Inge Nielsen

Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome

When one studies ancient sanctuaries there is a tendency to focus on their primary
functions, namely the rituals surrounding the cult itself, that is, the sacrifice to and the wor-
ship and the invocation of the deity. The historians of religions are of course well aware that
the sanctuaries during the festivals, which were the only times when they were really the
centre of religious action, served many secondary functions as well. The classical archaeolo-
gists have in this connection concentrated primarily on the so-called pan-Hellenic sanctuar-
ies in Greece with their installations for sports, drama, choral singing, poetry and epic and,
to a lesser degree, the sanctuaries for ludi in Rome. It is, however, important to remember
that both in Greece and Italy not only this kind of sanctuaries, but also the “ordinary” sanc-
tuaries, that is, those, which were not specifically adapted to that kind of games, served other
functions than the primary ones as well. One of these functions, I think, was the perfor-
mance of ritual dramas, which may be defined as non-literary dramas based on the myth of
the deity in the sanctuary in question, and performed at the great seasonal festivals, at which
the myth illustrated the power of the god to conquer the various crises which society and its
members had to go through. These crises could be, and often were in the agrarian society of
antiquity, connected to the various transitions of the agrarian year, like sowing and harvest.
But they could also refer to the transitions connected to the worshippers, such as the tran-
sition from child to puberty, the preparation of the young girl to her wedding, the change
from youth to citizen, or, of course be connected to death, the so-called rites of passage1.

Origins and development of ritual drama in Rome and central Italy

The study of ritual dramas has played a very limited role in the majority of the count-
less studies on the origins of ancient drama2. On the other hand, the existence and central
function of ritual dramas in the cultic worship was and is taken for granted by the scholars
of the ancient Near East and of Egypt, that is, areas which did not develop an independent,
literary dramatic art form, as was the case in the Greek area and in Italy. Taking into account
the great influence during the formative period on the Greek area and also on Italy from
these old cultures, it may surprise that the “invention” of drama, which was developed into
an unique art form independent of religion in western society, has generally not been con-
nected to this cultural contact with the East. This is so much more strange since we know
that a great amount of myths and deities were taken over from the Orient precisely during

1I have recently treated this subject in Nielsen 2002. See also Nielsen 2004.
2See for a good survey of the enormous scholarship in this field, e.g. Pickard-Cambridge 1962, 60ff; Adrados
1975; Kolb 1981, 26ff; Friedrich 1983; Polacco 1990, 23ff.
240 Inge Nielsen

this formative period, which to the point is called the orientalizing period, that is 8th-7th
century BC3.
We have no evidence that ritual dramas were performed in Italy before this oriental-
izing period, and as was the case in the Greek area, they were probably introduced by the
Phoenicians (Nielsen 2002, 150ff). From far back in time reigned in Italy the great god-
dess, who could easily be identified with oriental goddesses such as Astarte and Asharah,
and Greek goddesses such as Artemis, Eileithyia and Demeter. In Italy she was called Uni,
Turan, Fortuna Primigenia, Mater Matuta, Juno Gabina and Sospita, Diana Nemorensis
etc. The God Jupiter was regarded as her son and worshipped as Jupiter Puer, at least in
Praeneste. Only in Rome he became a leading position as Optimus Maximus; he was also
as Jupiter Rex the tutelary god of the kings of Rome. Also Jupiter was originally a fertility
god as the god of vine, as was the case with other local gods such as Hercules, Saturn, Liber
and Mars. In addition, we have from Italy too evidence for kings with a close relationship
with the goddesses as in the Orient, namely Servius Tullius in Rome and Thefarie Venlianas
in Caere4.
An indication that ritual dramas were introduced by the Phoenicians is the excava-
tion of terracotta masks in some of their colonies in Italy. They were perhaps also inspired
from Carthage, where such masks are documented from the 7th century BC and into the
Hellenistic period. They were primarily found in graves but also in sanctuaries and depict
daemons and men in various age groups. It is thus highly probable that ritual dramas were
first performed in Italy in the sanctuaries of the Phoenician emporia and colonies along the
western coast, not least in Etruria and Latium, and that these dramas then were taken over
by the local population and performed in the sanctuary of the indigenous gods5.
In Caere’s port, Pyrgi in Etruria a sanctuary for Astarte was founded in the end of
the 6 century BC. On the famous gold leafs in Punic and Etruscan script this Phoeni-
th

cian goddess was identified with Etruscan Uni and the Greek goddesses Leucothea and
Eileithyia. The sanctuary was founded or enlarged by the king of Caere,Thefarie Venlianas,
who thought that he had Astarte to thank for his position. Astarte was a well-known and
estimated supporter of kings in Phoenicia and her relationship with them served as themes
for many ritual dramas there. According to the gold leafs a festival was celebrated in Pyrgi,
which included a funeral of a young god, probably Melqart, whose myth was depicted on
several antefixes found in the sanctuary. Undoubtedly a ritual drama with this subject of
death, funeral and return or epiphany three days later, was celebrated there, as was a hieros
gamos with the goddess. Filippo Coarelli has suggested that the Area C between Temple A
and B in Pyrgi served as a symbolic tomb for this god during the performances. The sacred
prostitutes, who very likely served in this sanctuary, a well-known Phoenician tradition,
were probably active performers in these dramas6.

3 An exception to this general attitude represent the so-called Cambridge Ritualists, ultimately based on Frazer´s
Golden Bough: J. A. Harrison (1912), G. Murray (1912) and F. M. Cornford (1914), and later, in a more mo-
derate form, by Polacco 1987, 1990 and Adrados 1975, also the seminars entitled L´Anthropologie et Théatre
Antique, published 1987 and, for Italy, the one on Spectacles sportifs et scéniques published in 1993 are of great
importance, especially the articles by J. R. Jannot, V. Jolivet, F. Dupont and F.-H. Massa-Pairault. For a tenden-
cy in later years to reconcile these theories, see the good summary by Friedrich 1983.
4 For the deities of the Italic pantheon, see e.g. Brelich 1955; Bremmer - Horsfall 1987; Le Glay 1986. The rela-
tionship between goddess and king has been treated in Die Göttin von Pyrgi 1981; Verzár 1980; Coarelli 1988,
328ff.
5 For the masks, see Picard 1966 (from Carthage), Ciasca 1988 (Phoenician masks from Italy); Stefani 1978-79
und Jannot 1993 (Etruscan masks).
6 For the sanctuary of Pyrgi and the terra-cotta decoration, see Colonna et al. 1970; for interpretations, see also
the publication of the seminar Die Göttin von Pyrgi 1981; Verzár 1980; Coarelli 1988, 328ff.
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 241

