Introduction
The theatre at Argentomagus, a small locality within the city of Bituriges Cubi, belongs to the series of edifices that A. Grenier called amphitheatre-theatres, and which are now known as Gallo-Roman theatres. The issues broached in the study of theatre buildings have changed considerably since the publication in 1958 of the volume of the Manuel d’Archéologie gallo-romaine devoted to these edifices, and clearly only a stratigraphic excavation could address the many questions that remained unanswered. The proposal formulated in 1981, suggesting excavation of the theatre with the double purpose of publishing a scientific report and renovating the building, was therefore very well received. The excavation programme was conducted with the idea of retracing various moments in the history of the monument, and in an attempt to grasp certain aspects of the romanisation of a small town in central Gaul.
1 Research history
Bearing a suggestive place-name, Le Virou, which is attested as far back as the 16th c., the theatre was not identified as such until the 19th c. It remained under a protective covering of vines until the 60s. In 1966 an impending real estate project moved G.-C. Picard, director for ancient history research in the Centre region, to dig a test trench to explore the archaeological potential of the site. This revealed that the theatre was well preserved, and above all that there were two theatres superposed at the site. The excavations carried out between 1966 and 1973 sought to understand how the theatre functioned, and uncovered two-thirds of its structure, which were restored using cement. After a second round of excavation between 1981 and 1988, it wasn’t until 1995 that the edifice was restored and its features brought into full view. At this point certain choices were made, in order to maintain as much as possible of the ancient lay-out, and enable the public to understand this complex building.
2 Archaeological data
The theatre was erected outside of the city, 400 m from the central monuments area. A sanctuary with fana, revealed by an aerial survey, overlooked the theatre, which backed up against a low ridge of the Creuse river valley. A relative chronology has been established on the basis of architectural and stratigraphic observations, but it is difficult to make precise datings for each of the phases involved, because the artefacts found were few in number and essentially residual in nature. The first theatre (phase 1A) was built in the middle of the 1st c. AD. Enlarged in the 70s (phase 1B), it was considerably embellished at the end of the 1st c. (phase 2). The theatre was regularly maintained during the first half of the 2nd c., then demolished around 180 AD and immediately replaced by a new edifice. The latter closed its doors for the last time in the first half of the 4th c. After a period of abandonment, the theatre was systematically dismantled and its stone blocks cut up towards the end of the 4th c., as is suggested by the coins found. It remained in ruins, and was picked over in the medieval period, before a vineyard was planted around the 16th c.
3 The first theatre
Phase 1A is represented by an edifice measuring 56.50 m in diameter, simply built up against the natural slope of the hill and delimited by a horseshoe-shaped wall, closed by a straight wall. These are the only masonry structures. A wooden cavea, reached by four staircases leaning on the curved wall, was reconstituted. We know nothing of the orchestra pit, because the area was dug out again for the second theatre. A second outer wall was soon built and four more tiers installed, enlarging the cavea which attained a diameter of 64 m. More seating was also obtained by adding two triangular sectors on the other side of the straight wall, which was torn down and replaced by two walls radiating outwards. In the final transformation wooden benches were replaced with stone tiers, and six uncovered radiating passageways opened in the curved wall. The first theatre at Argentomagus could now properly receive the public, but it nonetheless conserved a surprising lay-out, the fruit of various problems encountered and successive retouching.
4 The second theatre
It is thus not too hard to understand why a few decades later, contrary to common practice, the theatre was demolished and a second one built, larger (83.20 m in diameter) and better designed, with four vaulted radiating corridors and a system of several interior passageways. This costly decision, however, was coupled with instructions for economy, because the tier blocks from the first building were reused in a cavea that has a decidedly “cobbled together” appearance. There were certainly compensating features: a dais for the priest who presided over performances; a grandstand for prominent citizens; flooring in the orchestra pit to hide the roughness of the underlying rock; and lastly a stage, rapidly enlarged, with facings and a decorative frons scaenae of stucco pilasters crowned by a cornice of sculpted foliage. This new theatre was used throughout the 3rd c. and probably up to the early 4th c., at which time the fabrica armorum omnium was installed. Then commenced a slow death, in which moments of abandonment alternated with pillaging, until the theatre was definitively buried.
5 From one theatre to another
This chapter explores the comparisons between the two buildings, seeking to understand the behaviour of the community that built them, a hundred years apart in time. While the improved pathways for circulation inside the edifice and the progress made in the seating for spectators are clearly discernible, it is the creation of hierarchical passages and the construction of a grandstand for prominent citizens that emerge as the crucial developments. And questions subsist as to the nature of this group, which does not correspond to any officially constituted rank or status, unless it be the decurions who wanted to watch the ludi scaenici.
This chapter also outlines a history of Gallo-Roman theatre architecture, through the evolution of a theatre which sprang up in the middle of the 1st c. and was frequently transformed. The main points discussed here are the horseshoe arc and its modification; the cavea built on rubble; the original way in which the tiers were placed, lower than what was recommended by Vitruvius, but adapted to the gentle slope; and lastly the invention of the Gallo-Roman stage, with its small platform raised in the orchestra pit, its two doors opened in the rear wall decorated to resemble a frons scaenae, and the indispensable backstage area.
Conclusion
The theatre at Argentomagus is not among the largest of the Gallo-Roman edifices – it measured 56.50 m, then 64 m, and finally 83.20 m – it is not one of the most monumental – its tiers are narrower and lower than in other theatres – nor among the most richly decorated – its frons scaenae is only a surface decor. It is probably because of its modest dimensions and unpretentious execution, as well as its long history and frequent transformations, that today this theatre emerges as one of the best specimens of Gallo-Roman theatre architecture. It is typical of the dozens of edifices built in small cities throughout Gaul from the middle of the 1st c. to the end of the 2nd c. and it is a testimonial to the inventiveness of the architects, the efforts of prominent citizens to romanise their lifestyle, and the public’s taste for games and performances.
