The Theatre and the Treasury

The theatre at Butrint is constructed against the slope of the acropolis hill facing out over the Vivari Channel. Making use of the natural incline of the hill offered a practical solution for the seating area and is a common feature in ancient Greek theatres.

The earliest theatre is likely to have been quite small. This was enlarged in the 3rd century BC and the seating area (cavea) extended right up next to the treasury building. Six narrow staircases divide the semi-circular auditorium into ‘wedges’ for easy access. Seating arrangements were organised hierarchically, with the seats closest to the stage reserved for the most prominent members of the city. At Butrint the first real row of seats has footrests and is decorated with handsome lion’s feet, whereas further back the seats are plain blocks.

Performances would have taken place not on the flat circular area (orchestra) but on a raised stage (scaenae frons). The stage building was heavily remodelled some time during the Roman period making it deeper and at least two storeys high. The three large openings seen today provided entrances and exits for the performers and in the niches would have been a wealth of statuary.

Also the auditorium was enlarged in the Roman period to accommodate the growing population of the town. The passageways into the theatre from either side of the stage building were covered with a barrel vault; most likely, special boxes (tribunalia) reserved for dignitaries were built on top of these. Though not providing very good sightlines of the stage, the boxes provided very good visibility of those seated within them.

The treasury building, which formerly had stood out as an independent structure, was by the Roman period covered by the seating. The motivation may have been practical, but the effect was undoubtedly also highly symbolic.

During the Hellenistic period the priests of the sanctuary had an important position in the city and could hold high political office. The inscriptions visible on the wall between the treasury and the theatre detail how slaves were manumitted in the name of the god and under supervision of the priests. Indeed, an inscription along the edge of the seats tells how the 3rd-century BC monumentalisation of the theatre was paid for ‘by the sacred money of the god’ – that is, from the funds stored in the treasury.

With the grant of Roman status to Butrint the political system was remodelled and the priests of Asclepius lost their former status. Public benefaction was now the responsibility of the city council and of elite individuals. The lesser visibility of the treasury and the heightened visibility of the stage with it statues of outstanding individuals might be read as a symbolic expression of this shift in power, and the sanctuary from now on primarily had only a religious function.

 

• The Theatre
• The Theatre and the Treasury
• The demolition of the Theatre
• Reconstruction of the Hellenistic Theatre
• Reconstruction of the Roman Theatre
• Reconstruction of the Theatre in late antiquity

The manumission inscriptions
The inscriptions are generally dated to sometime after 232 BC, and in all seem to cover a period of 60 years.
They detail the manumission (freeing) of slaves, acts performed in the name of a god, mostly Asclepius but also Zeus Soter.
The manumissions were administered by the priests – an aspect not uncommon in sanctuaries of Asclepius.
No mention of payment for these services appears in the inscriptions, but it is likely that it provided a real income for the sanctuary, and the basis for the construction of the theatre.
Hence, the close link between the treasury, the theatre and the wall of inscriptions may not be coincidental.