The Roman Theatre

The remains of Milan’s Roman past may be discreet, but the city was once a major Roman settlement.

Originally inhabited by the Insubrian Gauls, it was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC. Around 50 BC, the first permanent public buildings began to appear, including the theatre you see on your left. Hard to imagine now, but this theatre once stood over 20 metres high and could seat up to 8,000 spectators. In the late Roman Empire, Mediolanum, as the city was then known, even became the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

At that time, the empire was split in two, with a second capital in the East, founded by Constantine, Constantinople, today’s Istanbul. Between 286 and 402, Mediolanum grew into an important political, military, and economic hub.

If you’d like to learn more about this period in Milan’s history, the city’s Archaeological Museum is well worth a visit, with fascinating collections from antiquity and a detailed scale model showing what Mediolanum once looked like.