 On both sides of the orchestra, retaining walls of the embankment (analemma) end with atlases carved in stone (like the Odeon of Pompeii, however, the material is made of soft tuff).The entire embankment is supported by large semicircular and polygonal blocks processed by cutting without regular contours.The theater sits on the site of an ancient (3rd century BC) Ionic temple portico, which was destroyed by Hannibal in 217 BC.