Archaeological Research at Aphrodisias in Caria, 2002-2005 Author(s): Christopher Ratt and R. R. R.

Smith Reviewed work(s): Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 112, No. 4 (Oct., 2008), pp. 713-751 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20627516 . Accessed: 18/11/2011 08:12
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Archaeological

Research

at Aphrodisias

in Caria,

2002-2005
CHRISTOPHER
Abstract and excavation projects carried Survey, documentation, out at between 2002 and 2005 concentrated Aphrodisias on the the Bouleuterion, the study of the North Agora, and the City the Stadium, the Civil Basilica, Sebasteion, Wall. Research outside the city consisted of limited excava tion northeast of the City Wall. Site conservation focused on the Bouleuterion, of Aphrodite, the Temple conservation Agora, and the Stadium. Sculpture included continued on and as Demos. the reconservation and reinstallation the South projects work on the reliefs from the Sebastei of a portrait identified formerly (and wrongly) new include a sculptural discoveries

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

INTRODUCTION

The main goals of the program of fieldwork begun in 1993 have been "to reexamine and tomake new records of themonuments discovered between 1961
and 1990, and to . . .understand them better in their

statue from the Theater

Important statue of Livia assembled finds include

excavated

of Tiberius, man of the Late Antonine

from fragments in depots. Newly a high-quality portrait sarcophagi, a and a remarkable young portrait of bearded period.*

recorded in plan drawings at a scale of 1:50 or larger. The pre-Christian phase of theTemple ofAphrodite, the South Agora, and the stage building of theTheater are being published by de Chaisemartin, Lemaire, and
Theodorescu.2 Doctoral dissertations have been com

larger urban context."1 Most of the major buildings and public spaces of Aphrodisias, with the notable exceptions of the Hadrianic Baths and the Theater and associated buildings, have now been studied and

* Archaeological stitute of Fine Arts Science

ed by the Friends ofAphrodisias in the United States, London, the Kress Paris, Izmir, and Istanbul, by the 1984 Foundation, theWorld Monuments Fund, and several private Foundation, donors. We are public and Museums Aphrodisias The annual of Turkey to the grateful Ministry of Culture of the Re and the General Directorate of Monuments

work at Aphrodisias is supported by the In in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts and of New York University. Generous assistance is provid

T. Lees

2004), A. Hrychuk 2004), N. Hudson (archaeologist, T. Kaefer 2003-2004), (architect, 2002-2005), (archaeologist, B. Kirmizi (conservator, 2002), L. Klar (archaeologist, 2003), ologist, (ar (sculpture conservator, 2002-2003), J. Lenaghan A Leung (architect, 2002-2005), 2002-2005), chaeologist, I. Lockey L. Long 2003-2005), (archaeolo (archaeologist, S. Madole 2005), M. Marin gist, 2003-2005), (archaeologist, cola (conservator, C. 2005), H. Mark (architect, 2002-2005), 2004) K Moomaw 2004-2005), (conservator, (photographer, M. Morris , (conservator, 2003),J. Mylonopoulos (epig M. Nam 2003), P. Nikolos rapher, 2004-2005), (archaeologist,

for their permission and for their continuing staff of about 35 persons

2005. The directors of the project 2004; 21 June-21 August were R.R.R. Smith and C. Ratte. Between 2002 and 2005, staff members included M. Abbe (conservator, 2003, 2005), D. Af fleck (architect, 2005), O. Atvur (administrative agent, 2002 H. Awan N. Barnfield 2004-2005), (archaeologist, O. Bayazit (conservator, (sculpture conservator, 2003-2005), V. Baydoun 2002-2003), 2002), M. Berenfeld (archaeologist, 2005),

August 2002; 18 June-15 August 2003; 21 June-19 August

from Austria, France, Germany, Turkey, the United King dom, and the United States, together with a team of students from New York University. The season dates were 18 June-20

to carry out research at support for this project. ismade up of specialists

Miller

J. Ott

ki (sculpture

conservator, 2004), S. Norton (architect, 2005), U. Outschar 2003-2004), (archaeologist, (archaeologist, O. ?zt?rk G. Paul (archi 2002-2005), (architect, 2002-2005), E. Pmar (architect, 2003-2005), P. Privitera tect, 2002-2005), (architect, 2003), T. Proudfoot (sculpture conservator, 2002 , Quatember U. (architect, 2002), N. Quayle (sculpture F. conservator, 2002), J. Reynolds 2002-2005), (epigrapher, (architect, C. Roueche 2002-2004),

