Roman Theatre (Mérida) - Quiz
Roman Theatre Mérida
  • 1. What material originally covered the rectangular pulpitum platform?
A) Wood
B) Granite
C) Marble
D) Stone
  • 2. What was the purpose of the holes in the floor of the pulpitum?
A) To ventilate the backstage
B) To house the orchestra
C) To drain rainwater
D) To place scenic backdrop posts and infrastructure
  • 3. What is the most spectacular feature of the theatre?
A) The downstage setting porticus post scaenam
B) The peristyle garden
C) The granite façade
D) The imperial cult room
  • 4. What is the total height of the porticus post scaenam?
A) 1910m
B) 63m
C) 7.5m
D) 17.5m
  • 5. What is the length of the porticus post scaenam?
A) 7.5m
B) 1933m
C) 63m
D) 17.5m
  • 6. What is the width of the porticus post scaenam?
A) 17.5m
B) 7.5m
C) 63m
D) 100m
  • 7. What material is the base of the porticus post scaenam made of?
A) Granite blocks
B) Red marble paved stones
C) Formed concrete
D) Wood
  • 8. What type of columns stand on the base of the porticus post scaenam?
A) Doric columns
B) Corinthian columns
C) Ionic columns
D) Tuscan columns
  • 9. What color are the shafts of the Corinthian columns?
A) Black granite
B) Blue-veined marble
C) Red marble
D) Pure white
  • 10. What color are the bases and capitals of the columns on the stage?
A) Black
B) Red
C) White
D) Blue
  • 11. Where are the original stage sculptures currently kept?
A) In Madrid's National Archaeological Museum
B) National Museum of Roman Art
C) At the archaeological site office
D) Inside the peristyle house
  • 12. Which goddess is specifically named among the stage sculptures?
A) Venus
B) Juno
C) Athena
D) Ceres
  • 13. Which god is specifically named among the stage sculptures?
A) Neptune
B) Mars
C) Pluto
D) Jupiter
  • 14. Besides Ceres and Pluto, which other mythological figure's statue is found on the stage?
A) Apollo
B) Diana
C) Hercules
D) Proserpina
  • 15. How many doors allow the entry of actors onto the stage?
A) Three
B) Two
C) Four
D) One
  • 16. What is the name of the central door on the stage?
A) Porticus post scaenam
B) Valva hospitalium
C) Pulpitum
D) Valva regia
  • 17. What are the lateral doors on the stage called?
A) Valva regia
B) Porticus
C) Valva hospitalium
D) Pulpitum
  • 18. Under which Emperor does the present stage front seem to have been built?
A) Emperor Constantine
B) Emperor Caesar Augustus
C) Emperor Nero
D) Emperor Trajan
  • 19. What is located behind the stage?
A) A public bathhouse
B) An imperial palace
C) A large amphitheatre
D) A garden area surrounded by columns and a quadrangular portico
  • 20. What was the peristyle used as?
A) A training ground for gladiators
B) A storage facility for props
C) A marketplace
D) A recreation area
  • 21. What was the small room at the bottom of the peristyle garden dedicated to?
A) Meeting rooms for magistrates
B) The worship of Ceres
C) Storing theatrical costumes
D) The imperial cult
  • 22. Whose sculptural portrait was found in the room dedicated to the imperial cult?
A) Julius Caesar with a laurel wreath
B) Caesar Augustus dressed as pontiff maximus
C) Emperor Trajan in military armor
D) Emperor Hadrian as a philosopher
  • 23. What is located in the northern corner of the peristyle, high above the garden?
A) Latrines
B) A watchtower
C) Dressing rooms
D) A shrine to Pluto
  • 24. What was built to the west after the abandonment of the theatre?
A) A market
B) A fortification
C) A house
D) A temple
  • 25. What do the murals in the rooms of the house west of the peristyle depict?
A) Geometric patterns and landscapes
B) Scenes from Roman comedies
C) Life-size human figures
D) Mythological beasts
  • 26. Until what time period were the 'Seven Chairs' visible as remains of the theater?
A) Late 19th century
B) Mid medieval period
C) Late 20th century
D) Early 18th century
  • 27. What did the 'Seven Chairs' consist of?
A) Stones from the valva regia
B) Statues of the imperial family
C) Columns from the stage front
D) Remains of the tops of the bleachers
  • 28. What made up the façade of the building before excavations?
A) A red marble paved stone foundation
B) A wooden portico structure
C) A marble wall with Corinthian columns
D) A formed concrete base covered with granite blocks
  • 29. In what year did excavations of the theater begin?
A) 1933
B) 1910
C) 1899
D) 1960
  • 30. Who directed the excavations of the theater starting in 1910?
A) Emperor Trajan
B) José Menéndez Pidal y Álvarez
C) José Ramón Mélida
D) Caesar Augustus
  • 31. When was the excavated theater first used to stage a production?
