The Theatre of Orange
The theatre of Orange (Roman town: Arausio) is situated in the Vaucluse departement in the south of France. It is built in the late Augustan period
as part of a romanization campaign conducted by the emperor.
For the construction of this theatre the architect took maximum advantage of the hill slope of the Mont Saint-Eutrope which dominates the
site at its southern end. However, the hill slope could only bear the central part of the cavea; to make a complete semicircular cavea the natural setting
had to be completed with additional elaborate masonry structures. This had the advantage that the circulation within the theatre could be
improved and that additional an entrance to the higher rows of seats could be made.
Due to this circonstances the main entrance of the theatre had to be installed in the postscaenium wall.
The theatre has a overall width of 103,63 m (± 350 Roman feet) which is the diameter of the cavea. The orchestra has a diameter of 29,90 m (± 100 Roman feet). The seatings are
placed around this orchestra is a perfect semicircle. The cavea is composed of a ima cavea of 20 rows divided in 4 cunei, a media cavea of
8 rows in 8 cunei and a summa cavea of 3 rows in 8 cunei. The groups of rows are separated by a praecinctio (circulation space) of 4,14 m wide
between ima and media cavea and of 1,40 m between media and summa cavea. At the top the cavea was surrounded by a porticus of 3,79 m. of which only the bases and lower
parts of the columns are preserved.
The capacity of this theatre is estimated at between 5.800 and 7.300 spectators.
An inscription on the front row of seats of the ima cavea (EQ.G.III or EQ(uites) G(radus) III) indicates that the first three rows
were reserved for the equites of the city.
The scaenae frons is of a elaborate type. The central part with the regia door is a semicircular niche with two pairs of columns in a giant order two storeys high.
In the niche on the second storey we see a statue of the emperor Augustus. The central niche is flanked at the left and right by a shallow rectangular niche with the hospitalia doors.
The columns in front of these lateral parts were placed in a triple order.
The proportions of the triple order don't fit with the suggestions of Vitruvius. Where Vitruvius describes a coherent relation between
the diameter of the orchestra and the proportions of the triple order, there is no coherence at Orange.
The vitruvean scheme gives following results:
lower order | middle order | upper order | |||
| Column base | 1/12 | Column base | 1/24 | Column base | 1/48 |
| Column | 1/4 | Column | 3/16 | Column | 9/64 |
| Entablature | 1/20 | Entablature | 3/80 | Entablature | 1,8/64 |
In Orange we see following proportions. It is clear that there is no relation to the diameter of the orchestra, and the diminishing heights of the columns don't respond to a coherent system.
lower order | middle order | upper order | |||
| Column base | ± 1/14 | Column base | ± 1/20 | Column base | ± 1/36 |
| Column | ± 1/5 | Column | ± 2/11 | Column | ± 1/6 |
| Entablature | ± 1/20 | Entablature | ± 1/24 | Entablature | ± 1/35 |
The total heigth of the scaenae frons wall is 82,5 % of the orchestra diameter. This is the only point where Orange comes close to Vitruvius who described a ratio of 80% of the orchestra diameter.
The stage has a length of 61,07 m (± 200 Roman feet) and a height of 1,35 m (4,5 Roman feet). The proscaenium wall is completed with alternating curved (3) and rectangular (4) niches and decorative colonnettes. This disposition is a common feature in many theatres of the Roman world.
At the top of the scaenae frons wall there was a sloping wooden roof that covered the stage. Although Vitruvius doesn't mention a roof over the stage it has been argued that this construction was built for acoustic purposes and served as a soundboard.
The postscaenium wall is the most important façade of the theatre. It is a plain wall marked by cornices with only on the ground floor a series of arched entrances
leading to the row of irregular rooms between the scaenae frons wall and the postscaenium wall. The irregularity of these rooms is caused by
the layout of the semicircular and rectangular niches of the scaenae frons. Three rectangular openings correspond to the regia and hospitalia doors.
In front of these openings there was a portico. The roof of this portico was attached in the middle zone of the postscaenium wall.
At the top of the postscaenium wall we see a two rows of corbels of which only the six outer corbels on each side of the upper row are perforated. These served to hold the masts on which an awning (vela) could be attached to provide shade to the audience. In the case of Orange this was less necessary because the cavea was oriented to the north and the spectators had the sun in their back.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Boëthius - J.B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman architecture, Harmondsworth, Baltimore, Victoria, 1970.
P. Gros, L'architecture romaine, I Les monuments publics, Paris, 2002.
F. Sear, Roman theatres, an architectural study, Oxford, 2006.
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