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Roman Theatre of Volterra

Roman Theatre of Volterra historical timeline

Last updated on October 14, 2026

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around the 2nd century BC — this part of the hillside carries no buildings, only works retaining the steep slope, and terracings are already carried out — which is what later made it a suitable place for a theatre.
the Augustan period, date disputed — the theatre is built, financed by the rich Volterran family of the Caecina and in particular by two consulars. The dating is not univocal: estimates range across 35–25 BC, the end of the 1st century BC, 1 BC and the late Augustan age, partly because the chronology of the two Caecina consulates is itself disputed.
the Claudian age — the porticus post scaenam is added, with powerful infills and terracings.
the 2nd century AD — the building appears to have been adapted for gladiatorial munera.
late 3rd to early 4th century AD — a bath complex is created inside the porticus post scaenam, well after the monumental phase.
the Middle Ages — the city walls incorporate the closing wall of the summa cavea, which is why the medieval circuit runs along the top of a Roman theatre.
1841 — works to enlarge the hippodrome expose a semicircular wall with large vaults, and it is noted that tradition held there to be in that place "either a public theatre or an amphitheatre". Conduits found nearby are imagined to have served naumachia spectacles.
the summer of 1941 — fortuitous earthworks by the local sports club bring the most notable part of the structure to light.
after 1941 — Enrico Fiumi reconstructs the semicircular line of the cavea and concludes that the evidence points seriously to a theatre, deferring final judgement to further excavation, and reassigns the conduits to the baths opposite, at Ortino.
the 1950s — the theatre is brought back to light by Fiumi's excavations at Vallebuona, worked by patients of Volterra's psychiatric hospital, as a plaque at the entrance records.
2015 — Volterra's real amphitheatre is identified, which finally resolves centuries of confusion: the erudite mentions of an amphitheatre at Volterra had in fact all referred to this building.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

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Checked against Wikipedia — The theatre of Volterra was partly excavated in the natural slope of an elevation in analogy with Greek theatres; this part of the city was not occupied by buildings in the Etruscan period, carrying only works to retain the strongly steep slope, with terracings already carried out around the 2nd century BC, and the cavea rests on the slope with its lateral extremities on virgin rock, the summa cavea corresponding roughly to the line of the medieval wall and access taking place from the upper part of the building., Construction of the Roman theatre of Volterra was financed by the rich Volterran family of the Caecina, in particular by two consulars, as recorded by the dedicatory epigraph preserved in the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci., The dating of the Roman theatre of Volterra is not univocal in scholarship: Alessandro Furiesi places it at the end of the 1st century BC, the Realencyclopadie dates it to 35-25 BC, Valentina Limina indicates 1 BC and Paolo Liverani speaks of the late Augustan age, the divergence depending also on the chronology of the consulates of the two Caecina, itself disputed., In the course of the 2nd century AD the theatre of Volterra seems to have undergone adaptations for the holding of gladiatorial munera; between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century AD, later than the monumental phase, a bath complex was created inside the porticus post scaenam, the porticus itself having been added in the Claudian age with powerful infills and terracings; and in the medieval period the city walls incorporated the closing wall of the summa cavea., Identification of the Volterra monument was long uncertain and the learned tradition oscillated between theatre and amphitheatre: in 1841, when works to enlarge the hippodrome exposed a semicircular wall with large vaults, it was noted that tradition held that either a public theatre or an amphitheatre existed in that place, and conduits found nearby were imagined to have served naumachia spectacles., After fortuitous earthworks carried out in the summer of 1941 by the local sports club brought the most notable part of the structure to light, Enrico Fiumi was able to reconstruct the semicircular line of the cavea, resting on the hill and bounded at its lateral extremities by virgin rock, and held that the available evidence seriously favoured a theatre while deferring final determination to further excavation, reassigning the conduits instead to the baths that stood opposite the theatre at the locality of Ortino; the learned mentions of an amphitheatre at Volterra in fact refer to this building, and the real amphitheatre was identified only in 2015., The Roman theatre of Volterra was brought back to light in the 1950s by archaeological excavations conducted in the locality of Vallebuona by Enrico Fiumi, a Volterran historian, and some inmates of Volterra's psychiatric hospital were employed as the workmen, as recorded by a plaque placed at the entrance to the building., Volterra's Roman theatre is of the 1st century BC and was excavated in the 1950s. (October 2026).

Roman Theatre of Volterra historical timeline

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