Theatre of Marcellus

Here is the exterior of the theater of Marcellus.  In the close up, you can see the structure is mainly solid stone.  You will also notice square holes all over the facade.  These holes were made to allow for scaffolding to be erected while the workers were constructing the exterior wall.  These holes would have eventually been covered up by the marble tiles that we associate with the monumental buildings throughout Rome.  The marble tiles would be set in place with a small gap behind them and they would get backfilled with mortar to create a tight bond.  During this process, they would also be leveling and checking the plumb of the tile while it was curing--quite a difficult process.  Bigger holes were also created, but much later after the construction was complete.  This were made by people trying to remove any of the metal clamps that were used with the stone walls.  Iron at the time was a very valuable material and would often be stolen from the sites, even during initial construction.