The invention of the round theater is attributed to Scribonius Curio (“the Younger”). Until the times of Caesar, the organizers of the games enjoyed the hospitality of circuses. Then, in 52 or 53 BCE, Curio, supporter of Caesar, decided to build and connect two theaters, because he wanted to combine munus – fights to death – along with a theatrical performance. At that time, the theater consisted of 2 wooden revolving scenes.
During the day, two theaters were disconnected, and performances were played on them, and in the evening they were combined to form one arena. The merger itself was already entertainment, which after 100 years was repressed by Pliny the Elder: “Here we have the nation that has conquered the earth, that has subdued the whole world, that distributes tribes and kingdoms, that despatches its dictates to foreign peoples, that is heaven’s representative, so to speak, among mankind, swaying on a contraption and applauding its own danger!” (Natural History, 36.XXIV).
