The theater where Emperor Nero liked to exhibit himself came to light thanks to excavations that managed to prove for the first time the location of what was a luxurious building from the imperial era, located a few meters from the Vatican and of which there was only evidence in texts. ancient, the archaeologists of the capital announced today.
The discovery occurred after the start of the works for the construction of the car park for the new hotel in the courtyard of the Palazzo de la Rovere, a Renaissance building built in the 15th century on top of medieval constructions and on a part of the Theater of Nero itself that was buried. for over a thousand years.
“With this excavation we were able to propose an identification proposal that is based on a series of archaeological clues that are very consistent with each other and that lead us to identify this space as the ancient Theater of Nero,” explained one of the archaeologists from the Rome City Hall. Alessio de Cristofaro.
The Theater was built by the Roman emperor in the area dominated by the so-called “Horti of Agrippina the Greater”, mother of Caligula, a large property of the imperial family Julio Claudia, where a huge circus for horse racing was built.
The texts of ancient authors such as Pliny, Suetonius and Tacitus commented on the existence of the theater in the area now occupied by the Vatican and its adjoining streets, but the large number of buildings that rise in this Roman neighborhood, many of them high artistic and cultural value, made it difficult to start excavations to prove the location.
The remains discovered are from the left side of the cavea, in the shape of a hemicycle, and the scene, where architectural elements that testify to the luxury and magnificence of the Theater of Nero were preserved, such as columns and decorations.
“The extremely rich architectural decoration, consisting of white marble and colored marble with fluted columns of the Ionic order and stucco covered with gold leaf, and the presence of a certain type of brick allow us to accurately date the building between the time of Caligula and that of Nero”, detailed Cristofaro.
The “Theatrum Neronis” was a large theater with capacity for thousands of spectators, which was regularly enjoyed by Emperor Nero, a great fan of the arts and remembered for going up on Roman stages to recite poetry before the imperial family, his closest circles and , on special occasions, a larger audience.
But in addition, the excavations have made it possible to discover rare examples of glass goblets, pitchers, ceramic materials, pilgrims’ insignia, bone objects and rosary matrices from the Middle Ages, accumulated over the millennia.
Since by this way pilgrims from half the world arrived at the place where Christian tradition indicates that the tomb of Saint Peter, the first pope, is located, under the current basilica of the same name, and left behind religious objects and souvenirs.
“The Middle Ages are not easy to find in this city. It is known from the palaces, churches and certain historical sources, but from the material point of view there are not many remains like the ones we have here, which go from the 10th to the 15th century and that tell us part of the economic and social history of the city,” said Renato Sebastiani, also an archaeologist.
After almost three years of excavations and archaeological documentation, the work continues with the aim that the discovered elements can be visited in the coming years thanks to a museum space of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, owner of the Rovere Palace.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project