Identification: Theatrum, crypta Balbi The partially visible porticus in these fragments represents a corner of the crypta Balbi, the porticoed courtyard extension of the Theater of Balbus (PM 1960, p. 106). One of Rome's three permanent theaters, the theatrum Balbi was constructed by L. Cornelius Balbus and inaugurated in 13 BCE (LTUR V, p. 30). In a series of brilliant articles in the 1960s and 70s, G. Gatti proposed to relocate the theater from its assumed location on the Monte Cenci to a spot just south of the Via delle Botteghe Oscure (Gatti 1960, 1961 and 1979). The joining of this fragment to frs. 30def and the matching of their architecture to that depicted in fr. 35dd allowed Gatti to reposition this fragment to the lower right corner of slab V-11 (LTUR I, fig. 156). This in turn enabled him to associate the theatrum and crypta Balbi complex with actual remains between the Via delle Botteghe Oscure and the Piazza Mattei, formerly assumed to be those of the Circus Flaminius. Remains of the semicircular exedra and internal columns visible in this fragment were discovered behind the church of S. Caterina dei Funari; walls of tufa and travertine along Via delle Botteghe Oscure and Via dei Delfini corresponded exactly with the N and S walls of the crypta in this fragment and in fr. 35dd; and brick walls southeast of the exedra matched walls delineated in this spot in this fragment (see Gatti 1979, fig. 10). Although the theater itself is not depicted on the FUR, Gatti reconstructed its position just west of the crypta, between Via Caetani and Via Paganica, where remains of the cunei of the cavea had been discovered (Gatti 1979, pp. 206-218; LTUR V, figs. 17-18). Although the name of the crypta Balbi is only known from the 4th-c. Regionary Catalogues, the building can now be tentatively reconstructed as a square courtyard that was surrounded on three sides by enclosed walkways and attached to the back (E side) of the theater. What made the structure a crypta as opposed to a porticus must have been the fact that the walkways were arcaded (as shown in this fragment) rather than colonnaded (LTUR I, p. 328). Not shown in the FUR fragments are a rectangular niche in the wall of the semicircular exedra (see reconstruction of exedra in LTUR I, fig. 193) and niches in the N wall, both revealed through excavations. The line that crosses the tip of fr. 30b is the E edge of a still unexplored monument that stood in the center of the interior courtyard. It has been identified by some as the republican aedes Vulcani or the temple to Fortuna Equestris (Rodríguez-Almeida 1991-92), both of which preceded the construction of the theater, but the precise centrality of the monument within the crypta indicates rather that it was contemporary with the construction of the theater complex (LTUR I, p. 327 with references).

Significance The edge of these fragments and the orientation of the inscription provided Gatti with the initial clue that the fragment cluster did not belong in slab V-13 but in slab V-11. They were thus key to locating the Theater and Crypta of Balbus in their correct position between the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, the Piazza Mattei, and the Via dei Delfini. These fragments are also our main source of knowledge about the building's architecture.

Text by Tina Najbjerg