Dinu Theodorescu Archaeological Laboratory

Although he worked on most of the sites where the Institute carried out research, Dinu Theodorescu concentrated his work on the site closest to his heart — Histria. There he began a systematic study of the Greek-period architectural fragments uncovered by archaeologists, raising their analysis to a level unprecedented in the Romanian school. In the course of this work he addressed major questions, such as the spread of the Doric order into the western Pontic region and its evolution. It was also at Histria that he first turned his attention to the Ionic order and the role it played in the development of Histrian architecture, including its links with the eastern Greek world.

Another major contribution by the architect concerns the site of Callatis, present-day Mangalia, where he systematically studied and republished in detail a Late Antique monument (1963), which he reinterpreted as an Early Christian basilica of Syrian type.

Dinu Theodorescu stood out not only for his rigour, capacity for work and intellectual refinement, but also for his working method — the comparison of the internal ratios of architectural fragments — which allowed him to reach a leading level of analysis and to uncover details of great finesse in the execution of the pieces he studied.

After his Romanian PhD (1968), Dinu Theodorescu also obtained a doctorate in France (1973) under the supervision of the great scholar Roland Martin, at one of the major French institutions — the École Pratique des Hautes Études — where he also taught (1970–1977). He continued his meteoric career, becoming a member of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and director emeritus of the Institut de Recherche sur l’Architecture Antique (IRAA — USR 3155) between 1977 and 2010.

From these positions, Dinu Theodorescu was able to take part in the major research projects of the French school: at Grumentum and Metapontum (where he collaborated with another great name in Romanian archaeology, Dinu Adamesteanu), at Selinunte, Syracuse, Lipari, Punta Tresino, Assisi (where he worked alongside the leading specialist in Roman architecture Pierre Gros), in Rome on the Palatine, as well as at Eleutherna and Itanos in Crete and at Aphrodisias in Caria (present-day Turkey), which became another site dear to the great scholar’s heart.

But nowhere did he leave a stronger mark than at Poseidonia-Paestum (Campania, Italy), where for three decades Dinu Theodorescu collaborated with the team of the great Italian scholar Emanuele Greco, with whom he formed a deep friendship. On this extraordinary site — a true open-air manual of ancient architecture — he made a decisive contribution to the plan for an atlas of the city. His efforts resulted in no fewer than four monographic volumes in the “Poseidonia – Paestum” series, dedicated to monuments fundamental to the public life of the ancient city such as the curia, the agora and the forum.

List of publications

Monographs and syntheses

• Arhitectura arhaică la Histria şi legăturile ei cu bazinul egeean (teză de doctorat). București, 1968.
• Arhitectura în România: perioada anilor 1944–1969 (în colaborare cu G. Ionescu). București, 1969.
• Le Chapiteau ionique grec : essai monographique (teză de doctorat 1974, coord. Roland Martin, 1973). Geneva, 1980.
• Chapiteaux ioniques de la Sicile méridionale. Napoli, 1974.
• Poseidonia – Paestum I. La «Curia» (în colaborare cu E. Greco). Roma, 1980.
• Poseidonia – Paestum II. L’agora (în colaborare cu E. Greco). Roma, 1983.
• Poseidonia – Paestum III. Forum nord (în colaborare cu E. Greco). Roma, 1987.
• Recherches préliminaires sur la frons scaenae du théâtre (în colaborare cu Nathalie de Chaisemartin). Aphrodisias Papers 2: The Theatre, a Sculptor’s Workshop, Philosophers, and Coin-Types. Ann Arbor, 1991.
• Guide archéologique et historique des fouilles et du musée de Poseidonia (în colaborare cu E. Greco). Taranto, 1996.
• Poseidonia – Paestum IV. Forum ouest-sud-est (în colaborare cu E. Greco). Roma, 1999.

