Theatre of Pompey (c1605). Engraving. 18 x 24. The Theatre of Pompey was a structure in Ancient Rome built during the latter part of the Roman Republican era by Pompey the Great. Completed in 55BC, it was the first permanent theatre to be built in Rome. Enclosed by the large columned porticos was an expansive garden complex of fountains and statues. Along the stretch of the covered arcade were rooms dedicated to the exposition of art and other works collected by Pompey during his campaigns. On the opposite end of the garden complex was a curia for political meetings. The senate would often use this building along with a number of temples and halls that satisfied the requirements for their formal meetings. The curia is infamous as the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and Cassius during a session of the Senate on 15 March 44 BC. Pompey paid for this theatre to gain political popularity during his second consulship. The theatre was inspired by Pompey's visit in 62BC to a Greek theatre in Mytilene. Construction began around 61BC. Prior to its construction, permanent stone theatres had been forbidden, and so to side-step this issue, Pompey had the structure built in the Campus Martius, outside of the pomerium, or sacred boundary, that divided the city from the ager Romanus. Pompey also had a temple to Venus Victrix built near the top of the theatre's seating; Pompey then claimed that he had not a theatre, but rather a temple of Venus to which I have added the steps of a theatre. The sources on the dedication are contradictory. Pliny reports its dedication in 55BC, the year of Pompey's second consulship. However, Gellius preserves a letter by Cicero's freedmen, Tiro that dates the dedication to 52BC. Two performances are associated with the dedication: Clytemnestra by Accius, and Equos Troianus either by Livius Andronicus or Gnaeus Naevius. Clodius Aesopus, a renowned tragic actor, was brought out of retirement in order to act in the theatre's opening show. The show was also accompanied by gladiatorial matches featuring exotic animals. For forty years, the theatre was the only permanent theatre located in Rome, until Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger constructed one in 13BC in the Campus Martius. Regardless, the Theatre of Pompey continued to be the main location for plays, both due to its splendour and its dealing size. In fact, the site was often considered the premiere theatre throughout its entire life. Seeking association with the great theatre, others constructed their own in and around the area of Pompey's. This led to the eventual establishment of a theatre district, in the most literal sense. Following Pompey's defeat and subsequent assassination in 48 BC during the Great Roman Civil War, Caesar used the theatre to celebrate the triumph over Pompey's forces in Africa. The Theatre was the site of Caesar's assassination as it was the temporary meeting location of the Roman Senate. The porticos and theatre were maintained for centuries. Octavian restored parts of the complex in 32BC, and in AD 21 Tiberius initiated a reconstruction of the part of the theatre that had been destroyed by fire which was completed during the reign of Caligula. Claudius rededicated the Temple of Venus Victrix; Nero gilded the interior of the temple, and Domitian and Septimius Severus significantly repaired and altered the structure. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476, the Theatre of Pompey remained in use and when the city of Rome came under the dominion of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, the structure was once again renovated between AD 507-511. However, this renovation would be its last. Following the destructive Gothic War there was no need for a large theatre because the population of Rome had declined drastically. As such, the theatre was allowed to deteriorate. During the Early Middle Ages, the marble covering of the theatre was used as a material to maintain other buildings. Being located near the Tiber, the building was also regularly flooded which caused further damage.