At the feet of San Giusto hill, by the sea, the Romans built a large theater with a capacity of 3,500 spectators. The lower rows of seats in brick (partly restored) are still visible, with the great wall that enclosed the audience section, while only the “pit” section remains of the stage, which was covered in wood, and a few set structures. The stage structure must have been two stories high, with doors, columns and sculptures (now on view at the Lapidario Tergestino, in the Castle of San Giusto). Three inscriptions from Traiano’s time contain the name of Q. Petronio Modesto, an illustrious Tergestine celebrated man who financed the works of restructuring and decoration of the theater in the early years of the 2nd century A.D. (the original building is thought to have been built in the middle of the previous century). Like the other Roman monuments, it was later stripped of all the valuable stones until it was nothing more than the solid foundation for the houses built on it. It was identified in 1814 by Pietro Nobile, guided by the name of the site “Rena vecia” (Arena vecchia in Italian, or “old arena”), but it was not until 1938 that the theater was brought to light, following major works of demolition and urban requalification.
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