A TENTATIVE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN SCENE BUILDING OF THE THEATER IN ANCIENT MESSENE

Abstract

Ancient Messene, Greece, was founded by Epameinondas in 369 B.C.. Kumamoto University Architectural Mission for Greek classical Architecture has surveyed, since 2007, the architectural remains of the theater including more than a hundred of blocks from walls, columns, etc., in order to reconstruct its form of 2nd century A.D. The authors analyzed each block in detail and tried to reconstruct the scene building which would have been built in 2nd century A.D. and reached the conclusion that the scene building was 12.2 m high and two-storied with rows of Corinthian, Lotus-Acanthus, and Ionic columns on the front.