The theatre dedicated by Pompey the Great in 55 b.c. was Rome's first permanent theatre, probably the largest Roman theatre ever built, and for over five centuries (bearing his name), was the ‘premier’ venue for theatrical entertainments in the city. Numerous accounts refer to a great many activities taking place within it, including not only those of a theatrical nature, but others for which it provided a vast venue and audience for the demonstration of political acts, public ceremony, or the expression of popular opinion. The statement and legacy of a major political figure, it was the first of the great ‘imperial’ buildings to be constructed in Rome.

Cassiodorus, Chancellor for the Ostrogoth King Theodoric, recorded its repair (and continued use) in the early-sixth century a.d. Thereafter it all but disappeared from the historical record for centuries, apart from scant, sometimes doubtful, references in several medieval manuscripts. Over a long period it dissolved out of the urban landscape as well. During ensuing centuries the site was occupied by fortresses, churches, various shops and residences, and more recently hotels and restaurants; all of them resting upon its massive foundations, while frequently incorporating large portions of its structure into their fabric. However, ‘though much is taken, much abides’: as aerial photographs instantly reveal, the enormous ‘footprint’ of the original building is evident sprawling over a vast area of the modern city. Yet despite these extensive remains, direct evidence of the fabric of the theatre is all but invisible from the ground. Unlike the smaller theatre of Marcellus (built about 40 years later), its external structure and the facades of its massive auditorium remain unexposed; modern visitors can discern virtually nothing ‘recognisable’ of the ancient edifice, despite the fact that today, as in antiquity, its massive bulk still looms over the adjacent urban landscape. The buildings that now occupy the site contain within them – from their cellars and in some cases extending up to five storeys in height – an extensive ‘honeycomb’ of ancient architecture, sometimes partially exposed, but often obscured behind modern walls and plaster.

Nevertheless, Pompey's grand edifice was far too big, and its history and influence too significant, for scholars to ignore its still faintly felt physical presence; in recent years there have been numerous articles, chapters and books (with more forthcoming) focused upon the theatre, its political and cultural role, its evolution over the centuries and, most importantly perhaps, its extraordinarily innovative architecture; both as it was and as legacy: the provocative presence of what remains. To declare a personal interest, together with J. Packer, I have undertaken a project focused upon such elements (http://www.pompey.cch.kcl.ac.uk/) and also led a second, ‘Body, Mask, and Space in Ancient Places of Performance’, reconstructing hypothetical performances within the theatre (http://www.kvl.cch.kcl.ac.uk/masks/). J. Packer has conducted a number of highly important excavations exploring in detail and depth ‘what lies beneath’.

Complementing these excavations, are a series of studies including articles by architect A. Monterroso Checa, those by Packer and me, and two new monographs, the earlier by Monterroso Checa (2010), and now the volume under review by M.Footnote ¹

This renewed interest and exploration has taken place during a period when the advent of digital technologies has revolutionised scholarship, particularly in the area of archaeology and the study and evocation of cultural heritage artefacts. It is timely and appropriate that M.'s book draws extensively both for its illustrations, and more significantly for the analysis and arguments she puts forward, upon such digital research and the resources consequent upon them.

Her study provides a very good, confident, well-documented account and coverage of the topics central to a comprehensive account of the site. She presents her work in four major sections, each of which has a number of cogently presented subtopics. She begins by describing the construction of the ‘Pompey Theatre Complex’. This included the theatre itself (crowned by a temple to Venus Victrix), a large porticus extending behind the stage and its scenic facade and, at the site's furthest extension on an axis proceeding from the temple, a curia, where famously Julius Caesar met his death. M. discusses the topography of the area of the Campus Martius where the theatre was located, its orientation both to the natural environment (the sun, the Tiber, local topography and predominant wind direction) and the wider urban configuration. She also ‘positions’ the complex culturally, politically and historically, outlining previous theatrical provision in Rome, Pompey's pre-eminent role following his triumphant campaigns, and the nature and significance of the theatre's inauguration in 55 b.c. She also provides a brief account of the long subsequent history – and gradual disappearance – of the structure during antiquity, the Middles Ages and the Renaissance, and includes a useful chronology of the relevant events and milestones.

A second section focuses upon the theatre's architectural antecedents, with particular attention directed at previous cognate ‘Italianate’ complexes comprised of juxtaposed temples, colonnades and theatrical structures – including those at Tibur, Gabii and Praeneste, which may be seen as precursors and influences. In turn, she considers the posterity and extensive influence of the Pompey site as an ‘iconic’ model for the theatres so widely constructed throughout the Roman world in ensuing centuries.

The third section, the largest and most innovative core of the book, details all the complex's architectural elements (including the cavea, stage, religious structures, scene building, porticus and curia), and charts – somewhat hypothetically – the various changes and evolution these underwent in antiquity. Here M. provides a great deal of data, its incorporation into a series of plans, elevations and beautifully fashioned VR ‘reconstructions’, and detailed commentary. Her careful and extensively documented designs draw upon a rich mixture of surviving evidence, reasoned hypothesis, comparanda from other sites and a close reading of Vitruvius. Occasionally there is a mismatch between structural details in the figures showing plans, sections and elevations and the provocative three-dimensional depictions of the same structures from her VR model.

The fourth and final section, devoted to reconstructing the mechanical systems, is the first detailed attempt to address challenging questions about how scenic devices, the stage curtains, the vela which shaded the audience, and the sparsio which cooled it with a perfumed spray, may have functioned in the theatre of Pompey. M.'s extensive, innovative and, for the most part, persuasive analysis and interpretation of the evidence is extremely welcome. She presents carefully formulated calculations to describe, hypothetically but plausibly, how these elements might have been constructed and operated. Her discussion of the vela is particularly cogent, as she considers the evidence for two quite different systems. The first of these is a mechanism formed with wooden beams to create an extensive configuration of sail-like awnings, that could be raised and lowered depending upon the angle of the sunlight, and the second is a system comprised purely of rings of ropes and sliding awnings that could be drawn out, rather like an enormous spider's web, above the auditorium. She gives the ‘case’ for each (including the sparse ancient references to the vela in the theatre of Pompey), and concludes by favouring the latter.

This is a very welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship devoted to one of the most important – and most neglected – monuments of ancient Rome.