In Rome, too, there are indications of foreign rites of this kind. Astarte was also here,
as in her homeland, a supporter of kings, in her disguise as Fortuna. The king in question
was Servius Tullius, perhaps a historical person of the 6th century BC. The historicized
myth, which we know from Plutarch (Quaest. Rom. 36) and Ovid (Fast. 4. 326ff) recounts
a hieros gamos celebrated with Fortuna and Servius Tullius as protagonists. We know that
Servius built a temple for this goddess in the Forum Boarium, in whose cella a wooden im-
age of this king as paredros was placed. Fortuna continued to play her role as protectress of
kings also later, for example for Sulla, and, as Venus, for Pompey and Caesar. In the twin
temple on the Forum Boarium she was worshipped together with Mater Matuta, a goddess
identified with Leucothea and thus ultimately with Astarte, at least from the 6th century BC.
It was exactly on this old market place in Rome that the Phoenician traders first settled7. In
this temple, Coarelli has tried to identify the thalamos, or wedding-chamber for the hieros
gamos with a vaulted chamber in the podium between the two temples. In this room there
was also a structure that could serve as tomb and may be compared with the tomb found
in the sanctuary of Aphrodite and identified with that of Adonis in Gravisca8. These instal-
lations of the Forum Boarium temple belong, it is true, to the rebuilt sanctuary of the 4th
century BC, but could well reflect a similar situation in the first temple of the 6th century
built by Servius Tullius9. One may also compare it with the two temples of Pyrgi, since both
sanctuaries had a dynastic function and were situated in trading-ports. As in the Orient,
the dramas were here performed in the temene and the temples and other structures in the
sanctuary were used as props in the performances.
Italy of the 6th century BC is characterized by a deeply felt Greek influence, which
may well have included both ritual dramas and cultic theatres of the Greek type. Thus al-
ready very early theatrical structures were built in the sanctuaries of the Greek colonies in
Magna Graecia and Sicily. Structures of this kind have been found both in Metapontum,
where the first one in wood goes back to the late 7th century BC, and in Syracuse, where the
cultic theatre of the sanctuary of Apollo Temenitis probably belongs to the late 6th century
BC10. These structures were surely not used only for Doric farces or later for phlyax-plays,
since these dramas were performed on small wooden stages, and were not closely connected
to cults. I think that they were primarily used for the performance of ritual dramas, which
in this period were already being performed in Greece, too (Nielsen 2002, 74ff).
At this time, Dionysos, in whose cult later the literary drama was developed, became
very popular in Etruria. From the 6th century on he is often depicted with his followers of
satyrs and maenads in the tombs and on vases and mirrors. Also actors with satyr masks are
shown together with actors of local Etruscan type such as the phersu11. The mask of phersu/
persona was closer related to the Punic ones as to the Greek theatrical masks, and what we
see are probably performances of ritual dramas at the religious feasts, whether in connection
with ludi or as funeral plays. This means that in Etruria dramatic rituals formed part of the
ludi already from early on, and we may here introduce Livy´s interesting information that
in the city of Veii of the late 5th century BC professional actors, artifices, performed at such
ludi12.

7 See for this temple, C. Pisani Sartorio, s.v. Fortuna e Mater Matuta, aedes, in LTUR II (1995), 281-285, with
literature, and for the Phoenician settlement, Coarelli 1988.
8 For this sanctuary, see Torelli 1977; Verzár 1980.
9 Coarelli 1988, 307ff.
10 Metapontum: Mertens 1982; Syracuse: Gentili 1952; Kolb 1981; cf. Nielsen 2002, 142ff.
11 Jannot 1993; Jolivet 1993, Dupont 1993.
12 Liv. 5.1. For the ludi-tradition, see e.g. Piccaluga 1965.
242 Inge Nielsen

It is in this connection that the theatrical structures found in the forecourts of Etrus-
can orientalizing tombs from the 7th century BC should be seen. They probably served the
performance of funeral ludi of some kind13. In the rather small courts, or orchestrae of c. 20
m2 one may imagine Phersu plays, or ludi scaenici, as well as wrestlers and other agones,
as depicted in the tombs later. It is interesting that these tomb-theatres are earlier than the
Greek influence in Etruria. One may also introduce a theatre-like structure of the 5th cen-
tury in Caere, which undoubtedly was closely connected to the temple with three cellae
behind it (Fig. 1). The elliptical structure measured 15 x 30-35 m and was surrounded by a
stone wall. During the reign of Augustus, a small theatre was built near by14.
Since a literary dramatic tradition in Etruria is only ascertained from the late 4th cen-
tury BC, partly from the written sources and partly from finds of small masks in the Greek
style in tombs in Tarquinia, these structures obviously had another, local, ritual function.
And also after the introduction of Greek literary drama the local Phersu plays continued to
be performed, as documented by paintings with that motive in the Gallo tomb. In addition,
Dionysian masks of a non-Greek type were found in some tombs as well15.
In Rome, we are relatively well informed about the development of Latin drama from
the written sources; especially important is in this connection Livy’s description, together
with other written sources16. Although early primitive dramatized rituals existed from far
back in time, the developed type of drama was first introduced in connection with a visit of
Etruscan dancers and actors, ludiones in 364 BC, who had been invited to help save the city
from a plague. According to tradition, these ludiones introduced Etruscan style ludi scaenici
into the old Ludi Romani. Probably this group of performers included Phersu- and satyr-
players, as indicated by the iconographical sources. Very soon the Romans took over this
new type of ludi and combined it with other rituals, dance and music. Of special importance
is the combination with the local satiric, antiphonic verses, performed by the iuventus, to
create a new form of drama, the satura17. A mixture of comical and serious acts: seria ac iocos
celebrare, as Livy (1.4.9) says, was typical of the satura. Scholars have suggested that the
satura-dramas were a kind of satyr-plays, but this simple solution is also etymologically not
correct. Dramas of this type were not only performed at the festivals of Dionysos, other dei-
ties were celebrated in this way as well. Since this was also the case with the ritual dramas, in
which the mixture of comical and serious acts is very characteristic, I suggest that the Satura
was a kind of ritual drama18.
But we have other sources, which make the performance of ritual dramas in Rome
likely. Not least important is Dionysios of Halicarnassos´ description of an early ludi pro-
cession from the Capitole to Circus Maximus, for which he cites the first known Roman his-
torian, Fabius Pictor (Ant. Rom. 7.71.73). Although the procession as related by Dionysios
should have taken place in 499 BC, it is more likely that we have to do with a version of the
3rd cent. BC, since Fabius Pictor was said to have seen such a procession himself. However
that may be, we hear of Pyrrhic dancers as well as dancing satyrs and silens who parodied

