Susan's NGTAW Blog: The Siete Sillas (Seven Chairs) mark Merida's Roman Theater

Tuesday, October 28, 2019 Merida

Merida's Roman theater with three tiers of seats (based on social status) and divided into seven sections

Merida's Roman Theater is located next door to the amphitheater and is in a much better state of preservation and renovation. Marcus Agrippa, Roman general and son-in-law of Caesar Augustus, built the theater in 15 B.C. He is the same Agrippa who built the Pantheon in Rome, and a large marble sign with his name boldly carved is evident here in Merida as well. The theater was designed to hold 6,000 spectators. The seats are divided into three tiers and the first 22 rows were reserved for the wealthiest of Romans.

The spectators were distributed from the bottom to the top in accordance with their social rank, divided over three sections of stands: the summa cavea, media cavea, and ima cavea – all of which were separated by corridors and barriers. All stands were accessed through small staircases distributed radially around the caveas. Through hallways, it was possible to get to the access doors, or vomitoria.

Arial view of the Roman theater on left - just above it are the gardens, enclosed by a square of porticoed columns

The theater's two tiered backdrop - the scaenae frons - is well preserved

Michael is sitting in the "cheap seats" for the lowest social class

Like the adjacent amphitheater, the Theatre was built partly on the slope of a hill, which reduced the need for extensive stonework. The rest was built of concrete.

Walking along the hill behind the theater - the large wall on the right is the only section above ground visible before 1911

The brown wall on the right is one of seven sections visible in the 19th century which gave rise to the name "siete sillas"

The deteriorated upper grandstand level was the only one that emerged above ground from the building before the excavation in 1910. The tops of the seven structures of the grandstands that were left standing looked something like large chairs, and the people of Mérida called these ruins as the "Siete Sillas" (Seven Chairs).

Marble floor in the choir area of the theater

The semicircular space where the choir was located, the orchestra, has a floor made of marble that is the from a later renovation. Behind the orchestra rises the wall of the proscenium and the stage unfolded around this space. Originally, it was a wooden platform under which all the machinery for the theatrical rigging system was hidden.

The scaenae frons - backdrop to the stage

The backdrop to the stage, scaenae frons, has been well preserved and features Corinthian columns, several inscriptions and marble statues. The current statues are copies, as the originals are displayed in the Roman Museum. Every summer during July and August the theater hosts a series of plays.

Copies of marble statues that lined the backdrop of the stage

The stage was closed off with a wall that measured thirty feet in height, the scaenae frons, structured in two bodies of columns between which are located the statues of emperors and gods of the underworld. Everything sits atop a podium decorated with marble. The scaenae frons has three openings that actors used to enter the stage. The central one, the valva regia, is topped with the seated statue of the goddess Ceres. It is thought that Livia, the wife of emperor Augustus was the model for Ceres.

Corinthian capitals and marble carvings

Marble arch - one of three doorways that players entered

Behind the wall of the tall backdrop of the theater there was a large porticoed garden enclosed by walls with niches that were decorated with statues of members of the Imperial family. In the center of this garden is a deep well.