of slaves, public entertainers, and infamous persons.
Until now, evidence of the Theatrum Neroni were only known from literary sources such as text written by Pliny the Elder, Suetonius and Tacitus. Nero used the private theatre for rehearsals of his singing performances in the Theatre of Pompey, and may have been where he was witness to the great Fire of Rome in AD 64.
Archaeologists made the discovery during a two year excavation in the Renaissance palazzo della Rovere, revealing two structures in the opus latericium construction technique that overlooked an open courtyard possibly surrounded by a portico.
The first structure has a hemicycle plan featuring radial entrances, stairs, and walls. This configuration unmistakably resembles the cavea of a theatre, where the audience’s seating tiers were situated. Excavations also found marble columns and gold-leaf decorated plaster that may be from the architectural background of the stage known as the Scaenae frons. The second building was used for service functions, and housed perhaps the sets and costumes for performances.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritagedaily.com ...
How do they know it was used by Nero? Did they find his violin?
Been documented ;O)
I love these finds, in spite of my snide remarks. Walking those sites is a thrill that I have not been able to do for many years now.
The Theatrum Neroni went out of business when they showed a Disney movie.
I’ve read they are building a hotel over it for 2025 Olympics. Is this not going to be preserved?
These are very cool. I’d love to explore them all if they were down the road but sadly, not halfway around the world.
They found his last partial spindle of burnable DVDs.
Nice brick & stone work.
It would be interesting to know more about the people that designed & built some of these structures.
Perhaps they’ve had to alter their plans, or are in the process of figuring out how to preserve and integrate them.
Nero:
I love to sing-a
About the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a
I love to sing-a
‘Bout a sky of blue-a, or a tea for two-a
Anything-a with a swing-a to an I love you-a
I love-a to, I love-a to sing!
Owl Jolson.
I hope you are right. It’s an incredible archaeological site.
“Ancient sources were critical of Nero’s obsession with the arts, describing him as the “actor-emperor” (scaenici imperatoris). He made public appearances as an actor, poet, musician, and charioteer...”
Sounds like Zelinski...er...Neroinski
Forgot to mention that his favorite song was Mammy.
DVDs. I bought 100 DVD-R disks of a certain brand. 3 out of 10 are bad and “cannot write to this disk”.
I’ve never burned any, although I think I have a spindle around (unopened, garage sale). I’ve heard tell that some drives work best with +R and others work best with -R and same goes for the DVD players.
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