Studies and articles

• Campania de săpături arheologice din 1951. Raport preliminar. SCIV 3, 1952, 231–280.
• L’Edifice romano-byzantin de Callatis. Dacia N.S., 7, 1963, 257–300.
• O acroteră arhaică la Histria. SCIV 15(3), 1964, 369–382.
• Un fragment architectural ceramic, cu ove, la Histria. SCIV 16(1), 1965, 163–168.
• Date noi în legătură cu pătrunderea stilului doric la Histria. SCIV 16(3), 1965, 481–500.
• Trois étapes dans l’évolution du chapiteau dorique à Histria. Dacia N.S., 9, 1965, 147–162.
• Remarques sur la composition et la chronologie du kymation ionique suscitées par quelques exemplaires découverts à Histria. Dacia N.S., 11, 1967, 95–120.
• Un chapiteau ionique de l’époque archaïque tardive et quelques problèmes concernant le style à Histria. Dacia N.S., 12, 1968, 261–304.
• Notes histriennes. RA 1970 (1), 29–48.
• Chapiteaux ioniques de la Sicile méridionale. Cahiers du Centre Jean Bérard 1, 1974, 1–52.
• Remarques préliminaires sur la topographie urbaine de Sélinonte. Kokalos 21, 1975, 108–120.
• Ricerche topografiche nell’area di Selinunte (în colaborare cu Juliette de la Genière). Rendiconti Lincei 34, 1979, 385–395.
• Contributions à l’histoire urbanistique de Sélinonte (în colaborare cu Juliette de la Genière). Kokalos 26–27, 1980, 973–996.
• Nouvelles techniques de relevé, de restitution et d’étude statistique : les sites de Paestum et de Sélinonte ; le développement historique des chapiteaux ioniques. Le Courrier du CNRS (Suppl. au no. 51), 1983, 30–35.
• Il Foro di Paestum (în colaborare cu E. Greco). AION 6, 1983.
• Continuité et discontinuité dans l’utilisation d’un espace public : l’exemple de Poseidonia-Paestum (în colaborare cu E. Greco). În: Architecture et société : de l’archaïsme grec à la fin de la République romaine. Actes du colloque international, Rome, 2–4 décembre 1980. Paris, 1983, 93–104.
• La Terrasse de Punta Tresino Agropoli : campagnes de fouille 1978, 1979 et 1980 (în colaborare cu X. Lafon). MEFRA 97, 1985, 47–134.
• Le Mur nord du Forum d’Assise : ornementation pariétale et spécialisation des espaces (în colaborare cu P. Gros). MEFRA 97, 1985, 879–898.
• Le Temple d’Aphrodite, prolégomènes à une étude de restitution. În: J. de la Genière & K. Erim (eds.), Aphrodisias de Carie. Colloque de l’Université de Lille III, 13 novembre 1985. Paris, 1987, 87–99.
• Recensione a H. Riemann, Recensioni a Poseidonia-Paestum I, Roma 1980, e a Poseidonia-Paestum II, Roma 1983 (în colaborare cu E. Greco). AION 9, 1987, 217–220.
• L’Autel du Forum d’Assise (în colaborare cu P. Gros). MEFRA 99, 1987, 693–710.
• Poseidonia-Paestum : un exemple d’intégration urbaine à l’époque medio-républicaine (în colaborare cu E. Greco). În: Akten des 13. Internationalen Kongresses für klassische Archäologie. Berlin, 1988. Mainz, 1990.
• La Restitution de l’Aphrodision : certitudes et perplexités. În: C. Roueché & K. T. Erim (eds.), Aphrodisias Papers: Recent Work on Architecture and Sculpture. Journal of Roman Archaeology Suppl. Series 1. Ann Arbor, MI, 1990, 49–65.
• La frons scaenae du théâtre d’Aphrodisias : aperçu sur les recherches en cours (în colaborare cu Nathalie de Chaisemartin). RA 1992, 181–187.
• De Ionica Symmetria à Aphrodisias de Carie, quelques réflexions. În: Le Projet de Vitruve. Objet, destinataires et réception du De architectura (Collection de l’École française de Rome, 192). Roma : École française de Rome, 1994, 105–122.
• La Città e il territorio nel IV sec. a. C. (în colaborare cu E. Greco). În: M. Cipriani & F. Longo, I greci in Occidente: Poseidonia e i Lucani (catalogo della mostra, Paestum, 1996). Napoli : Electa, 1996, 184–200.
• Topografia e urbanistica dalla fondazione alla conquista lucana (în colaborare cu E. Greco). În: M. Cipriani & F. Longo, I greci in Occidente: Poseidonia e i Lucani (catalogo della mostra, Paestum, 1996). Napoli : Electa, 1996, 21–36.
• La frons scaenae du théâtre : innovations et particularités à l’époque de Zoïlos. În: C. Roueché & R. Smith (eds.), Aphrodisias Papers 3. Journal of Roman Archaeology Suppl. Series 20. Ann Arbor, MI, 1996, 127–148.
• Chronique. Activités de l’École française de Rome. Section Antiquité. Les activités archéologiques en 1998. Paestum : campagne de fouilles 1998. Secteur de la Porta Marina (în colaborare cu E. Greco şi Agnès Rouveret). MEFRA 111, 1999, 493–503.
• L’agorà : premessa (în colaborare cu E. Greco). În: E. Greco & F. Longo, Paestum: scavi, studi, ricerche. Bilancio di un decennio (1988–1998). Paestum : Pandemos, 2000, 85–90.
• Roland Martin, mon maître. În: E. Greco, Architettura urbanistica societa nel mondo antico. Giornata di studi in ricordo di Roland Martin, Paestum, 21 febbraio 1998. Paestum : Pandemos, 2001.
• À la recherche du « temple des métopes archaïques » du Sele (în colaborare cu Juliette de la Genière). În: O. de Cazanove & J. Scheid (eds.), Sanctuaires et sources de l’Antiquité : les sources documentaires et leurs limites dans la description des lieux de culte. Actes de la table ronde, Collège de France, 30 novembre 2001. Napoli : Centre Jean Bérard, 2003, 97–102.
• Le Bâtiment de scène du théâtre d’Aphrodisias : restitution et étude fonctionnelle de la structure scénique (în colaborare cu Nathalie de Chaisemartin). Pallas 71, 2006, 57–70.
• Le Chapiteau ionique archaïque de Marseille (în colaborare cu H. Tréziny). În: A. Hermary & H. Tréziny, Les Cultes des cités phocéennes. Actes du colloque international, Aix-en-Provence/Marseille, 4–5 juin 1999. Études massaliètes 6, 2008, 135–146.