Rome:
Theatre of Marcellus & Temple of Apollo
Temple of Apollo
Theater of Marcellus
Completed by Augustus
13-11 B.C.
Rome adapted patterns of Greek literature, art, and architecture. In the time of Augustus, the poet Virgil composed the Aeneid, which begins with the Greek battle at Troy and ends with the founding of Rome. Seneca, a contemporary of Paul, wrote Latin plays that resembled Greek classics. Roman sculpture followed Greek patterns but tended to present faces in a more realistic and less idealized way. The Theater of Marcellus was begun by Julius Caesar and completed by Augustus ca. 13-11 B.C. Beside the theater was a temple to Apollo. The first temple on the site was built in the 5th century B.C. and honored Apollo as a healer. The columns seen above come from a form of the temple from the 1st century B.C..