2005) Rojas

2005),

M. Crawford ologist, D?genci

A. Berlin 2002-2004), 2003), (archaeologist, (archaeologist, L. Bier (topographer, A. Chaniotis 2002-2003), (epigrapher, N. de Chaisemartin 2002-2005), 1999-2000), (archaeologist, P. De Staebler (archae (epigrapher, 2002-2005), S. Dillon 2002-2005), 2002), M.A. (archaeologist, M. Doquang 2002-2005), (archae (photographer,

Stinson Stitz (archaeologist, (architect, 2002-2005),D. R. Trentinella 2005), J. Van Voorhis (archaeologist,

U. Roth 2002 (epigrapher, R. Royer (archi 2002-2004), (epigrapher, tect, 2002), H. Saltzmann (architect, 2003, 2005), B. Salway S. Sefton (architect, 2002), K Sever (epigrapher, 2002-2003), son (conservator, 2002-2005), conserva T. Smare (sculpture R. Spiel (structural engineer, 2004-2005), P. tor, 2002-2004), 2002), (archae

ologist, 2004),J. Dougherty sen (architect, 2003-2004), Forstenpointner servator, 2005), A. Galik (architect, Griesbach 2002-2005), 2002),

E. Elling (architect, 2004-2005), C. Fellman (architect, 2004), G. S. Fujioka 2004), (con (archaeozoologist, (archaeozoologist, 2004), H. G?ksel

G. Weissengruber 2004), R. Westmacott (archaeozoologist, R. Wilkins conservator, 2004-2005), (sculpture (photogra B. Yildinm In 2003-2005). pher, 2002-2003), (archaeologist, this report, Ratte is for the section on fieldwork, responsible and Smith is responsible for the section on sculpture. 1 Smith and Ratte 1995,42. 2 de Chaisemartin and Theodores 1998; de Chaisemartin cu 2006.

Waldron (photographer, 2002-2003), ologist,2002-2003), J.

K G?rkay M. 2002-2005), (archaeologist, (conservator, 2002), C.H. Hallett (archaeologist, L. Hebert 2004), A. Hill (archae (archaeologist,

American 112 (2008) 713-51 Journal ofArchaeology

713

714 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA
stoa into a

112

pleted on the conversion of theTemple ofAphrodite into a Christian church (Hebert), the Bishop's Palace (Berenfeld), the Civil Basilica (Stinson), and the City Other major foci of investigation Walls (De Staebler) .3

corner showed that the south stoa extended beyond

the back wall of the east

ports on several of these buildings, as well as the pub lication of a number of Late Roman pottery deposits.5 Monographic publications are in preparation. Since 1991, the aims of continuing sculpture re search at Aphrodisias
the mass

have included theNorth Agora (overseen byRatte), the Bouleuterion (Bier), and the Stadium (Welch, Leung, De Staebler) .4 fourthvolume ofAphrodisiasPapers has A recently appeared, featuring extended preliminary re

tered via arched portals aligned with the two aisles of the stoa. A trench dug in 1989 to reveal the southeast corner column of theAgora provided a preview of the present ground surface lies at 519.1 masl, 2.5 m above the stylobate level of theAgora stoas (516.6 masl). The top 1m of the overburden consists of agricultural use levels, the lower 1.5 m of debris. The seam between these two deposits corresponds with the level of the top of the "dado" (foundation block, orthostat, and capping course) of the back walls of the south and
east stoas. In most stratigraphy of this area. At the southeast corner, the

large

room,

en

have been

(1) to record in a
in the excavations

database

of material

found

of 1961-1990 now stored in depots at the site; (2) to

recover

that rose above this level has been removed, while the
much more substantial dado was left in

places,

the petit

appareil

masonry

terial from the old fieldbooks, inventory cards, and reports; (3) to study and publish thematerial in its
ancient

the archaeological

find

locations

of

that ma

Excavation of the upper

levels down revealed from a series southeast

layer of agricultural use

terraces stepping the Agora

place.

of Ottoman

and display major pieces for the public. The results

of this program of research are

categories

and

contexts;

and

(4)

to conserve

to northwest?from

Gate

of Aphrodisias Dissertations have been (by Brody) .6 on the Sculptor's Workshop and on the completed mythological reliefs from the Basilica,7 and in-depth studies of several sculptural subjects appear inAphro disias Papers 4.