13 Colonna 1993 with literature.

14 Cristofani 1986; Cristofani et al. 1988.
15 Masks: Stefani 1978-79, Briquel 1990.
16 Liv. 7.2.3-6; Val. Max. 2.2.4; Tert. De Spect. 5; Dion. Hal. 7.71-73.
17 For the role played by the iuventus in the development of ancient drama, see Morel 1969; for the ludiones,
Dupont 1993; for the satura, Szilàgyi 1981 and Wiseman 1988, 1994, 1998.
18 Nielsen 2002, 161ff. Wiseman has also later in two works from 1994 and 1998 modified and refined his theo-
ries and argued convincingly for the existence of a special group of non-literary dramas, namely “historizised
drama”. But this term does not cover all non-literary drama-forms, which we know i.a. from Ovid´s Fasti, and I
regard these historizised dramas as a supplement rather as a antithesis to the satura, or the ritual drama.
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 243

the serious members of the procession. These dancers and actors were probably professional
artifices. The costume of the silens as described is very close to the Phersu costume known
from the tomb paintings, and also satyrs formed an integral part of the Etruscan ludi scae-
nici.
Of great importance for our argument for ritual dramas is the Augustan poet Ovid,
who in my opinion in his Fasti about the festival calendar of Rome mentions several ritual
dramas. Ovid’s Fasti has also been used by T. P. Wiseman (1988), who argues for an identi-
fication of the satura with satyr-plays. There is no doubt that satyrs were frequent perform-
ers in ritual dramas, but they were not alone. Important in this connection is the passage of
Fasti (4.326), where Ovid describes the introduction of the cult of Magna Mater in Rome
and says: mira, sed et scaena testificata loquar, that is: “My story is a strange one, but it is at-
tested by the stage”19. The performers were here not Dionysian in nature; instead, the chaste
Vestal Quinta Claudia had the leading part. All in all, Ovid´s descriptions of the myths on
which the various Roman feasts were based abound with dialogues interrupted by narrative
passages. Moreover, music of typical Phrygian type – with cymbals, drums, flutes etc, - is
mentioned in connection with Cybele/Rhea´s successful attempt to hide the child Jupiter. In
this narrative there is also a suitable role for Pyrrhic dancers, for in the words of the Muse
(Fasti 4.21-215):
“The secret was kept, and the ancient deed is still acted in mimicry, the attendants of
the goddess thumb the brass and the rumbling leather; cymbals they strike instead of hel-
mets, and drums instead of shields; the flute plays, as the yore, the Phrygian airs” (trans. J.
G. Frazer, Loeb).
So according to Ovid ritual dramas were still performed at his time in connection with
many feasts, for example the Liberalia with Dionysian myths, the Cerealia where the myth
of Demeter and Kore could be performed, and during the Matralia, for Mater Matuta, the
myth of Servius Tullius was perhaps one of the topics for a ritual drama. There are other
sources of this kind20.
In Rome, as was the case in Etruria, the introduction of the Greek literary drama into
the Roman Ludi in 240 BC did not mean that other specifically religious drama forms were
given up. In fact the introducer of these new drama forms, Livius Andronicus, also wrote
religious carmina. Thus in the year of 207 BC during the Hannibalic War, he was asked by
the Roman Senate to write the highly important sacred hymn. In return, the actors and dra-
matists received the right to use the temple of Minerva on the Aventine as a meeting-place.
These actors surely had other engagements than the 12 ludi scaenici existing at this period
in Rome, and it is reasonable to suppose that they would have been engaged to perform in
ritual dramas at the other great festivals of the Roman calendar as documented by Ovid, and
probably in Latium as well21.

Origin and development of the cultic theatre in Rome and central Italy

As was the case in the Orient, the first ritual dramas in central Italy were performed
in the sacred enclosures, which included props and stationes, such as the symbolic graves in
Pyrgi, Gravisca and Rome; also the temple had its role to play. Although originally there

19 Wiseman (1988, 23) refers to a parallel passage by Ovid, in his Fasti (3.370): credite dicenti; mira sed acta,
loquor.
20 For example, Plut. Cam. 33.5-7, Q. Rom. 55; Val. Max. 2.2.9.
21 Liv. 27.37.7 and 13; Beacham 1991, 22f.
244 Inge Nielsen

were no theatrical structures in these sanctuaries, the great frontal staircases so characteristic
of Etruscan and central Italic temples could be used by the spectators. That the custom of
being seated at these occasions was very old in this area is documented by the theatre-like
structures found in the forecourts of some orientalizing chamber tombs already in the 7th
century BC (see above). In the sanctuaries, the presence of theatrical structures at least from
the 5th century BC is probably documented by the oval structure found in Caere, which was
undoubtedly closely related to the temple with three cellae behind it (see Fig. 1 and above).
The reason that so few theatres were found in Etruria should probably be sought for
in the fact that the earliest theatres were constructed in wood, as is evident from the now
disappeared tomb painting from Tarquinia (Fig. 2)22. This material was also used to build the
first theatron in Metapont at the end of the 7th century BC, constituting the oldest known
theatre in the Greek colonies as well as in Greece. It was later, in the 6th and 5th century
replaced by the so-called Ecclesiasteria I and II, and finally by a canonical theatre in the 4th
century BC. In addition, a theatron of the late 6th century has been found in Syracuse, hewn
into the rock in the sanctuary of Apollo Temenitis, and one may well have existed below the
present canonical theatre near by (see notes 10,13 and 14 above)23.
That Rome, with her Etruscan-influenced ludi-tradition and her Phoenician and
Greek-influenced religion constituted a regular melting pot for various currents is not sur-
prising. Although, as Tacitus (Ann. 14.20) tells us, it was probably at the beginning custom-
ary to attend the ludi standing24, as was also the case with political assemblies, it was at least
from c 200 BC, accepted to be seated during the performance of ludi scaenici, as we can
se from the first and only preserved cultic theatre in Rome (see below). All the dramatic
performances we know of were related to the ludi scaenici of the official festivals, and since
most such ludi were literary at the time, the problem is to ascertain whether these theatrical
installations were also used for the performance of non-literary ritual dramas in connection
with the religious festivals.
Although ancient authors mention many cultic theatres for the Republican period in
Rome, only that belonging to the sanctuary of the foreign Anatolian goddess, Magna Mater
and situated on the Palatine has survived25. This theatrical structure with a fine view over
the Circus Maximus valley belongs to the sanctuary’s first phase around 200 BC and is thus
also the first permanent theatre in Rome (Fig. 3). This cultic theatre had a length of 32 m and
8 rows of seats, which could house c. 550. It faced a triangular area with altar, which func-
tioned as an orchestra. When the sanctuary was destroyed by fire in 111 BC the seats were
removed and the level of the area in front of them raised and enlarged. The orchestra was
now c. 25 m deep and rested on barrow vaults as was the case with the other monumental
sanctuaries of central Italy. In both phases, the great frontal staircase of the temple of Magna
Mater and of the neighbouring temple of Victoria could be used as seats for the audience
too. No permanent stage was found in the excavations.

