Orange has some of the best preserved Roman ruins outside of Rome.  The town was first settled by Romans in 35BC.  At this time, a walled city was constructed and manned by soldiers.  Civic constructions continued as the city grew, with a large theater added in about 15-35AD.  

The theater is a large stone semicircle facing an elevated stage.  Behind the stage, is a multistory wall with niches, passageways, and doorways designed to allow action to occur at more levels than just the stage.  The construction of the theater is very similar to the Coliseum in Rome.  This is not surprising as they were both built at about the same time and the Roman were very good at standardization.

According to the signs around the theater, the Romans had designed a system of cables and pulleys that would allow for the movement of curtains, backdrops, scenery, actors, etc. similar to the stages of today yet all done with human strength and counter-weights.

When we visited the theater, we found a troop of actors in Roman dress rehearsing a play.  Outside the theater, people dressed as gladiators were showing how a fight might look and how the 'tools of the trade' were used.

Our visit to Orange finished with a delicious cool cider in a shaded sidewalk café.  Wonderful!

 

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Page created on 03 Jan 2002