Milan’s Roman theatre is mentioned at the end of the 6th century A.D. by the poet Ausonius and perhaps in a work by his contemporary Claudian; later the theatre is mentioned in medieval documents of the 12th century, which attest its use as a place for public assemblies. Its position within the urban landscape has always been known thanks to the toponym of S. Vittore al teatro and the presence of the church of the same name which stood at the crossroads between piazza degli Affari and via G. Negri.

The discovery of the theatre’s remains began between 1880 and 1884 and from then on other structures and fittings have been recovered on various occasions.
In 2005, following a project to valorise the extant remains of the cavea situated in the building housing the Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Milano, it was possible to undertake new analyses on what had previously been intercepted and to take out the strips of stratigraphy that had survived the earth movements of the 1920s.
The following phases were recorded:

Phase 1 – The first evidence of occupation on the site.
These comprised a few finds of pottery and animal bones from an ancient ground level overlying a layer just above natural.

Phase 2 – Occupation pre-dating the theatre construction (second half of the 1st century B.C.)
At various points in the area segments of stratigraphy cut by the theatre’s foundations were identified, attesting occupation of the area before the structure was built. The minimal remains of a brick and mortar structure relate to this period.

Phase 3 – The construction of the theatre
It was possible to identify and excavate the fills of the impressions left in the foundations of the uprights by the shuttering within which they were constructed. The fills contained pottery datable to the mid-Augustan period, which is coherent with the style of the architectural fragments found earlier.

Phase 4 – The Middle Ages
A well and the remains of a wall made of re-used bricks are the only evidence of post-classical occupation in the area. A fragment of the rim of a pottery vessel decorated using a sponge attests that the area was still in use during the 16th century.

Phase 5 – The modern period
A brick built circular structure, used as an oven can be dated to the 19th century.
(Elisa Grassi, Furio Sacchi, Filippo Airoldi)