monographs: one on theRoman portrait cently by two from the site (bySmith, Dillon, Hallett, Len sculpture aghan, and Van Voorhis) and one on theAphrodite

represented

most

re

(the east side of the South Agora) toward the standing columns of the southeast corner of theNorth
A area, terrace in the by southeast a line corner of the exca retained of reused architectural

Agora. vated

blocks, has been left in place (elevation at top 518.8 masl; fig. 3). The area in front (northwest) of this ter race coincided in level with the top of the dado of the stoa walls (518.0 masl). This area seems to have
been an outdoor

FIELDWORK

by installations such as a drainage channel, two small hearths, and the bottoms of three pithoi set into the
surface of the terrace.

agricultural

workshop,

as

indicated

North Agora

The North Agora was a centrally located public square, comprising 6x2 cityblocks. Between 2002 and
excavation occurred in four around side, and areas: the southeast door court of the Agora, the east side, the area the south the central a sunken

2005, corner way on

room to the east were framed by three equally spaced marble piers; the central pier is aligned with the inte
rior colonnade of the south stoa. Displaced voussoir

Farther to thewest, excavation showed that the two between the south stoa proper and the large entryways

or pool in the southwest corner of the square (figs. 1,

2). The to clarify goals of excavation of in the first the south two areas and east were stoas the architecture

blocks show that the spaces between these piers were spanned bymarble arches. All three piers were broken off at a level just above that of the top of the dado of
the stoa walls. The south

and to explore the area between the Agora and the Sebasteion to the east. The goals of excavation in the
second two areas were to

When initiallyexposed, the north opening was blocked by a crudely built wall, apparently also associated with
Ottoman

opening

was

not

excavated.

in an earlier (1998) geophysical survey. Southeast Corner of the Agora. Earlier research had shown that the south stoa of theAgora had two aisles,
the east stoa only one. Exploration of the southeast

investigate

anomalies

revealed

life-sizeddraped male figure (02.5; fig. 4) was packed up against the west side of thiswall. Found in debris on the east side of thewall?and apparently tumbled from it?was the back of aJulio-Claudian portrait head,

terracing

operations.8

The

body

of an

over

3 Hebert

2000;

Berenfeld see Welch 2008.

2002; De 1998.

Staebler

2007;

Stinson

2007. 4 On the Stadium, 5 Ratte and Smith

6 Smithet al. 2006; Brody 2007.

building inscription(102.3).

on the west is preserved the floor is composed side of the central pier at 517.75 masl; of broken reused stones, including a fragmentary Late Roman floor

7 Van Voorhis 1999; Yildinm 8 A small section of marble

2001.

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

715

scale 1:8000

>1

Fig.

1. City plan

of Aphrodisias

(drawing

by H. Mark).

which almost certainly belongs with thebody built into thewall (02.7; fig. 5).
Excavation beneath Ottoman levels revealed the

at 517.41-517.44 masl. In the north half of the room, the brick and tile debris was embedded in an other
wise 0.6 m clean layer of reddish-brown earth, an thick. Beneath this layer was opus approximately sectile pave

complete outlines of the large room east of the south

stoa (13.25 m north-south x 17.27 m east-west; see

figs. 2, 3). The exterior walls are built in the same way as the back walls of theAgora stoas, with a dado 1m high, crowned by petit appareil masonry (mostly missing), but theyare considerably thicker (1.2 vs. 0.9 m). In the south side of the room, removal of theOt toman levels revealed a dense layer of brick and tile
debris, which rested in turn on an opus sectile pavement

ment comparable with the pavement to the south (at 516.80-516.87 masl; fig. 6). The higher floor on the south side of the room is retained by a rubble wall. Incorporated at equal in tervals into thiswall are two largemarble wall blocks, both reused and lyingon theirbacks. The tops of these blocks are levelwith (and presumably determined the level of) the floor to the south. Resting on top of them

716

CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

112 [AJA

Fig. 2. Plan

of Aphrodisias

city center

(drawing

by H. Mark).

