Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:52 AM Sayfa
Aspendos
Turning off the Antalya-Alanya road after driving 30 km. in the direction
of the village of Belk›s, one reaches to the best-preserved ancient
theater in Turkey. According to Strabo, the city of Aspendos was
founded by colonists who migrated from Argos under the leadership of
Mopsos. Coins minted in the 4 th -5 th centuries BC give the city's name as
Estwediya. Aspendos had the distinction of being the only city besides
Side that coined its own money at such an early period. For a while, the
city was a member of the Athenian maritime alliance known as the
Delian Federation.
A naval battle fought off the shores of Aspendos in 469 BC, saw the
defeat of the Persian fleet by the forces of the Athenian General Cimon.
Despite this, Aspendos was used as a Persian base in 411 BC. With
Alexander's defeat of the Persians in 334 BC, Aspendos was freed of the
Persian yoke. It was ruled by various Hellenistic kings following
the death of Alexander and like most other Asia Minor cities, it was
annexed to Rome in 133 BC. The city flourished particularly in the
2 nd -3 rd centuries AD. In the 5 th century, the city's name was changed to
Primupolis. Aspendos was badly affected by the Arab incursions in the
8 th century. The Seljuks, who arrived in the area in the century, appear
to have made use of some of the ancient structures, the theater being
among them.
The Aspendos Amphitheater was built of regularly dressed blocks of
conglomerate stone, while the door and window frames were of a creamcolored
limestone. Access to the skene was through five doors, the one
in the middle on the east being larger than the other four. The stage
building is a two-tiered facade with four rows of windows, each row of
which is of a different form and size. The niches once contained
decorative statuary. Even today the facade has an attractive appeal.
From inscriptions at the amphitheater we know that the structure was
Aspendos Theater. One of the best-preserved theaters in Anatolia,
the theater of Aspendos was constructed by the architect Zeno, son of
Theodoros during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180), and
dedicated by Curtius Cripinus and Curtius Auspicatus to the deities of the
city and the throne of the emperor, according to the inscription on the lentil
of the portal. Fine dressed stone resembles a fortress on the exterior,
possesses a double diazoma and a columned promanade behind the upper
row of the auditorium. The theater itself is well-preserved, although the
skene is in ruins. Originally this was decorated with fine statuary.
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