A) 1890
B) 1910
C) 1933
D) 1965
  • 32. Who directed the rebuilding of the front stage in the 1960s and 1970s?
A) Emperor Trajan
B) José Menéndez Pidal y Álvarez
C) José Ramón Mélida
D) Caesar Augustus
  • 33. What is the most visited monument in the city?
A) The National Museum of Roman Art
B) The Roman Theatre
C) The amphitheatre
D) The peristyle house
  • 34. What festival has been held at the Roman Theatre since 1933?
A) International Festival of Classical Theatre of Mérida
B) Mérida Imperial Festival
C) Classical Drama Festival of Spain
D) National Festival of Roman Art
  • 35. What distinction does the Classical Theatre Festival of Mérida hold in Spain?
A) It is the largest film festival in Spain
B) It is the only festival held in a Roman ruin
C) It is the most expensive theatrical event in Spain
D) It is the oldest of its kind celebrated in Spain
  • 36. What was the ancient name of the Roman colonia where the theatre was built?
A) Emerita Augusta
B) Vitruvius
C) San Albin
D) Lusitania
  • 37. Who promoted the construction of the Roman Theatre of Mérida?
A) Vipsanius Agrippa
B) Constantine I
C) Emperor Trajan
D) Vitruvius
  • 38. In what years was the theatre built?
A) 1st century CE
B) 16-15 BCE
C) 330-340 CE
D) 1993 CE
  • 39. During the renovation under Constantine I, what was introduced around the monument?
A) A marble parapet
B) A walkway
C) The scaenae frons
D) A semicircular dome ring
  • 40. What was the upper tiers of seats called where only they remained visible?
A) Summa cavea
B) Ima cavea
C) Cunei
D) Media cavea
  • 41. According to tradition, who sat on 'The Seven Chairs' to decide the fate of the city?
A) Roman consuls
B) Emperors
C) Moorish kings
D) Architects
  • 42. When was the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO?
A) 1993
B) 1933
C) 340 CE
D) 16 BCE
  • 43. Where was the theatre located relative to the Roman city?
A) Inside the emperor's private palace
B) In the absolute center of the city
C) On the edge adjacent the city walls
D) Across the river away from the walls
  • 44. What is the name of the hill into which some of the theatre's seating was built?
A) Cerro de San Albin
B) Lusitania Heights
C) Vipsanius Hill
D) Emerita Hill
  • 45. The building's construction strictly followed the rules of the treatises of whom?
A) Trajan
B) Constantine
C) Vitruvius
D) Agrippa
  • 46. The structure of the Mérida theatre exhibits similarities with the theatre located in which French city?
A) Paris
B) Lyon
C) Orange
D) Marseille
  • 47. The structure of the Mérida theatre exhibits similarities with the theatre located in which Italian city?
A) Pompeii
B) Milan
C) Venice
D) Florence
  • 48. The structure of the Mérida theatre exhibits similarities with the theatre located in which Tunisian city?
A) Sousse
B) Tunis
C) Carthage
D) Dougga
  • 49. What is the shape of the grandstands cavea?
A) Oval
B) Circular
C) Semicircular
D) Rectangular
  • 50. What was the seating capacity of the theatre in its time?
A) 50,000
B) 12,000
C) 3,000
D) 6,000
  • 51. What is the approximate diameter of the theatre in meters?
A) 86 meters
B) 282 meters
C) 50 meters
D) 120 meters
  • 52. What is the approximate diameter of the theatre in feet?
A) 500 feet
B) 150 feet
C) 86 feet
D) 282 feet
  • 53. What is the name of the innermost seating area?
A) Ima cavea
B) Media cavea
C) Summa cavea
D) Cunei
  • 54. How many rows of seats are in the ima cavea?
A) 86 rows
B) 5 rows
C) 13 rows
D) 22 rows
  • 55. What is the name of the middle seating area?
A) Summa cavea
B) Media cavea
C) Praecinctio
D) Ima cavea
  • 56. How many rows of seats are in the media cavea?
A) 22 rows
B) 6 rows
C) 13 rows
D) 5 rows
  • 57. Who was seated in the first rows (ima cavea)?
A) The chorus
B) Foreign visitors
C) Wealthier social classes
D) Moorish kings
  • 58. Into how many radial sectors (cunei) is the first row area divided?
A) Three
B) Six
C) Thirteen
D) Five
  • 59. What is the horizontal corridor separating the ima cavea from the upper bleachers called?
A) Praecinctio
B) Scaenae frons
C) Cunei
D) Cavea
  • 60. How many doors at the top give access to a corridor covered by a semicircular dome ring?
A) Twenty-two doors
B) Thirteen doors
C) Five doors
D) Six doors
  • 61. How many outside doors facilitate access and entrance to the theatre in total?
A) Five
B) Six
C) Twenty-two
D) Thirteen
  • 62. What is the primary intended use of the orchestra space?
A) For Moorish kings
B) For the chorus
C) For the wealthier social classes
D) For the Roman emperors
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