Roman Theatre of Cartagena

About this place

Built between 5 and 1 BCE, this theatre belonged to Roman Carthago Nova and could accommodate thousands of spectators. Its surviving layout reveals the importance of public entertainment in the city. Look at the stepped seating and stage area to reconstruct the experience of a Roman performance. The monument belongs to the early Roman imperial period, when monumental public buildings helped express the identity of provincial cities. Its capacity for thousands of spectators suggests the importance of shared civic occasions. From the seating, consider how the arrangement focused a large audience on the same performance below.