22 This wall-painting belonged to a now lost chamber-tomb of the early 5th century BC, the so-called Tomba
delle Bighe.
23 This is at least the opinion of Polacco and Anti, who have investigated and published this theatre: Anti - Polac-
co 1981; Polacco 1990. Contra: latest Isler in Rossetto - Pisani Sartorio 1994-96, III, 35. Cf. Nielsen 2002, 146f.
24 In 154 BC, in connection with the notorious demolition at the senate’s behest of the first permanent theatre in
stone, it was for a short period forbidden to be seated at theatrical presentations in Rome itself, but this prohibi-
tion had apparently already been lifted by 145 BC, when Mummius erected subitarii gradus (hastily built steps)
for his triumphal plays (Tac. Ann. 14.20).
25 For Republican temples with theatres, see Hanson 1959; for the sanctuary of Magna Mater, see Romanelli
1963; Pensabene 1978, 1982, 1988 and P. Pnesabene, s.v. Magna Mater, aedes, in LTUR III (1996), 206-208.
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 245

Literary ludi scaenici were celebrated in this sanctuary from the beginning (194 BC), and
both Plautus and Terence had many first nights in this theatre during these ludi which, accord-
ing to Cicero (Har. Resp. 12.24): in Palatio nostri maiores ante templum in ipso matris magnae
conspectu Megalesibus fieri celebrarique voluerunt (“which our ancestors decreed should be
performed and celebrated on the Palatine before the temple and under the very eyes of the
Great Mother upon the days known as Megalesia”). Clearly the spectators were seated at
these performances from the start, thus Plautus mentions a cavea, indicating a seated audience
(Amph. prol. 66-68)26. It was doubtless this cultic theatre also that saw the performance of the
“Romanized” ritual dramas concerning the introduction of the cult into Rome, referred to by
Ovid (v.s.), and probably on the same occasion (i.e. during the Megalesia). On the other hand,
the ritual drama concerning the Anatolian orgiastic myth of Cybele and Attis took place here
during the seasonal festival of the goddess, and not in connection with the ludi.
As this distinctly oblong theatron must have been rather awkward for the performance
of literary dramas, which did not include a chorus and were presented on a relatively small
wooden stage, it is highly probable that the projected permanent theatre of 154 BC, placed:
a Lupercali in Palatium versus (“at the Lupercal facing the Palatine” [Vel. Pat. 1.15.3]), and
pulled down even before it was completed, was meant for the numerous literary ludi scaenici
connected with the Megalesia. The ritual dramas, on the other hand, must have continued to
be performed directly in front of the temple, even after its restoration and the removal of the
seats in 111 BC. That a doubling of the theatrical capacity was intended may also be deduced
from a passage by Cicero (Har. Resp. 12.25-26) in connection with Clodius’ defiling of the
same Megalesia27. He says that while Clodius was aedile it was slaves who acted and slaves
who were spectators: in alteram scaenam [omne servitium] immissum, alteri praepositum
(25), adding as a direct reproach to Clodius, in alteram [caveam] servos immisisti, ex altera
liberos eiecisti (26), which suggests that in his time too there were two places where dramas
were performed in front of the sanctuary of Magna Mater. After the fiasco of 154 BC, tem-
porary theatres were put up for the duration of the Ludi Megalenses.
A similar doubling, or even tripling, may be deduced from a very interesting source
concerning the Ludi Saeculares. For even though we do not know what went on at the
earliest ludi of this kind, we have ample information on those celebrated in the year 17 BC;
and since these ludi were highly conservative and went right back to the beginning of the
Republic, it seems legitimate to use this same source to elucidate earlier periods too. The
source in question is an edict of the Quindecimviri, which is known from an inscription
found in the area of the sanctuary where the ceremonies were celebrated (CIL VI, 32323),
namely the Tarentum28. This sanctuary was consecrated to the chthonic gods, of which the

26 While originally probably all classes sat together on these occasions, as was presumably the rule at religious
ceremonies, separate seats for the senators were, according to Livy (34.44.5) put up for the first time at the Ludi
Romani in 194 BC - that is, probably in the Circus Maximus - and he uses the word theatrum, which also in-
dicate seats (40.51.3). It was not until 67 BC that the equites first got their own special seats in the theatre (Liv.,
40.51.3).
27 Cicero describes how Clodius led slaves into the theatre from fornicibus ostiisque omnibus in scaenam signo
dato immissa irrupit (“let loose upon us from every archway and entry and at a given signal burst on to the sta-
ge”) - and held the audience “in tightly packed seats in the auditorium, and hampered by the confusion of the
narrow exits” (Har. Resp. 11.22). A dancer, ludius, is mentioned, and also a flute-player, tibicen. It is interesting
that Cicero (12.24) records that people could participate in the ludi simply for amusement, as spectators, and also
be motivated by religious piety: quo si qui liber aut spectandi aut etiam religionis causa accesserat (“games where
any freeman who came as spectator or even out of piety was mishandled”, all trans. by N. H. Watts, Loeb).
28 It is noteworthy that in this case it was a priestly college, the Quindecimviri (rather than a magistrate), that
was responsible for the ceremonies. It was the same priesthood, which was responsible for the foreign cults,
both Greek and Oriental, in Rome. Coarelli has recently (1993) investigated all the pertinent sources on the Ludi
Saeculares. For the Tarentum complex, see La Rocca 1984.
246 Inge Nielsen

