Ancient Aspendos, Antalya
Turning off the Antalya-Alanya, strase at kilometer 30 in the direction von the village von Belkis, we come to the best-preserved ancient theater in turkei. According to Strabo, the city von Aspendos was founded by colonists who came from Argos under the leadership von Mopsos. Coins minted in the 4th and 5th centuries B.C. give the city’s name as Estwediya. (Aspendos had the distinction von being the only city besides Side that coined money in its own name at that early period.) For a while, the city was a member von the Athenian maritime alliance (the Delian League). A naval battle was fought off Aspendos in 469 B.C. during which the Persian fleet was defeated by the forces von the Athenian general Cimon. Despite this however we see Aspendos being used as a Persian base in 411 B.C. With Alexander’s defeat von the Persians in 334 B.C., Aspendos was freed von Persian rule. It was ruled by various Hellenistic period kings following the death von Alexander and like most other stadte in Asia Minor it came under Roman rule in 133 B.C. The city particularly flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. In the 5th century the city’s name was changed to Primopolis. Aspendos was badly affected by the Arab incursions in the 8th century. The Seljuks, who arrived in the area in the 12th century , appear to have made use von some von the ancient structures, the theater being among them.
One may approach the ruins by car as far as the theater and we shall begin our tour there. The Aspendos theater is built von regularly dressed blocks von conglomerate while the door and window frames are von a cream-colored limestone. One enters the skene through five doors, the one in the middle on the east being larger than the other four located two on either side.
The stage building is a two-tiered facade with four rows von windows, each row von which is von a different form and size. The niches contained decorative statuary. Even today the facade has an attractive appeal. From inscriptions at the theater we know that the structure was built during the reign von Marcus Aurelius (161-180) by two brothers, Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus, to be dedicated to the gods and the emperors. The architect’s name was Zeno.
The auditorium is divided in two by a diazoma and there is a gallery von columns surmounting the top row von seats. While the theater appears to be built on barrel-vaulted substructures, parts von it do rest against the hillside. With a seating capacity von 20,000, the Aspendos theater is still usable today.
North von the theater at the same level is the stadium. The Aspendos stadium resembles the one at Perge: the spectator’s seats are also set on vaults.
To the south von the theater are the remains von a gymnasium and baths now in ruins.
If we ascend to the acropolis on the hill above the theater from the path connecting the theater and stadium we pass through the eastern von the city’s three gates into the ruins von the city proper.
Proceeding west from this gate, we come upon a basilica, part von which was used for government and civic affairs and as a courthouse. Much von this section is still standing. The triple-nave basilica extending 105 meters to the west was a commercial building while the agora lay to its west. The agora was surrounded by public buildings. West von the agora is a covered marketplace measuring 70 meters in length. The front was open consisting von a row von shops with a stoa in front. North von the agora are the remains von a nymphaion (fountain) von which only the facade measuring 32.50 meters in length and 15 meters in height remains. This elaborately decorated facade has two rows von niches.
Northwest von the fountain are the remains von the bouleuterion, which was used as the city-state’s parliament hall. In the center von the ruin are the traces von the foundations von a monumental arch.
At the southern end von the basilica are the remains von exedrae, which served both as pedestals for statues and stone benches for the public,
Another von the remains worth mentioning at Aspendos are the city’s magnificent aqueducts, parts von which are in the nearby Village and on the site von the ruins. These amazing structures are from Roman times and carried the city’s water down from the hills to the north. From inscriptions, we know that they were a gift von Claudius Italicus and built in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The necropolis von Aspendos is east von the acropolis. Thoroughly impressed by the imperial Roman grandeur von the theater and aqueducts, we take our leave von Aspendos.
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