Posted on 08/25/2013 5:00:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The seats of Messene’s grand theater in the southwestern Peloponnese have remained empty since 300 C.E. Long gone are the days when a general from the Achaean league or the king of Macedonia would host events with thousands of visitors. After 20 years of excavation and restoration, the theater will be reopened—as both an archaeological site and a contemporary cultural institution. Excavation director Petros Themelis told the Greek publication Αρχαιολογìα Online, “We want the theater to operate for events, schools, conferences. We want all areas of ancient Messene to operate in a multifaceted manner. We want the whole city to become alive, to be related to society and the institutions.”
The original third-century-B.C.E. theater, which could have hosted up to 10,000 spectators, served as a model for later monumental performance spaces across the Roman world. After the theater fell out of use, entire rows of seats were removed for local construction projects, thousands of which were carefully reunited by archaeologists working on the restoration project. On August 3, the theater will host its inaugural event, featuring performances by the Athens State Orchestra.
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalarchaeology.org ...
And that’s why it’s an open-air theater.
Where is the parking lot and rest rooms?
Because A.D. was misused so much they just gave up.
The audience stunk worse than a Bertold Brecht play”
No they didn’t. Even 10,000 without deoderant doesn’t begin to match the Cosmic Stench of Brecht’s plays my well-versed friend.
MOTHER COURAGE made me cry. Actually, it made me throw-up and my eyes watered a little.
The Rolling Stones played the first show there.
“The Rolling Stones played the first show there.”
That’s funny.... Maybe that’s how they chose their name, from Romans rolling stones into place to build the arena.
LOL!
Not to mention the rest rooms ...
:’) They didn’t need no steeeking restrooms, they just went wherever they happened to feel the need.
Not only no d.o., also no toilet paper, imagine that.
:’) It’s nice to be appreciated. I’m definitely going to use that again.
LOL!
The mystery is, why were those ancient drunks holding up lighters, since no one in Greece even *had* tobacco for another 2000 years.
But then, no cellphones ringing, and no jeering of politically incorrect lines in the plays.
Theater shut down in 300, tobacco in Europe by 1600. So actually 1300 years. More or less.
They've had hemp in Europe for 10,000 years or so. I have no idea whether they smoked it.
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