Hellenized Dis and Proserpina were the most important, and included a subterranean altar
for them; it was situated in the Campus Martius, in the “elbow” of the Tiber and south of
the Euripus, and parts of the temenos wall have been traced. The Ludi Saeculares were still
being celebrated in the Severan period, since an inscription found in this same area describes
the ceremonies at that time.
The temenos of the Tarentum (c. 130 x 160 m) was probably partly incorporated in
the Trigarium, a temporary construction erected for horse races, and both were situated
outside the pomerium. The Trigarium, which outside festival times was simply an open
space, would have been furnished with wooden benches during the celebrations that were
held there (compare similar structures depicted in Etruscan wall paintings. Fig. 2). It was
probably also here that the festival called Equirria was celebrated in honour of Mars, as
were transitional rites, including competitions for the iuvenes. Other deities worshipped in
the Tarentum thus included Mars, an old indigenous agrarian god, and also the fertility god-
dess Eileithyia, who was identical with the two old autochthonous local goddesses Fortuna
and Mater Matuta worshipped in the sanctuary of the Forum Boarium. Together with her,
Terra and the Moirai (the Fates) too received sacrifices during the nocturnal ceremonies of
the Ludi Saeculares.
These ludi began with sacrifices and the performance of ludi latini Saeculares during
the night of 1 June, and continued for another two nights, each night celebrating a different
deity. The ludi scaenici took place on a scaena sine theatro (i.e. with provision only for a
standing audience), which had been raised in the sanctuary. During the days following these
nightly rituals, ludi latini were performed, this time in a theatrum ligneum, i.e. now for a
seated audience; it may have been the same structure as was used during the ludi circenses
taking place on the third day. In the edict, the set-up for the nocturnal events is described
thus (l. 100ff.): ludi noctu, sacrificio (co)nfecto, sunt commissi in scaena, quoi theatrum adiec-
tum non fuit, nullis positis sedilibus. This might indicate that we have to do with an old ritual,
since according to Tacitus (Ann. 14.20) people stood at performances in the old days (see
n. 24 above). Of the installation for the daytime events it is said that (l. 108ff.): deinde ludi
latini, in theatro ligneo quod erat constitutum in Campo s(ecu)ndum Tiberim, sunt commissi,
which might imply that this rite had been Hellenized.
In discussing the possible appearance of the wooden stage, La Rocca (1984) draws
attention to depictions on coins of the nocturnal sacrifices during the Ludi Saeculares cel-
ebrated under Domitian and again under Septimius Severus. In the first case, rather solid
columnar structures with gables are seen, while in the latter, light tent-like structures are
depicted: both were clearly temporary stages. Perhaps these pertain to the two different
kinds of performances that took place in the sanctuary, the elaborate one belonging to the
ludi latini, the simpler one, consisting of only a wooden platform, to the old ludi latini
Saeculares. There are no traces of permanent buildings in the Tarentum, and we know that
the ceremonies took place in the open (La Rocca 1984, 56).
In addition to the ritual dramas for which these installations were probably put up
inside the sanctuary (v.i.), ludi scaenici graeci (l. 156ff.), i.e. literary dramas of the Greek
type, were performed during the festival in the theatres of both Pompey (graeci thymelici)
and Marcellus (graeci astici), though the latter had not yet been completed in 17 BC. In the
inscription, the dramatic performances taking place in the sanctuary itself, i.e. the Latin
ones, were characteristically called solemnes, while those performed in the city theatres, the
Greek ones, were called honoraria.
Erkell (1969) has suggested that what was performed in the proper sanctuary were
some sort of phlyax comedies taken over from the city of Tarentum, and he refers to a pas-
sage from Varro (apud Censorinus, DN 17.8) touching upon the Ludi Saeculares of 249
BC and indicating that these were identical with the Ludi Tarentini. Erkell further draws
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 247

attention to the fact that this passage by Varro comes from his de scaenicis originibus, and is
thus concerned with theatrical history rather than religion; he therefore concludes that the
Quindecimviri at the Ludi Saeculares of 249 BC combined the Greek phlyax comedies - spe-
cifically those from the city of Tarentum - with the Italic saeculum notion. He also stresses
that the deities, in whose honour this festival was celebrated, that is, Dis Pater and Proser-
pina (Pluto and Persephone), were closely associated with the likewise chthonic Dionysos,
the principal god of the Underworld in the city of Tarentum and at the same time the god
of the theatre par excellence.
Since there is evidently a clear difference between the performances during the Ludi
Saeculares in the sanctuary proper and those which took place in the city theatres, i.e. the
ludi scaenici Graeci, it does seem more probable that what was performed in the Tarentum
were ritual dramas - a ritual which was not foreign to the resident deities, and the dramatic
introduction into Rome of Dis Pater and Proserpina would in fact have constituted an obvi-
ous subject for such dramatic representations. What is more, there was said to be an entrance
to the Underworld leading down from the sanctuary, and this could easily have featured in
the performances. The fact that some of these were celebrated within the temenos and by
torchlight, as were the mystery dramas of Eleusis, also suggests that they were more closely
linked to the cult than was the case with the phlyax plays and Atellan farces, both of which
were essentially secular in outlook.
The situation as far as ritual dramas are concerned is rather less clearly defined when
we come to consider the festivals of certain other gods that included ludi scaenici. In connec-
tion with the Ludi Apollinares of 179 BC, Livy (40.51.3) mentions theatrum et proscaenium
ad [sc. Aedem] Apollinis. The temple in question here was that of Apollo Medicus at the
southern end of the Campus Martius (Viscogliosi 1996). We know that literary ludi scaenici
were performed there at that time, but this theatrical structure may well have been used for
ritual dramas too, since it was closely linked to the temple.
Coarelli (1965-67 and 1997, 2) has advanced the interesting theory that this theatrum
et proscaenium continued in use until the theatre of Marcellus was built and completed by
Julius Caesar and Augustus respectively on virtually the same spot, and that the structure
mentioned by Livy was, in fact, the only “permanent” theatre in Rome before Pompey built
his theatre, likewise in the Campus Martius, in 55 BC. He explains that the reason why this
theatre of Apollo was never actually mentioned by name in other contexts was that it was
unnecessary to do so, it being the only theatre there was in Rome29. He goes on to stress
that the later sources which mention temporary scaenae pointedly use only this word, not
theatrum (e.g. Liv. 41.27.5, for 174 BC), and suggests that these scaenae were actually put
up in this theatre, that is, in the temenos of Apollo. Finally, Coarelli refers to Varro, who
says: apud maiores theatri gradus tantum fuerunt, nam scaena de lignis ad templum fiebat
(“in the old times theatre steps existed, and wooden stages was placed by the temple”), an
arrangement which would suit e.g. the installations in the sanctuary of Magna Mater quite
well30. But if this theory is correct, it is strange that the construction of the permanent the-
atre (theatrum) in stone in 154 BC could have caused so many problems (Vell. Pat. 1.15.3);
besides, Cicero actually mentions both scaenae and caveae (the equivalent of a theatrum) in
connection with the Ludi Megalenses (see above).