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

717

Fig. 3. Plan

of southeast

corner

of the North

Agora

(drawing

by H. Mark).

are two large and incompletely finished Ionic column

bases. bases marble Centered in the wall between the built two column out of reused lined is a low stairway, slabs. Another 1.13 m wide, notable

merits ter base

of several were

more

also

and pilaster capitals found. Another notable

one object

pilas was

feature

is a marble

niche, centered in the north wall directly opposite the stairway (see figs. 3, 6). In the center of the north half of the room, the brick and tile debris layer rested directly on top of the floor. In places along the edges, by contrast, the debris lay on top of heaps of marble revetment (in
the northwest around corner, column and along base), on the south side, esp. the west numerous sherds

a flatmarble waterspout, flanked by small figures of dolphins (04.93). But themost important small finds were five fragments of the face of the portrait head
recovered earlier in the Ottoman levels in the north

west corner of the room (04.38, 04.41, 04.60, 04.61, 04.69), togetherwith the right ankle of the body incor porated into theOttoman terrace wall (04.42). All of these pieces were found in the reddish-brown debris layer,just above the floor and directly in front of the
niche in the north wall.

of window glass, and on many jumbled fragments of white and red wall plaster. The marble revetment had clearly been picked through, for it consisted mainly of small fragments, lying in no discernible order. A complete Corinthian pilaster capital was found lying on the threshold of the doorway (04.92), and frag

The room at the east end of the south stoa resembles the chalcidicum of a Roman basilica, such as those of the basilical stoa of the upper agora at Ephesos.9 It is was originally roofed without internal possible that it was clearly designed to be equal supports, although it in its long dimension (17.27 m) to three interaxials of

9The Peschl

term "chalcidicum" 1982,42-5; Stinson

is used by Vitruvius 2008,102-4.

(De Arch. 5.14).

For the basilica

at

Ephesos,

see

Alzinger

1974,26-37,49-51;

Fossel

718 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA
on been the pedestals substantial.

112

Hadrianic Baths at thewest end of the stoa (see fig. 2) .l0

The of columns the room that rested must have in the center The square

plinths are 1.28 m to a side, and if the proportions of t

the columns nal were of architecture comparable the Agora, rose with those they would of the origi have been

approximately 7.6 m tall (whichwould have meant that

the roof of the room vation has not yet been above that of the stoa). out below Exca carried the floors, but

or latefifth- sixth-century pottery and coins found lying

on the floor suggest a date that for the latest phase. the east It isworth end noting the standing stoa of the Agora occupation columns have of

of the south

been

substantially repaired, including the use of different typesof capitals and mismatched frieze blocks, and it is
possible that these renovations of the are large contemporary with the reconfiguration room."

The head partially recomposed from the small frag ments found in frontof the niche in the north wall of
the room and the one

of the doorway has been identified as a portrait of the

emperor berius Tiberius and Antonine (see below, Youth"). under The "New similarities Statuary: Ti in scale

larger

fragment

from

the area

and technique between the head and the body from the doorway area, together with the discovery of the
ankle text as fragment the smaller that joins the body head fragments, in the make same it con virtually

statue of Tiberius (14-37 Fig. 4. Reconstructed form of Zeus with bare feet from the southeast the North Agora. Aphrodisias Depot.

in the C.E.) chamber of

the inner colonnade

m). As it survives,

of the south stoa (ideally 17.10

the room state. To reused has been substan two recapitulate: column pedes the floor on the south as

however,

from its original tially altered wall blocks have been large tals in the center of

the room;

side of the room has been raised to the level of these

pedestals both floor and a installed between them; and stairway new levels have received pavements, compa such as the Nymphaeum attached

rable with Late Roman pavements inother buildings at

Aphrodisias, to the

of Tiberius found Fig. 5. Head chamber 2004 in the southeast disias Depot.

in six fragments in 2002 and of the North Agora. Aphro

10Eriml986,96-7. 11 For epigraphic

evidence

for the renovation

of the south

stoa of the Agora, tentatively dated see Roueche 1989, nos. 29, 30.

to the late fourth century,

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

719

- ~"

l^___i^_P^___iWWB^M|MKPBBKfv>j-'

^r,---^ i%

i__999______|

Fig. 6. View

of southeast

corner

of the North

Agora,

looking west.

