Peristyle of the Theater
Province
Province Description
Despite the prior existence of urban centers like Metellinum, the capital of Lusitania was a new foundation, the Colonia Augusta Emerita (Mérida), which would also serve as the capital of one of the smaller juridical units (conventus) and would be the scene of flourishing activity in the succeeding centuries, its prosperity lasting until the late Roman and Visigothic era. Subsequently, a series of well-known Roman cities were built in what was then Lusitania but is now partly in Portugal and partly in Spain. As well as the capital, there were Conimbriga, Salmantica, Evora, Olisipo (now Lisbon), Pax Iulia (now Beja), and Metallium Viscascense (Aljustrel), this last recognized as the capital of an important mining area. The series of wealthy villae, such as that of La Cocosa, Milreu or San Cucufate are particularly noteworthy. Another of the important elements of the Roman era is the series of still visible ways of communication, of which the Vía de la Plata has most remaining, especially in the sections of Baños de Montemayor in Cáceres or the bridges that cross the rivers, such as that of San Pedro de Alcántara, or of Mérida.
Location
Location Description
Geopolitical and economic motives together facilitated the prosperity of this great center of the Iberian peninsula. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law of the emperor, was a benefactor of Augusta Emerita. The city was situated on the right bank of the Anas River (Rio Guardiana), today the Guadiana River. The site had the advantage of an easily crossed ford at the mouth of the Barraeca River (Rio Albarregas), and was an ideal site for surveillance and defense. The area immediately surrounding Augusta Emerita had rich granite quarries, sands from the riverbed, and other types of rock for the new constructions. The city's topography determined the new rectilinear urban layout. The variations in ground level, due to small hills in the land, probably necessitated terracing, which is still discernible in today's modern network of streets. The bridge over the Guadiana, the longest in the peninsula with a length of almost 800 meters, provided the N-S axis to which the street grid was aligned. The new colony also had an ambitious system of urban drainage. The sewers and water lines form a complete underground complex of canals. The works of hydraulic engineering, whose dates of construction and later stages of development are debated, support the notion that Augusta Emerita was a city with a grand, forward-looking vision.
At the intersection of the decumanus and cardo were two fora, one for the city's functions and one for the Province's functions. Some of the monumental buildings have been excavated. The Mérida fora, whose layouts resemble those in the other western imperial provinces, have iconographic programs that resemble those of Rome; the forum of Augusta Emerita is a particularly faithful reflection of the Forum Augustum. This imitative trend appears also in the two other provincial capitals of Hispania, Tarraco and Corduba and underscores the power which Augustan images and architecture had in the political, ideological fabric of the provinces.
The area of Augusta Emerita best known today, because of extensive excavations, is around the so-called Temple of Diana. The temple is actually dedicated to the imperial cult. The structures devoted to public performance - theater, amphitheater, and circus - surrounded the urban center. The theater was begun in 16-15 BC and the amphitheater in 8 BC, during the first decades of colonial presence. Augusta Emerita's necropolis ran around the city's urban perimeter and expanded as the city proper grew.
Because most of evidence from Merida was unearthed in old excavations, the context of many ancient objects is unknown. There is also a lack of analytical data on many of the areas which must originally have been gardened. The classification of the gardens of the Colonia Augusta Emerita is still under analysis. The study by Moreno is a basic survey article and should be understood to be part of all the bibliographies for Merida.
Bibliography
- I. C. Moreno, "Los jardines de Mérida," Mérida, excavaciones arqueológicas Nº. 2, 1996 , pp. 303-328. (worldcat)
Garden
Peristyle of the Theater
Keywords
- colonnadesAAT:300002613
- water supply systemsAAT:300008618
- peristyles (Roman courtyards)AAT:300080971
- fountainsAAT:300006179
Garden Description
The space behind the theater screen comprises one of the best preserved gardens of Augusta Emerita. It consisted of a rectangular enclosure surrounded on the north, east, and west sides by ambulatories formed by double colonnades of granite with Corinthian capitals and red-stuccoed bases. The wall within these walkways had niches with paintings, of which few traces remain. In addition to entering through the screen, access was also possible via a small flight of granite steps in the southeast corner from the street, which separated this monument from the Amphitheater.
A water channel bordered the exterior of the colonnade, emptying into two small square depressions in the northeast and northwest corners which connected to the drains traversing the north side of the peristyle. Water, indispensable for irrigation and the fountains, was in ample supply, probably owing to the theate's proximity to the San Lázaro water canal. Parallel to the portico of the rear of the proscenium (stage), in the eastern part, ran a wall which expanded in the form of an exedra, forming a semicircular space for a statue. But the most interesting element of the peristyle, located at the back of it and on axis with the valva regia, was an aula sacar locate on plan, dedicated to the imperial cult. In front of this was a small marble fountain decorated with vegetal motifs. The aula sacra consisted of a small rectangular chamber with marble revetted walls and niches for statues. Inside, four toga-clad statues, a veiled head of Augustus, and a head of Tiberius were found.
While the theater belongs to multiple phases of construction, the aula sacra belongs to a Tiberian phase. The peristyle's important program of sculptures and paintings, together with the green spaces, must have given the edifice a magnificent appearance. Unfortunately, many of its decorative elements, wall paintings, bronzes, and marble paving slabs do not survive, and there are few remaining works of statuary, although these are marble and well made.
Water, indispensable for irrigation and the fountains, was in ample supply, probably owing to the theate's proximity to the San Lázaro water canal. The present appearance of the peristyle is the result of restorations carried out in 1964 by J. Menéndez-Pidal in which the south wing of the peristyle was resurrected and covered with a pergola and the fountain restored to working order.
Plans
Images
Dates
16-15 BC
Excavation Dates
1964
Bibliography
- A. Floriano, "Excavaciones en Mérida (Campañas de 1934 y 1936)", in Archivo Español de Arqueología, 55 (1944): 151-187 (worldcat)
- J.R. Mélida, "El teatro romano de Mérida," R.A.B.M., 32, (1915): 1-38 (worldcat)
- P. Mateos Cruz and J. Marquez Pérez, 'Neuvas structuras urbanas relacionadas con el Teatro Romano de Mérida: El pórtico de acceso,' Mérida, excavaciones arqueológicas, 1997, pp.301-20 (worldcat)
- W. Trillmich, Die Prásenz des Kaiserhauses im Theater der Colonia Augusta Emerita , (unpublished disertation), University of München (1995)