29 Whether it is this theatre that Lucretius (4.78-80) is thinking of in his discussion of the function of the awning
in the theatre, or rather one of the luxurious temporary theatres which were constructed in his time (first half
of 1st cent. BC) is difficult to say. But the theatre that Pliny mentions (nat. hist. 19.23) as being covered by an
awning during the Ludi Apollinares shortly before Caesar’s dictatorship must surely be this one.
30 Varro is cited by Servius, Verg. Georg. 3.24. Coarelli compares this Apollonian theatrum with the permanent
complexes at Tibur, Cagliari, and Praeneste (v.i.), which apparently also lacked permanent stages.
248 Inge Nielsen

However that may be, it was, at all events, this Apollonian complex that was the set-
ting for the havoc caused by the introduction of a law by the people’s tribune Roscius Otho
giving the equites (knights) the sole right to the first fourteen rows of seats behind those
of the senators in the theatre (Cass. Dio 36.42.1; Plut. Cic. 13). Although the measure was
passed in 67 BC, it was not in fact until 63 BC, when Otho was praetor and therefore patron
of the Ludi Apollinares31, and the equites applauded him when he appeared in the theatre,
that the plebeians apparently protested against this situation. The resulting tumult forced
Cicero, as consul, to lead the audience out of the theatre to the temple of Bellona, where
he made a speech in Otho’s defense. Therefore, argues Coarelli (1965-67) convincingly, the
temple of Bellona must be the one situated adjacent to that of Apollo, and the crowd from
the theatre must have listened to Cicero speaking from this temple, which again indicates
that the theatrum did not extend that far (cf. Ziolkowski 1992, 18f.).
When Sosianus restored the temple of Apollo in 34 BC we are told that its pronaos had
to be shortened, because some years earlier Julius Caesar had bought the area immediately
in front of the temple, comprising the earlier temenos court, the temple of Pietas, and certain
private plots, in order to create room for the theatre which Augustus was eventually to com-
plete in the name of his deceased nephew Marcellus. In the Res Gestae (21), this theatre is
located ad aede[m] Apollinis, and even though the restored temple did not actually “crown”
the top tiers of its cavea, like the temple of Venus at the theatre of Pompey, it did have a
high podium, and the combination theatre/temple should probably be regarded in its origi-
nal conception as an attempt by Julius Caesar to emulate this famous complex32. Perhaps
the original temporary theatre of 179 BC had a lower theatrum/cavea so that Apollo could
then actually witness what went on there from his temple. There is thus some evidence for a
continuous tradition of ludi scaenici in conspectu dei in front of the temple of Apollo33.
We know even less about the settings for the remaining Republican ludi scaenici in
Rome. Thus the temple of Ceres, Liber, and Libera (identified with Demeter, Dionysos,
and Kore) - also called Aedes Cereris, and upon which the celebration of the Ludi Cereales
naturally centred - has not been found, but it was probably situated close to the Circus
Maximus, perhaps on the slope of the Aventine facing the carceres or starting-gates (Dion.
Hal. 6.94.3). Again, there might well have been ritual dramas associated with this temple;
at least these deities were often combined with ritual dramas elsewhere. As already noted,
there is evidence for the performance of the myth of Demeter/Ceres and Kore/Libera in
connection with their festivals in the written sources, especially Ovid, and of course Dio-
nysos was the god par excellence in this regard34. It is possible that the literary, and therefore

31 Since literary theatrical performances alone took place at the ludi, and since the only ludi given by the prae-
tor were the Ludi Apollinares (Liv., 27.23.5-7), this event must have taken place in the theatrum in front of the
temple of Apollo.
32 See Hanson 1959, 18ff. Gros (1987) stresses that the complex that arose as the result of Augustus’ activities in the
area around the temple of Apollo in fact shares many similarities with Pompey’s complex: thus the temple of Augu-
stus’ tutelary deity, Apollo, was combined with a permanent theatre, that of Marcellus, and this theatre-temple was
also closely associated with a public porticus, namely the old Porticus Metelli, restored by Augustus and renamed
Porticus Octavia (comp. Pompey’s porticus); it even included a curia (Senate’s house). Thus this portico was now
opened up towards the theatre so that it could also function as a promenade during the intervals.
33 A similar inspiration may have guided Julius Caesar’s plans to construct a theatre near the Tarpeian rock,
below the temple of Capitoline Jupiter (Suet. Iul. 44.2).
34 Liber, however, is only seldom mentioned in the context of these dramatic performances (cf. Cic. Verr.
5.14.36), which is strange, in view of his identification with Dionysos. Perhaps the Bacchanalia Scandal around
this time curtailed whatever rites had been performed at the Liber festival. Another explanation is suggested by
Montanari (1988), namely that in contrast to the rural Bacchus-Liber, the Roman city god Liber was not actually
identified with the wine-and-mystery god Dionysos. In fact, Liber is mentioned neither in Livy’s description of
the scandal (39.8-15) nor in the Senatorial decree de Baccanalibus (CIL I.2, 581).
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 249

“secular” ludi scaenici, like the ludi circenses belonging to this festival, both being honorarii,
were performed in the Circus Maximus below, while the ritual dramas, being solemnes, were
rather performed close to the temple, in the sanctuary proper.
The same procedure was doubtless adopted for the performances related to the like-
wise vanished temple of Flora nearby. We know that in these Ludi Florales mime-plays
formed the main constituent part of the festival on 28 April, and we may imagine that they
took place in front of the temple on the slope of the Aventine and constituted ritual dramas
of a sort. Thus to judge by what Arnobius has to say (Adv. Nat. 7.33), Flora was an inter-
pretation of some type of Aphrodite/Astarte (a goddess traditionally richly furnished with
ritual dramas): “Does Flora think she is being honourably treated when she watches shame-
ful deeds acted out during her festival and sees a procession from houses of prostitution to
the theatres?” The parallel to the celebrations for the same goddess in Carthage, there called
Caelestis, is striking (August. De Civ. Dei. 2.4, 2.26). It appears that in Carthage too the
dramatic performances (perhaps ritual dramas?) took place just in front of the temple.
In this connection it is also worth noting Josephus’ description (AJ 19.75ff.) of the
temporary theatre that was raised on the Palatine for the Ludi Palatini held annually in hon-
our of Augustus; referring to the arrangements for the ludi of AD 41 (which happened to be
the occasion on which Caligula was assassinated), Josephus says that “during their celebra-
tion a stage (literally, a hut) is set up a little in front of the palace” (75). He further records
that the audience was not placed according to rank, but all mixed together, on temporary
seats; and a portico formed part of the stage (90). The theatre was thus erected for the occa-
sion, and Tamm (1963, 66) suggests convincingly that it was put up in the Area Apollinis,
that is, in front of the new temple of Apollo; others have suggested the temenos of Magna
Mater or the Area Palatina.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, there has been a great deal of discussion on the models for these
theatre-temple complexes. I have here only treated the cultic theatres known from Rome,
but of course the best preserved and most famous of them, the so-called temple-theatres
(Hanson 1959) are found in central Italy (Praeneste, Gabii, Tibur, Cagliari, Iuvanum and
Castelsecco in Etruria)35. Mostly, scholars have sought for their predecessors in Greece or
the Greek colonies of Italy, but there is a marked difference between the cultic theatres of
this area and those found in central Italy. This has something to do with the relationship be-
tween temple and theatre: in the Greek sanctuaries, the theatre flanking the orchestra either
faced the temple, or the temple was situated at right angles to it. The orchestra was identi-
cal with the forecourt and altar court of the sanctuary. In central Italy, on the other hand,
the temple and normally also the altar were placed behind the theatre, and both elements
are normally bound together axially and were symmetrically laid out. Another difference,
although not so crucial, is that while in the Greek sanctuaries the seats are often linear, those
in central Italy are normally formed as a semicircular cavea36.
Perhaps the models should rather be sought for in another area, where we have evi-
dence for early dramatic activity, namely Etruria. One reason why this theory has not previ-
ously been forwarded is the lack of archaeological evidence there. But thanks to the recent
collection by G. Colonna (1993) of the theatrical structures known from Etruria, we now

