The theatre of Pompey in Rome was a very special building. It was the first and most important construction of its type in the Roman West; it became the prototype for theatres throughout provincial cities from the time of Augustus onwards. However, as is often the case for major monuments of antiquity, the building has previously lacked a dedicated modern monographic study. At Rome, its construction had a significant urban impact, at 165 m long and 44.3 m high, with a capacity of more than 20,000 spectators. It was, without doubt, the largest monument in the wide plain of the Campus Martius, very similar to a crater (P. Gros), and it was claimed to be the eighth hill of Rome.

But today, like the theatre of Naples, the theatre is not very visible to the naked eye – we can observe it by looking at a map and some of its remains can be seen by entering various shops, restaurants or private homes. This Roman theatre, therefore, has two conflicting characteristics. On the one hand, it is essential as an origin and model for Roman theatres; on the other, its visibility is poor. This study is, then, a difficult challenge, but one which is much desired.

M.C.'s original intention was to study Roman theatres in the Spanish province of Baetica, but during his stay in Rome he was persuaded by Xavier Dupré to face the challenge of researching this particular building. The study required consideration of a large amount of graphic documentation from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially the work of Canina, Lanciani and Baltard, which included proposals for reconstruction. But this historical documentary collection has been only the first step in a long journey. In spite of the great difficulty in accessing the remains of the theatre, 130 pages are devoted to a thorough archaeological documentation. This is a complete and compact body of information from which the architectural interpretation of the building is presented; the interpretation has a solid basis and M.C. combines different sources to develop a reasoned reconstruction. The main contribution of this book is to generate new hypotheses, elaborated in combination with the extensive documentation and new findings. The data from the excavation in Via Biscione, for example, offers new and important information for the reconstruction of the theatre's facade.

The location of the controversial Temple of Venus that crowned the building is restated, but new proposals of the form and the general layout of the theatre are made, in both its original stage and the major subsequent reforms. Similarly important is the proposal to integrate the new interpretation of the theatre within the form of the ancient City. The detailed analysis of one of the few known sections of the grandstand of the cavea should be noted.

Vitruvius would be inspired by this imposing building to define the base schema and the conceptual model of what would be considered a Roman theatre. However, the theatre of Pompey is in reality a Hellenistic theatre, drawing on and continuing the traditions of Pergamum and elsewhere in the East. None the less, we must not forget the development of the praxis of the construction techniques which already existed in Italy, with very considerable achievements such as the sanctuary of Hercules in Tivoli and the theatres of Cales or Teano. Shortly thereafter, the theatres of Marcellus and Balbus completed this scheme, which quickly spread to all provinces of the Roman Empire.

The controversial fourteen statues representing nationes are explained within a general ideological, scenographic, architectural and topographical context. The images, by the Rhodian sculptor Coponius, were the symbol of the Middle East regions conquered by Pompey and were placed at the top of the theatre, in a porticus in summa gradatione, and around the Temple of Venus. Each statue was aligned with the access stairs, an arrangement with obvious reminiscences of the Altar of Pergamum. The culmination of the steps would indicate the prominent role of the theatre – like a triumphal monument with its ideological component of exaltation of the long and brilliant career of its builder, Pompey the Great, in addition to symbolising the power of Rome that Pompey carried to its maximum extent.

The study takes into account some of the subsequent reforms, especially ones of greater importance, such as those of Augustus in 17 b.c. and Septimius Severus in a.d. 204, relating each to the new architectural elements that were added, and with proposals for a planimetric reconstruction of each later development. The study concludes in the Roman period, although it would have been desirable to continue the research into the subsequent evolution of the building, if only more summarily.

This excellent work reflects the solid archaeological and architectural training of the Cordoba and Seville school, complete with a stay in Rome (crucial to defining the subject and the objective of the research) and finally concluded at another important place for the study of Roman architecture – Aix-en-Provence, alongside P. Gros. We have, therefore, a study not only of the topography of ancient Rome, at the same level as recent studies on the Palatine or the Imperial fora, but also of the origins and evolution of the Roman theatre. This work is a rare example of Spanish archaeological investigations abroad; with the recent publications of work on the Palatine by the Institut d'Arqueologia Clàssica de Catalunya (ICAC) and of the excavation at Tusculum, this is a fine example of work at the Spanish School of History and Archaeology of Rome.