Roman Theater Of Orange Historical Timeline

Originally designed to provide entertainment to Arausio, a Roman colony in Gaul, this impressive amphitheater is one of France's best-known Roman monuments. It is located near the commune of Orange in southeastern France.

The initial theater was constructed in the 1st Century AD during the reign of Emperor Augustus, who turned the Roman Republic into an Empire. The amphitheater hosted pantomimes, plays, and poetry readings that would last all day.

When Christianity became the dominant faith of the later Empire, the Church banned “uncivilized spectacles”, and the amphitheater was closed in AD 391. But in subsequent centuries, the monument was used as a defensive position before reopening as a theater that is still working today.