The Small Roman Theatre in Pula: Guide Plan

A brief presentation of the history of archaeological investigation of the Small Roman Theatre and its basic architecture is given at the No. 1 position (indicated on the plan view of the theatre).

The Small Roman Theatre is situated on the east slope of what is now the city's central hill, the area that was incorporated into the urban grid of the upper city, the pars superior of the colony, within the perimeter of the defensive wall of antique period Pula. Masonry structures of the Small Roman Theatre were first identified in the 1840s. The structures in question form what we now know to be the northern entrance to the auditorium. At the time of the discovery, however, it was posited that the two visible arches, and the walls and steps, were part of the complex of access points to the acropolis. This had been proposed in 1845 by G. Carrara in the course of the exploratory excavation work he led in the zone of the discovery of these antique period structures. The following round of investigative work in this zone was performed in 1903, with Viennese conservator A. Gnirs describing the discovered structures, noting the presence of two arched gates. Gnirs erroneously concluded that these were gates leading to the top of the hill, where he posited the presence of the colony's capitolium. It was a new investigation in 1911 that, among other things, uncovered the foundation walls of a part of the scaenae (stage building) that ultimately led to the understanding that the newly discovered structures and the north entrance to the auditorium were in fact part of a Roman period theatre.

Investigative work in the area of the theatre was also performed in the period between the two Great Wars under the supervision of Bruna Tamaro Forlati of the Superintendency in Trieste. She investigated the area in 1927, followed by the work of the engineer Brass in 1932 and 1933, Atilio Degrassi up to 1934, and again B. Tamaro Forlati and Attilio Degrassi in 1935, working in collaboration with museum staff member Renato Grimani. Another round of investigative work was performed in 1939 by Mario Mirabella Roberti. Other small-scale investigative and reconstruction works were performed in the theatre area from 1940 to 1949.

These periods of archaeological investigation uncovered many elements of the Roman theatre, leading to the development of the first plan view drawings showing both the discovered and the hypothesised masonry structures of this monumental building.

The period that followed saw significant interventions in the theatre area. From 1960 to 1973 Š. Mlakar led the reconstruction and conservation of some of the walls of the auditorium substructure, of the west walls of the north and south primary entrances (the parodos/aditus maximus), and of the north perimetral wall of the auditorium. The orchestra area and the storm drain channels were cleared of accumulated material and the latter later reconstructed. The south end of the hyposcaenium was cleared in its entirety, as was the channel that runs under the edge of the scaenae. The foundation wall at the edge of the scaenae and orchestra was reconstructed, as were the first three rows of seating. The period from 1981 to 1986 saw works to clear the lower part of the auditorium of accumulated material to the level of the bedrock and a number of small-scale conservation interventions.

More recently the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula has staged a number of rescue archaeology campaigns at the site of the Small Roman Theatre. Investigative works were performed intensively with brief interruptions from 2011 to 2022 with the objective of excavating the entire area of the once monumental antique period edifice. The excavation covered almost the entire area of the theatre building and beyond it, including a triple chamber antique period water reservoir. These works saw the discovery of massive masonry structures to the east of the theatre the arrangement of which suggests the presence of a monumental public building directly connected to the theatre. We can, thus, conclude that both buildings were raised contemporaneously in the early period of the reign of the emperor Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE), i.e., during a time of intensive building activity in the Roman colony of Pola. It is possible that this complex served as an area for strolling, rest, and refreshment, in particular as related to the staging of theatrical performances at the theatre, which would imply the presence of areas offering protection from the weather for visitors. The arrangement of the walls of this building suggest a large open area bordered to all sides by a covered and colonnaded portico.

With its length running northwest to southeast, the stage building, i.e., scaenae, formed the eastern perimeter of the theatre. The front of the stage building, the scaenae frons, was decorated with Corinthian columns at the two levels (storeys). The columns of the lower level sat atop massive rectangular pedestals, measuring about 1.52 metres high with their lower and upper mouldings. These pedestals were in turn set on stone blocks having a height of 0.29 metres, and these in turn on the stone paving blocks set at the level of the stage surface. The lavishly decorated façade of the stage building provided a permanent scenery for theatrical productions. To its west side, facing the auditorium, the stage building had three doors, the primary central door (porta regia) and to each side one smaller door (porta hospitalis). In the area of the central door the façade is set back by 1.50 metres in relation to the line of the façade in the zones of the side doors, giving the stage a depth of 6.80 metres at the central door. A door was set in the outward looking east face of the stage building aligned with the axis of the central door of the scaenae frons. To the north and south of this door were spacious semi-circular gates having a breadth of nine metres. The side rooms of the stage building were accessed from the outside through 2.80-metre-wide doorways. Opposite these were doors providing access to the stage from the sides (having a width of 2.60 metres). The entrance located at the south side of the stage building was accessed from the outside by way of steps (the elevation of the corridor running from the south to the orchestra is significantly lower than where the entrance comes to the interior of the building). A wall, of which the shorter end abuts the south wall of the stage building, suggests the presence of steps. It is likely that a part of the steps and of the enclosure wall rested on this wall. The hyposcaenium was formed by excavating into the bedrock below the level of the theatre's stage surface. It served as the place from which special effects were produced and was originally covered by a wooden floor. The stage, bordered to three sides by the tall stage building, rises 1.10 metres above the surface of the semi-circular orchestra. Only a 1.90-metre-wide band along the edge survives of the original stone paving of the orchestra. The orchestra was separated from the audience area by a 1.15-metre-wide walkway bordered by an enclosure (barrier) wall having a width of 0.60 metres. This enclosure wall may have stood up to 1.10 metres high. Two entrance corridors led to the orchestra from the outside, one from the north, the other from the south. These corridors were three metres wide at the outside entrance, narrowing to 2.20 metres wide where they emptied into the interior. Above both entrances to the inside were seating platforms (tribunalia) reserved for leading citizens. The remaining four entrance ways to the auditorium, running through the concentric outer wall face, were three metres wide.

