Buried by the eruption of 79 A.D., the Ancient Theatre of the Herculaneum Archaeological Park was the first monument to be discovered in the Vesuvian sites during the 18th century. In the city of Resina, a farmer named Ambrogio Nucerino, known as Enzechetta, was digging a well when he came across ancient ruins. Unwittingly, Enzechetta had made a sensational discovery, he had found the theatre of Herculaneum, and the well he had created turned into a time machine capable of transporting him to the ancient buried city in a matter of minutes. Soon the news reached Prince Emmanuel Maurice of Lorraine, Duke of Elbeuf, who conducted excavations at his own expense for nine months. Ancient marbles and statues began to be taken from the well, which the prince used to embellish the villa he was building overlooking the port of Granatello in Portici. In 1738, King Charles III of Bourbon initiated an intense excavation activity that marked the beginning of modern western archaeology.

The theatre of Herculaneum had a capacity of about 2500 people and was built at the time of Emperor Augustus. One of the few ancient theatres of which we know not only the name of the benefactor who financed its construction (Lucius Annius Mammianus Rufus), but also that of the architect (Publius Numisius). The shape of the theatre is typical Roman, with the cavea divided into three orders: ima, media and summa cavea. People took their places in the different areas according to social status, the lowest area being the most prestigious, and gender (women in the summa cavea). In the upper part of the cavea, three small temples were found that must have housed statues of emperors. Above the exit passages, located on either side of the cavea, were the tribunalia, a kind of special area of honour reserved for the VIPs of the time. The two tribunalia preserve marble inscriptions dedicated to Marcus Nonius Balbus, a benefactor of Herculaneum, and Appius Claudius Pulcher, a member of an important Roman family. The stage front resembled the façade of a classical building, divided into two orders, decorated with coloured columns and statues set in niches. It had the three classic openings: the director’s door in the centre and the two side ones, called hospitales, which enabled the actors to enter the stage. The theatre’s only roof was the velarium, consisting of large sheets that were opened on hot days to protect the spectators from the sun.