35 See for a treatment of these structures in connection with those in Rome, Nielsen 2002, 180ff.
36 For these Greek cultic theatres, see for example Anti 1947; Ginouvès 1972; Nielsen 2002, 69ff.
250 Inge Nielsen

know that this tradition goes back at least to the 7th century BC in the tombs. In the sanc-
tuaries, an early theatre was recognized in the elliptical structure in front of the temple in
Caere, although not axially connected with it. This is not the case in Castelsecco either37,
although this sanctuary was furnished with a theatre at the same time as symmetrical and
monumental theatre-temples were built in Latium and elsewhere. This predilection for sym-
metry and axiality is to be related to the intensive inspiration from the Hellenistic East in
the 2nd century BC. It was certainly not characteristic for classical Greek architecture. Thus
many of these theatre-temples were undoubtedly built and paid for by the rich Roman and
Campanean negotatiores back from the East (Coarelli 1983).

37 See for this sanctuary, Maetzke 1982-84; Colonna 1993.

 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 251

Bibliography

Adrados 1975: F. R. Adrados, Festival, Comedy and Tragedy. The Greek Origins of Theatre
(1975).
Anti 1947: C. Anti, Teatri greci arcaici da Minosse a Pericle (1947).
Anti - Polacco 1969: C. Anti - L. Polacco, Nuove ricerche sui teatri greci arcaici (1969).
Beacham 1991: R. G. Beacham, The Roman Theatre and its Audience (1991).
Brelich 1995: A. Brelich, Tre variazioni romane sul tema delle origini (1955) (esp. part 1:
“Roma e Praeneste”, 9-47).
Bremmer - Horsfall 1987: J. N. Bremmer - N. M. Horsfall, Roman Myth and Mythology
(1987).
Briquel 1990: D. Briquel, ‘Die Frage der etruskischen Herkunft des römischen Theatres bei
den Schriftstellern der Kaiserzeit (Livius, Valerius Maximus, Cluvius Rufus)’, in J. Bläns-
dorf (ed.), Theater und Gesellschaft im Imperium Romanum (1990), 93-106.
Ciasca 1988: A. Ciasca, ‘Le protomi e le maschere’, in Moscati 1988, 354-369.
Coarelli 1965-67: F. Coarelli, ‘Il tempio di Bellona’, BullCom 80 (1965-67), 37-72.
Coarelli 1988: F. Coarelli, Il Foro Boario. Dalle origini alla fine della Repubblica (1988).
Coarelli 1993: F. Coarelli, ‘Note sui Ludi Saeculares’, in Spectacles sportifs et scéniques
(1993), 211-245.
Coarelli 1997: F. Coarelli, Il Campo Marzio dalle origini alla fine della repubblica (1997).
Colonna 1993: G. Colonna, ‘Strutture teatriformi in Etruria’, in Spectacles sportifs et scéni-
ques (1993), 321-347.
Colonna 1970: G. Colonna et al., Pyrgi. Scavi del santuario etrusco 1959-1967 (NSc suppl.)
(1970).
Cornford 1914: F. M. Cornford, The Origin of Attic Comedy (1914).
Cristofani 1986: M. Cristofani, ‘Nuove date per la storia urbana di Caere’, BdA 71 (1986),
nos. 35-36 (1986), 1-24.
Cristofani 1988: M. Cristofani et al., Caere I. Il parco archeologico (1988).
Dupont 1988: F. Dupont, ‘Pompa et carmina ludiques’, in L’Anthropologie et théâtre anti-
que (1987), 75-81.
Dupont 1993: F. Dupont, ‘Ludions LYDIOI: Les danseurs de la pompa Circensis. Exégèse
et discours sur l’origine des jeux à Rome’, in Spectacles sportifs et scéniques (1993), 189-210.
Erkell 1969: H. Erkell, ‘Ludi Saeculares und Ludi Latini Saeculares. Ein Beitrag zur rö-
mischen Theaterkunde und Religionsgeschichte’, Eranos 67 (1969), 166-174.
Friedrich 1983: R. Friedrich, ‘Drama and ritual’, in J. Redmond (ed.), Drama and Religion.
Themes in Drama 5 (1983), 159-223.
Gentili 1952, G. V. Gentili, ‘Nuovo esempio di “Theatron” con gradinata rettilinea a Sira-
cusa’, Dioniso 15 (1952), 122-30.
L’Anthropologie et théâtre antique 1987: P. Ghiron-Bistague (ed.), L’Anthropologie et
théâtre antique. Actes du colloque international de Montpellier, 6-8 mars 1986 (1987).
Ginouvès 1972: R. Ginouvès, Le théâtron à gradins droits et l’odéon d’Argos (1972).
Göttin von Pyrgi 1981: Akten des Kolloquium zum Thema: Die Göttin von Pyrgi. Archäolo-
gische, linguistische und Religionsgeschichtliche Aspekte Tübingen, 17-17 Juni 1979 (1981).
Gros 1987: P. Gros, ‘La fonction symbolique des édifices théâtraux dans le paysage urbain
de la Rome augustienne’, in L’Urbs. Espace urbain et histoire, (CEFR 98) (1987), 319-343.
252 Inge Nielsen

Hanson 1959: J. A. Hanson, Roman Theater-Temples (1959).

