Theatre of Pompey

Reconstruction of the Theatre of Pompey and its adjoining complex

A Revolutionary Building

The Theatre of Pompey, built between 61 and 55 BC, was the first permanent stone theatre in Rome. Before then, theatrical performances took place in temporary wooden structures, which were dismantled after each show.

Gnaeus Pompey the Great, the Roman general and statesman, sidestepped the ban on permanent theatres inside the city by presenting the building as a temple dedicated to Venus Victrix, with a flight of steps that "happened" to double as the cavea of a theatre.

The theatre could seat up to 20,000 spectators and formed part of a larger complex that included a quadriporticus (Porticus Pompeianae) and the Curia of Pompey, where the Roman Senate sometimes met.

Map showing the location of the Theatre of Pompey in ancient Rome

History and Significance

The Theatre of Pompey, built between 61 and 55 BC, is a landmark in Roman architecture: it was Rome's first permanent theatre . Before this innovation, theatres were temporary wooden structures, taken down after each performance to comply with a law that forbade permanent theatres, regarded as a source of moral corruption and Greek influence.

Pompey the Great, a brilliant strategist in civic life as well, got round this restriction with a clever ploy: he built a temple dedicated to Venus Victrix at the top of the cavea, thereby presenting the entire structure as an extension of the temple. The complex also included a large curia (meeting hall) and a portico with gardens, which became one of the busiest meeting places of Republican Rome.

With a capacity of around 10,000–20,000 spectators, the theatre marked a major architectural and cultural innovation for Rome, ushering in a new era of public entertainment and profoundly shaping the urban development of the area we know today as Largo di Torre Argentina.

The Assassination of Julius Caesar

The Theatre of Pompey is grimly famous as the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated, on 15 March 44 BC – the celebrated Ides of March.

Caesar was stabbed to death in the Curia of Pompey, a building adjoining the theatre where the Senate had gathered that day. The conspirators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, chose this symbolically charged location precisely because it had been built by Caesar's rival.

According to the ancient sources, Caesar received 23 stab wounds and fell at the feet of a statue of Pompey – an ironic end to their political rivalry.

"The Death of Caesar" by Vincenzo Camuccini (1798)

Map showing the location of the Theatre of Pompey in ancient Rome

Structure and Location

The Theatre of Pompey stood in the Campus Martius, a short distance from present-day Largo di Torre Argentina. Its semicircular plan is still recognisable in the modern street layout of Rome, particularly in the curving line of Via di Grottapinta and the surrounding streets.

The complex comprised:

• The theatre itself, with a semicircular cavea
• A temple dedicated to Venus Victrix, set at the top of the cavea
• A vast quadriporticus with gardens (Porticus Pompeianae)
• The Curia of Pompey, where the Senate occasionally met

Today, remains of the theatre can be seen in the basements of some modern buildings, notably beneath the "Da Pancrazio" restaurant in Campo de' Fiori.