A stone shelf rises above the level of the orchestra having a height and width of 0.29 metres and forming the base of the first row of seats. Rising from this shelf is a semi-circular, funnel-shaped auditorium having a depth of 26.50 metres. The stepped rows of seating were made of large blocks of stone set at heights of 0.35 metres and widths of 0.75 metres (measurements based on the in situ surviving first row of seating) onto the bedrock, itself carved into steps to receive the seating. Each row of seating included two steps of an ascending stairway. This stairway was 0.90 metres wide. The auditorium was divided into two levels (tiers), topped by a covered and colonnaded gallery. The auditorium's upper tier and gallery rested on massive radial and concentric load-bearing walls. Five stairways divided the lower auditorium level into six wedge-shaped seating sections. The ascending stairways of the lower and upper tiers were not aligned. The rising stairs of the upper tier were set alternately from the middles of the lower sections. There were eight such rises and seven sections of seating. The lower tier of seating had sixteen rows of seats, with the final row extending into a semi-circular walkway. This concentric walkway dividing the upper and lower tier of the auditorium is estimated to have had a width of 1.50 metres. The second tier of the auditorium may also have begun with a stone shelf having a height and width of 0.29 metres. The upper tier of the auditorium had thirteen rows of seating, with the topmost row again extending into a walkway, this time of the covered and colonnaded gallery. This gallery was about three metres wide.

The central concentric walkway, which divided the auditorium into two tiers, was accessed from outside by way of corridors, with the passages (vomitoria) into the auditorium oriented to the lines of the ascending stairways in the lower tier of seating. The upper tier of seating was accessed directly via stairs through the western and two southern corridors. Only a single entrance corridor with stairs was built at the north side of the auditorium leading to a concentric corridor beneath the auditorium. This corridor opened to the upper tier via two vomitoria. It was during the most recent investigative campaign at the Small Roman Theatre site that the presence of an inner concentric auditorium corridor was confirmed with the identification of remains of the stone paving.

Visitors are presented the north end of the theatre at the No. 2 position (indicated on the plan view of the theatre).

This position provides visitors with an opportunity to appreciate the external appearance of the theatre. It is here that we see the entrance to the north wing of the stage building and the entrance that leads to the orchestra, originally running under the auditorium. The presentation details the manner in which a free flow of people coming to the antique period theatre was facilitated. From this position we should note the two urban thoroughfares that provided people unimpeded access to the theatre. One was the road running to the theatre from the Porta Gemina, while the other ran from the direction of the Hercules Gate. The first led traffic to the theatre's north entrances, the other to the south entrances. Both roads were surfaced with large paving stones, with a drainage canal running underneath. The north entrance to the auditorium is noteworthy as the only of the discovered theatre entrances that has survived in its entirety. These are the entrance and stairs observed in the 1840s and re-investigated by A. Gnirs early in the 20th century.

The No. 3 position is reached following the north parodos (aditus maximus), i.e., the entrance and exit corridor. This is the zone of the semi-circular orchestra.

From this perspective visitors are able to view in greater detail (or receive information about) the spaces that housed the mechanisms used to raise the curtain. A 2.40-metre-deep channel was carved into the bedrock here just below the stage, i.e., at the eastern edge of the orchestra. Set into this channel were eight vertical stone blocks with square slots that received the masts used to manoeuvre the curtain. The theatre's drainage system has survived. Beneath the paving stones that formed the orchestra surface are the masonry channels that carried rainwater away. Water entered these channels through five round openings in the pavement. These openings were set at the bottom of the five radial stairways ascending through the auditorium seating and were originally set under the barrier wall that formed the semi-circular walkway. It was along this walkway that spectators arriving through the south and north parodos made their way to the lower tier of the auditorium.