The theatre in antiquity was by no means reserved for scenic representations alone. It was a convenient place for bringing the people together, and was used for public gatherings of the most varied character. In the theatre at Tarentum the memorable assembly met which heaped insults upon the Roman ambassadors and precipitated war with Rome. At Pergamos King Mithridates was to be crowned in the theatre by a descending Victory, but by some mishap the wreath fell to the floor, an omen of evil. When the Ephesians, stirred up by Demetrius the silversmith, wished to take measures against Paul and his companions, "They rushed with one accord into the theatre." On such occasions we may suppose that the front of the palace at the rear of the stage served as a background without other decoration. This use of the theatre for general purposes was a Greek rather than a Roman custom, but the theatre itself in Italy was an importation from Greece; and we may suppose that the theatre at Pompeii was on more than one occasion the scene of notable demonstrations. Our Theatre, as is evident from the character of the construction, in its original form belonged to the Tufa Period, but was rebuilt in Roman times. Some particulars in regard to the rebuilding are given in an inscription: _M. M. Holconii Rufus et Celer cryptam, tribunalia, theatrum_,--'Marcus Holconius Rufus and Marcus Holconius Celer (built) the crypt, the tribunals, and the part designed for spectators,' that is, the vaulted corridor under the gallery, the platforms over the entrances to the orchestra, and the cavea. The two Holconii lived in the time of Augustus. The elder, Rufus, was duumvir for the fourth term in 3-2 B.C. The work on the Theatre was probably done about that time; for soon afterwards, before his fifth duumvirate, a statue in his honor was erected in the Theatre, as we learn from an inscription. Later, in 13-14 A.D., the younger Holconius also, when he had been chosen quinquennial duumvir, was honored with a statue. The masonry of the corridor and of the exterior arches supporting it, as well as of the tribunals, well agrees with that in vogue in the Augustan Age; we find brick-shaped blocks of tufa and reticulate work. The marble seats in the cavea may be assigned to the same period; in the original structure the benches must have been of tufa. About the same time the present wall at the back of the stage was built, in the place of an older and much simpler façade, but not by the Holconii; if this also had been rebuilt by them, it would have been mentioned in the inscription.