Discover Roman Theatre of Volterra

The Roman theatre of Volterra was brought back to light in the 1950s by excavations at Vallebuona conducted by Enrico Fiumi, a Volterran historian. Some patients of Volterra's psychiatric hospital were employed as the workmen, as a plaque at the entrance records.

The complex stands in the small valley of Vallebuona on the northern slope of the hill, immediately outside the Etruscan wall circuit, in the suburban area that medieval sources call the Foro.

Its construction was financed by the rich Volterran family of the Caecina, in particular by two consulars, as recorded by the dedicatory epigraph now in the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci.

Its date is not settled: estimates run from 35–25 BC through the end of the 1st century BC and 1 BC to the late Augustan age, the divergence depending partly on the disputed chronology of the two Caecina consulates.

The theatre was partly cut into the natural slope, in analogy with Greek theatres. It held some 3,500 spectators — a cavea of 60 metres diameter with 24 tiers — behind a scaenae frons 35.98 metres long of two colonnaded storeys over 16 metres high, and it carried a velarium.

A Roman theatre built the Greek way, with figures precise enough to be worth quoting.

Cut into the hill

The theatre was partly excavated from the natural slope of an elevation, in analogy with Greek theatres — rather than raised free-standing on vaulted substructures, which is the characteristically Roman method. The cavea rests on the slope, with its lateral extremities on virgin rock.

The site was chosen because it was already prepared: this part of the hillside held no Etruscan buildings, only slope-retaining works, and terracings had already been carried out around the 2nd century BC.

One consequence follows directly. The summa cavea corresponded roughly to the line of the medieval wall, and access was from the upper part of the building — you came in at the top and went down, as at a Greek theatre.

The numbers

The scaenae frons was 35.98 metres long — the source gives the Roman figure, 122 feet — and consisted of two colonnaded storeys to a height of over 16 metres. The cavea measured 60 metres in diameter across 24 tiers, giving a capacity of about 3,500 spectators, comparable to the theatres of Trieste, Djemila and Dougga.

A velarium — a cloth held on ropes — covered the entire theatre, and traces of the structure that supported it remain.

The materials, and the names in them

Seating was in local limestone, the tufo di Pignano, and the radial stairways in stone from Montecatini Val di Cecina — only partly preserved.

The seating carries the single most human detail on the site: the incised names of representatives of the most influential families of Roman Volterra, the Caecinae, the Persii and the Laelii. The family that paid for the building had its name cut into the seats.

What was added later

The porticus post scaenam went up in the Claudian age, with powerful infills and terracings — a major earthmoving operation behind the stage. Between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century AD a bath complex was fitted inside that portico. And in the 2nd century AD the theatre itself seems to have been adapted for gladiatorial munera, which is part of why its identification stayed confused for so long.

The interesting part of this building's story is not how the Romans put it up but how long it took anyone to work out what it was.

Prepared ground, 2nd century BC

The slope had already been engineered. It held no Etruscan buildings, only works to retain the strongly steep ground, and terracings were already executed around the 2nd century BC. The theatre was sited on a hillside that had been stabilised for other reasons a century or more earlier.

Built with private money, in the Augustan period

Construction was financed by the rich Volterran family of the Caecina, specifically by two consulars — recorded on the dedicatory epigraph now in the Guarnacci museum. The date cannot be pinned: 35–25 BC, the end of the 1st century BC, 1 BC and the late Augustan age are all in the literature, and the spread depends partly on the disputed chronology of those two consulates.

Extended under Claudius, converted, then partly rebuilt as baths

The porticus post scaenam was added in the Claudian age with heavy infills and terracings. In the 2nd century AD the building was adapted for gladiatorial contests. Between the late 3rd and early 4th century AD a bath complex was built inside the porticus — a theatre whose back-of-house had become a bathhouse.

Swallowed by the town, in the Middle Ages

The city walls incorporated the closing wall of the summa cavea. The theatre stopped being a building and became part of a fortification.

Half-found, repeatedly

In 1841 enlarging the hippodrome exposed a semicircular wall with large vaults, and the learned tradition could only say that "either a public theatre or an amphitheatre" had stood there. Water conduits nearby were pressed into the amphitheatre argument as serving naumachiae — mock naval battles.

In the summer of 1941 the local sports club, digging for its own purposes, uncovered the most substantial part of the structure by accident.

Excavated in the 1950s, by an unexpected workforce

Enrico Fiumi, a Volterran historian, reconstructed the semicircular cavea and argued for a theatre, reassigning the conduits to the baths at Ortino opposite. His excavations in the 1950s brought the complex back to light, and they were worked by patients of Volterra's psychiatric hospital — recorded on a plaque at the entrance, and a piece of the site's history as real as any of its masonry.

Settled only in 2015

The argument ended when Volterra's actual amphitheatre was identified in 2015. Every earlier learned reference to an amphitheatre here had been describing this theatre.

Can I see it without paying?

Yes, and better than from inside. The summa cavea runs roughly along the line of the medieval city wall, so from the walls above you look down into the entire plan in a single view. Go there first and then decide about a ticket.

How big was it?

About 3,500 spectators, in a cavea 60 metres in diameter with 24 tiers — comparable to the theatres of Trieste, Djemila and Dougga. The scaenae frons was 35.98 metres long (122 Roman feet), of two colonnaded storeys over 16 metres high, and a velarium on ropes covered the whole theatre.

Are there really names carved in the seats?

Yes. The seating is local limestone — the tufo di Pignano — and it still carries the incised names of representatives of the most influential families of Roman Volterra: the Caecinae, the Persii and the Laelii. The Caecina also paid for the building.

When was it built?

Scholarship does not agree, and this page does not pretend otherwise. Alessandro Furiesi puts it at the end of the 1st century BC; the Realencyclopädie at 35–25 BC; Valentina Limina at 1 BC; Paolo Liverani in the late Augustan age. The spread depends partly on the disputed chronology of the two Caecina consulates.

Why was it mistaken for an amphitheatre?

Because of what kept turning up. In 1841 work on the hippodrome exposed a semicircular wall with vaults, and tradition held that "either a public theatre or an amphitheatre" stood there; water conduits nearby were taken as serving naumachiae. It did not help that in the 2nd century AD the theatre was adapted for gladiatorial munera. The confusion only ended when Volterra's real amphitheatre was identified in 2015.

Who excavated it?

Enrico Fiumi, a Volterran historian, in the 1950s, after fortuitous earthworks by the local sports club in the summer of 1941 had exposed the most substantial part of it. A plaque at the entrance records that patients of Volterra's psychiatric hospital were employed as the workmen.

What does a ticket cover and what does it cost?

The theatre is one of the six municipal sites on the 72-hour Volterra Card: €23,00 full, €18,00 reduced, €32,00 family, €12,00 groups of ten or more, €6,00 school parties. No separate hours or single-ticket price are published for the archaeological area, so this page gives none — call the comune on 0588 86050 if timing matters.

Where is the inscription that names the builders?

Not here. The dedicatory epigraph recording that the Caecina family, two consulars among them, financed the theatre is preserved in the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, which the same Volterra Card covers.