The Gallo-Roman Theatre at Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges (Haute-Garonne)

THE PRESENT-DAY VISITOR to Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges cannot remain unimpressed by the visible ramparts and cathedral of the hilltop town. Upon approach, the eyes scan the northern flank of the oppidum and among modern structures and other monuments, a hillside theatre appears (Plate 1). It quickly becomes apparent that the theatre would have played a vital role in the visual linking of the lower town, a Gallo-Roman civitas, and the upper town, which remains enclosed by a set of mediaeval ramparts built onto Roman foundations. The theatre monument is sited along a privileged axis running through the lower town's temple altar and what is now the upper town's cathedral belfry, and while the two are temporally unrelated, archaeological remnants dating to antiquity have been uncovered at various altitudinal levels along this axis (Plate 2). In terms of theatres, this as well as other Gallo-Roman examples are anomalies; that is, they do not precisely fit within the typical design schema of theatres in Italy and elsewhere in the Roman empire. Edmond Fr6zouls makes a good case for a revised typological definition for the theatres of Gaul, underscoring that, for instance, the rural theatre is not found outside of Gaul.' Builders adapted a variety of features to new functions that affected the diameter and links of the theatre to the urban ensemble. It should not be surprising, therefore, that the theatre at Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges possesses within its design a host of traits that are unexpected

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Interim · SAINT · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeological and Historical Studies · History

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