The censors of 154/3 commissioned a stone theatre which was almost completed when it was demolished on the exhortations of P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica. The sources suggest that this destruction was as late as 151 or 150. Though an array of scholars has seised on Nasica’s claims that a theatre would soften Rome’s moral strength, there has been no satisfactory explanation of this peculiarly long delay between commencement of construction and final demolition. Something must have happened between 153 and 151 which would explain the late objection. This article proposes that Nasica’s awakening was spurred by the death of the princeps senatus and pontifex maximus, M. Aemilius Lepidus. The vacuum left by his death led Nasica to ‘audition’ for the role as Rome’s new leading voice. To demonstrate his worthiness, however, he needed a cause, and the widespread refusals to serve in the Spanish campaign of 151 offered just such an opportunity. Nasica seised upon the most shocking political crisis of the times – the refusal of young men to enlist – in order to parade his guardianship of Rome’s moral worth, and the destruction of a costly and undoubtedly popular theatre constituted the bravura performance he needed.

中文翻译：

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Scipio Nasica 的野心和石头剧院的毁灭

154/3 的审查员委托建造了一座石制剧院，该剧院在 P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica 的劝告下被拆除时几乎完工。消息来源表明，这种破坏迟至 151 年或 150 年。尽管许多学者抓住了 Nasica 的说法，即剧院会软化罗马的道德力量，但对于从开工到竣工之间的这种特别长的延迟，还没有令人满意的解释。拆除。在 153 和 151 之间一定发生了什么事，这可以解释迟到的反对意见。这篇文章提出，Nasica 的觉醒是由元首和大主教, M. Aemilius Lepidus。他的死留下的真空导致纳西卡“试镜”了罗马新的主唱角色。然而，为了证明他的价值，他需要一个事业，而广泛拒绝在西班牙 151 战役中服役就提供了这样一个机会。Nasica 抓住了当时最令人震惊的政治危机——年轻人拒绝入伍——以炫耀他对罗马道德价值的守护，而摧毁一座耗资巨大且无疑是受欢迎的剧院构成了他所需要的勇敢表演。