certain that the head and the body belong together, gests that the statue was set up in the niche. After the
abandonment of the room, the statue either fell or although no join is preserved. The evidence also sug

sias. Here,

a 4 x

18 m

trench

revealed

a dense

rubble

packing (at 518.1 masl) immediately below Ottoman agricultural levels,presumably the bedding for a stone
pavement. The Late Roman street in front of the Se

was pulled down and the head broken off and shat tered. Small pieces were left lyingabout, while a larger fragment was carried offwith the body for reuse in a
later wall. It is not, of course, certain that the statue

basteion
the same into this

lies at 517.9 masl, and it is likely that this is

street, rubble rising up to the south. was a Incorporated life packing well-preserved

was originally made for this location. It may have been

moved Roman here, for renovation at the same example, of the room. Even time as the Late if itwas to original identify a Kaiser The and pub

sized ideal female head (04.57). Excavation through approximately 1m of mixed fill beneath this layer
uncovered a massive foundation built of mortared

to this it cannot be used setting, moreover, of the room?as, the function for instance, saale, room was dining may surely hall, rather conceived lecture have room, all or

rubble and faced with fine petit appareil masonry at the east end of the trench, possibly a retaining wall
for the structures on the east side of the street. This

law court.12 functions grand

foundation
room and, structures,

is parallel with the east wall of the large

as shown built by soundings at the same level at the bases (516.4-516.5 of both masl).

served of as a

these

lic space, forwhich an imperial portrait statue would

have

multipurpose

In addition
the south the Agora Agora and stoa,

always

been

to the large room at the east end of

excavation the area north-south in the southeast to the east, avenue corner between of Aphrodi of the

appropriate.

That is the elevation of the bottom of the fine petit ap pareil construction and the top of the less finely built
foundations foundation of both on structures; side of the east a in front of the probe the street was stopped in the

explored the main

by groundwater at 516.16 masl before the bottom of

the structure was reached. A shallower probe

12 On

Kaisers?le,

see Burrell

2006.

720 CHRISTOPHER
area east of the large room revealed have run two under

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

even with the base of thewall, but this surface was ap parently disturbed, and itwas not perceived during
excavation. A number of north-south drains and other

drainage

canal

that must

and a pipes a surface

features were also revealed at higher elevations in the central part of the trench. Throughout the Roman At the time of the construction of theAgora stoas, the level of thisplaza would have lain between that of the bottoms of thewalls of the structures at both ends of the trench (516.4-516.5 masl) and that of the stylo bate of the propylon of the Sebasteion (517.0 masl). The hydraulic features revealed in themiddle of the
trench seem to period, this area seems to have been an open plaza.

and 516.1 masl, there was a densely packed gravelly layer,which yielded 84 Late Roman coins. The black

line of black spots detected by the geophysical survey in 1998 running north-south about 25 m south of the square foundation in the center of theAgora (figs. 2, 7).13The stratigraphy in this trenchwas similar to that in the center of the Agora. Immediately below the surface (517.2 masl) lay a clean deposit of gray-green silt, approximately 0.8 m thick. Between 516.4 masl

spots detected in the geophysical survey turned out to be architectural blocks from the south stoa of the
cornice blocks and an architrave?which

Agora?four

with continued underground drainage. In late antiq uity, the ground levelwas raised stillhigher: the area was filled in to approximately 1m above the original
surface, area was a stone possibly packing paved. was laid down, and the whole

represent

had been embedded in this layer in stone-lined pits. The architrave bears part of an inscription naming
"Diogenes," the same presumably Diogenes, son of son of Artemidoros, Diogenes, the made son of who

gradual

rise

in elevation,

Menandros,

dedicated
evidence

the north stoa of the South Agora.14 This

corroborates suggestion in a previ

East Side of the Agora. The purpose of excavation on the east side of the square was to clarify further the organization of the space between theAgora and the
Sebasteion?an area

ous report that the south stoa of theNorth Agora was built at the same time as the north stoa of the South Agora, with which it shares a common back wall.15The
masl. At the same elevation was a water pipe, running

bottoms of the buried architectural blocks lay at 517 east-west along the north side of the pit containing the architrave block. Excavation did not proceed beyond this level, except for a 1 x 1 x 1m sounding on thewest side of the trench. Apparently, part of the south stoa had been dam

2). A small sounding dug in 2002 (trench NAg 02.1) had revealed part of the threshold of the east door of theAgora at 517 masl. It isunclear whether this is the original level of the threshold (0.5 m above the stylobate of the southeast corner of the Agora) or a rate, the ground level on the east side in this area was raised approximately 1m (as in the area to the south
discussed above), as shown secondary alteration. In the Late Roman period, at any

equal

to two

city blocks

(see fig.

