It is not easy to evoke the size of an ancient architectural work of which almost nothing remains. Yet it is worth trying, for at least one reason: sometimes the part of the city that grows in its place erases it, but sometimes it also preserves its layout, its form, its imprint. And there is something wonderful in discovering that an ancient spirit, an ancient intuition, still survives. In the end, there are two ways to travel: horizontally, by going far away, and vertically, by going deeper.
This is precisely the case of the Theatre of
Eporedia. Although it was completely destroyed, it was so imposing that it left its mark on the later city of Ivrea, shaping the present-day curves and slopes of Via Cattedrale and Via Peana. Walking along them is a little like climbing the tiers of seats that once rose from below, resting on the rock, towards the sacred upper part of Eporedia (where the Temple of Jupiter once stood, and where the Cathedral stands today).
The theatre probably dates back to the 1st century AD and could accommodate around one thousand spectators, further evidence—if any were needed—of the city’s prestige and economic strength. It stood at the centre of the settlement, aligned between today’s Piazza Duomo (to the north) and Piazza di Città (to the south). It faced the decumanus maximus (present-day Via Palestro and Via Arduino), measured approximately 70 metres in width, and had a semicircular radius of between 40 and 50 metres.
Like all Roman theatres, derived from the Greek model, the Theatre of Eporedia consisted of three main parts: the orchestra, a semicircular space at ground level reserved for the authorities, (who therefore watched the performances from close to the actors); the cavea, or seating area for the audience, divided into sectors and crossed by passageways; and the scaena, the monumental structure that enclosed the semicircle, forming the theatre’s external façade while also serving as the backdrop for the performances. The stage itself, where the actors performed, lay between this structure and the orchestra.
What remains of all this today? Very little. Traces of the seating survive in the basements of several houses; part of the wall that runs alongside these streets and supports the garden of the Bishop’s Palace above is still standing; and there are projections resting on the rock, true stone and brick buttresses. These are the last surviving sections of the so-called radial substructures, the structural elements that once supported the seating where it rested on sloping ground such as this.
Sadly, the Roman Theatre of Eporedia can now only be imagined. Perhaps one final detail may help bring it to life: at the top of the seating there was a portico sheltering the entire audience, from which a vast awning could be extended to protect spectators from the sun.
