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Origin and history

The Gallo-Roman theatre of the Arenas, located in Thénac in New Aquitaine, is part of a vast ancient rural sanctuary including thermal baths and a spring. Built probably under the reign of Emperor Nero (54–68 AD), it was abandoned in the third century after serving as a stone quarry. Its remains, classified as historical monuments in 1990, are distinguished by a cellara of 84 m in diameter and a semicircular orchestra of 46.20 m, reinforced by internal foothills to resist embankments. The site, occupied from Neolithic (Peu-Richard culture), is located 5 km south of Mediolanum Santonum (Saintes), between two ancient ways linking this city to Burdigala (Bordeaux).

The excavations, initiated in 1825–28 by René Eschassériaux and published posthumously by his grandson Eugene (1880–81), resumed in the 1960s under Robert Baleynaud, then in 1990 with Aimé Bocquet. These campaigns reveal a small limestone structure, five radiant vomits dividing the cellara into six sectors (cunei), and evidence of a possible masonry stage wall, flanked by corridors of access to the orchestra. The theatre, owned by the State from 1986 to 2000, is now managed by the commune of Thénac after landscape developments aimed at its protection and enhancement.

The architecture of the theatre, adapted to a flat terrain, combines steps probably made of wood and a sober peripheral wall, decorated with pilasters at the entrances of vomitories. Two rows of seats near the orchestra suggest a space reserved for dignitaries. The absence of extensive excavations leaves uncertainties about the existence of a permanent stage building, although nails found on site evoke wooden structures. The monument illustrates Roman ingenuity to reconcile structural stability and functionality, in a context of rural sanctuary dedicated to cultual and spectacular practices.

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