WORLD ARCHITECTURE FOR WORLD RULERS

The Romans were great organisers and great builders. Wherever they went – and they went all over the western part of the civilised world (Map 3) – they established colonies and built cities. These cities were then graced with the amenities that made Roman civilisation attractive to conquered people. To house such amenities, the same types of buildings as had been created in Rome were erected outside the city in the newly acquired domains, although local methods and materials often had to be used to construct them.

We have already seen how a theatre in the Roman style was built at Orange in southern France (Fig. 123). Similar theatres can be found throughout the Roman empire. The best preserved is at Aspendos in Asia Minor (Fig. 130). As at Orange, the scaenae frons still stands up to its full height and is linked to the top of the cavea. The audience was, therefore, contained within an enclosed space, isolated from the outside world; this was very different from the open aspect of the Greek theatre at Epidauros (Fig. 88).

The scaenae frons was, in its original state, a glamorous affair. Statues stood in niches framed by columns, each pair of columns topped by its own entablature. This lively decorative scheme was on two levels, supported by the outcroppings still protruding from the back wall of the scaenae frons.