Harrison 1912: J. E. Harrison, Themis. A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion
(1912).
Jannot 1993: J. R. Jannot, ‘Phersu, Phersuna, Persona. A propos du masque étrusque’, in
Spectacles sportifs et scéniques (1993), 281-320.
Jolivet 1993: V. Jolivet, ‘Les jeux scéniques en Étrurie. Premiers Témoignages (VIe-IVe siè-
cle av. J-C.)’, in Spectacles sportifs et scéniques (1993), 349-377.
Kolb 1981: F. Kolb, Agora und Theater, Volks- und Festversammlung (1981).
La Rocca 1984: E. La Rocca, La riva a mezzaluna. Culti, agoni, monumenti funerari presso
il Tevere nel Campo Marzio occidentale (1984).
Le Glay 1986: M. Le Glay, ‘Archéologie et cultes de fertilité dans la religion romaine (des
origines à la fin de la République)’, in Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediter-
ranean, Malta 1985 (1986), 273-292.
Maetzke 1982-84: G. Maetzke, ‘Il santuario etrusco italico di Castelsecco (Arezzo)’, Rend-
PontAcc 55-56 (1982-84), 35-53.
Massa-Pairault 1993: F.-H. Massa-Pairault, ‘Aspects idéologiques des ludi’, in Spectacles
sportifs et scéniques (1993), 247-279.
Mertens 1982: D. Mertens, ‘Metaponto: il teatro-ekklesiasterion’, BdA 16 (1982), 1-60.
Montanari 1988: E. Montanari, Identitá culturale e conflitti religiosi nella Roma Repubbli-
cana (1988).
Morel 1969: J.-P. Morel, ‘La Iuventus et les origines du théâtre romain (Tite-Live VII,2;
Valére Maxime II,4,4)’, REL 47 (1969), 208-252.
Moscati 1988: S. Moscati (ed.), I Fenici, exhibition catalogue (1988).
Murray 1912: G. Murray, ‘Excursus on the ritual form preserved in Greek tragedy’, in Har-
rison (1912), 340-363.
Nielsen 2002: I. Nielsen, Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama. A Study in Regional Develop-
ment and Religious Interchange between East and West in Antiquity (2002).
Nielsen 2004: I. Nielsen, ‘Theater und Kult im antiken Italien’, in W. Hübner - K. Stähler
(eds.), Ikonographie und Ikonologie, Interdisziplinäres Kolloquium Münster 2001 (2004),
65-91.
Pensabene 1978: P. Pensabene, ‘Roma. Saggi di scavo sul tempio della Magna Mater del
Palatino’, ArchLaz 1 (1978), 67-71.
Pensabene 1982: P. Pensabene, ‘Nuove indagini nell’area del tempio di Cibele sul Palatino’,
in U. Bianchi - M. J. Vermaseren (eds.), La soteriologia dei culti orientali nell’Impero Ro-
mano (1982), 68-98.
Pensabene 1988: P. Pensabene, ‘Scavi nell’area del tempio della Vittoria e del santuario della
Magna Mater sul Palatino’, ArchLaz 9 (1988), 54-67.
Picard 1966: C. G. Picard, Sacra Punica. Étude sur les masques et rasoirs de Carthage. Kar-
thage XIII (1966), 1-115.
Piccaluga 1965: G. Piccaluga, Elementi spettacolari nei rituali festivi romani (1965).
Pickard-Cambridge 1962: A. Pickard-Cambridge, Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy (2nd
edn. by T. B. L. Webster) (1962).
Polacco 1987: L. Polacco, ‘Rites des saisons et drames sacrés chez les Grecs’, in L’Anthropologie
et théâtre antique (1987), 9-22.
Polacco 1990: L. Polacco, Il Teatro Antico di Siracusa II (1990).
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 253

Polacco - Anti 1981: L. Polacco - C. Anti, Il teatro antico di Siracusa (1981).

Romanelli 1963: P. Romanelli, ‘Lo scavo al tempio della Magna Mater sul Palatino e nelle
sue adiacenze’, MonAnt 46 (1963), 201-330.
Rossetto - Pisani Sartorio 1994-96: P. Rossetto - G. Pisani Sartorio, Teatri greci e romani.
Alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato. Censimento analitico, I-III (1994-96).
Spectacles sportifs et scéniques 1993: Spectacles sportifs et scéniques dans le monde étrusco-
italique. Actes de la table ronde organiseé par l’équipe des recherches étrusco-italiques de
l’UMR126 (CNRS, Paris) et l’École Française de Rome, 3-4 mai, 1991 (1993).
Stefani 1978-79: G. Stefani, ‘Maschere fittili etrusche di età ellenistica’, AnnPerugia 16 (1978-
79), ns. 2 (1978-79), 243-322.
Szilágyi 1981: J. G. Szilágyi, ‘Impletae modis saturae’, Prospettiva 24 (1981), 2-23.
Tamm 1963: B. Tamm, Auditorium and Palatium (1963).
Torelli 1977: M. Torelli, ‘Il santuario greco di Gravisca’, PP 32 (1977), 398-458.
Verzár 1980: M. Verzár, ‘Pyrgi e l’Afrodite di Cipro. Considerazioni sul programma deco-
rativo del Tempio B’, MEFRA 92.1 (1980), 35-86.
Viscogliosi 1996: A. Viscogliosi, Il tempio di Apollo “in circo” e la formazione del linguaggio
architettonico Augusteo (1996).
Wiseman, T. P. 1988. ‘Satyrs in Rome? The background to Horace’s Ars Poetica’, JRS 78
(1988), 1-13.
Wiseman 1994: T. P. Wiseman, ‘The origins of Roman historiography’, in T. P. Wiseman
(ed.), Historiography and Imagination (1994), 1-22.
Wiseman 1998: T. P. Wiseman, Roman Drama and Roman History (1998).
Ziolkowski 1992: A. Ziolkowski, The Temples of mid-Republican Rome and their Historical
and Topographical Context (1992).
254 Inge Nielsen

Fig. 1. Caere. Vigna Parrocchiale. Plan of the oval structure (Theatron?) (1) related to the
temple with three cellae partially seen in the lower section of the plan (2) (after Colonna 1993,
fig. 10).
 Cultic Theatres and Ritual Drama in ancient Rome 255

Fig. 2. Tarquinia. Drawing of a now lost tomb painting of the early 5th century BC from the Tomba delle Bighe,
showing spectators at a ludi performance seated on temporary stands (after Bieber, M. The history of the Greek
and Roman Theater, 1961, fig. 546).

Fig. 3. Rome. Isometric view of the first phase of the sanctuary of Magna Mater on the Palatine
with theatron in front of the temple (after Pensabene 1988, fig. 6).