aged beyond repair, and the decision had been made tobury the debris on the spot rather than clear itaway. The pits inwhich the blocks were buried were lined with stones to inhibit settling.The calamity, or period
of sustained

excavated in 2000, built up against the back of the east stoa of theAgora and furnished with a fine pattern mosaic floor at this level (517.9 masl). In 2004, excava tionwas resumed with the goal of exposing the rest of
this room, with mixed results. Patches of later

by

large

room,

partially

have brought down themonument

the square, and the burial of

neglect,

that

damaged

the

in the center of
may be

stoa may

also

that monument

contemporary with the burial of these blocks. The

same the southeast event may have corner also preceded of the Agora. the renovation of

and walls built on top of themosaic make itdifficult to determine the original extent of the floor (and thus of the room that enclosed it), but it seems to have
been at least 12.5 m north-south and 15 m east-west.

flooring

An intriguing possibility is that the area directly east of the east stoa was entirely filled in, in late antiquity,

with a series of rooms extending to the east like the large room at the east end of the south stoa. South Side of the Agora. Excavation in this area was limited to a single 3 x 8 m trench, dug to investigate a

court lined and paved with marble slabs (see fig. 2). The floor of the structure (514.2 masl) isapproximate ly3 m below themodern level and nearly 2 m below

SouthwestCorner of the Agora. A 3 x 16m trench dug in 2000 had revealed part of the south side of the large rectangular feature detected in this area by the geophysical survey, showing it to be a sunken pool or

the ancient ground level (ca. 516 masl). Excavation in 2003 (NAg 03.2) and 2004 (NAg 04.1) revealed the east and much of the south sides of this enigmatic fea

13 On 153-60.

the square

foundation,

see Ratte

and

Smith

2004,

supplied by A. Chaniotis). 15 Smith and Ratte 2000,235.

14102.1.Jacopi

1939,87-8;

see also SEG 30 1244

(reference

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

721

consisting of alternating layersof dumped debris and

clean windand water-borne deposits. Of special in

ture, together with a 4 m wide strip extending from the south side to the center and a 3 x 3 m area behind the east wall (figs. 8, 9). The stratigraphy is the same as that found in 2000,

terestwere a number of finds from the debris lying directly on the floor, including the end of the nose of the blue-gray horse from the Basilica (03.30), seven iron knives (04.23, 04.30-5), and a number of pieces of waterlogged wood, among them four large, curved oak boards (03.46, 03.48, 03.51, 04.87). Kuniholm re ports a radiocarbon date for one of the boards of 884
plus or minus seven years.16 This date gives a ter

C.E.,

minus post quern for the deposition of thisdebris layer, which may have been contemporary with the major Middle Byzantine renovation of the Temple/Church
and

The internaldimensions of the structureare 19.66m

east-west was clearly x 26.66 set m north-south. large trench, The and whole structure in a the construction

Bishop's

Palace.

Within thisframe, the sizes and placement of the floor

blocks are

of the floor and walls is consistent throughout.17The first part to be built was the outer edge of the floor, a frame of neatly set and consistently sized blocks, on which the walls of the feature rest (see figs. 8, 9).
less regular, centers, especially near the center. Many

of the floor blocks have drafted margins with slightly two different kinds: single letters incised in themar gins (e.g., the same letteron opposite sides of a joint), which were clearlymeant to indicate the placement of
central bosses, which, as Chaniotis presumably out, points of persons are ab projecting and many bear mason's marks, of Fig. 7. View Agora, of trench NAg looking north. 02.3 on south side of the North

the blocks, and combinations of letters incised in the

for names, associ

breviations

adjacent orthostat blocks are exposed (on the south wall), they are tied together by an iron pi-clamp. On the best-preserved parts of thewall, also on the south
side, the orthostat course is surmounted

ated with the building project.18 Resting on the floor is a course of marble ortho stats, 0.7 m high. In one place, where the tops of two

table features include a small hole at floor level in thewest wall, just north of the southwest corner. This hole, 0.18 m wide and 0.19 m high, is conical in sec tion, suggesting itwas cut after the wall was already built. Above the hole is a section of stone pipe reused at the top of the wall to drain water into the pool or
in connection court?perhaps hole underneath. age structure, ent excavation with the drain or seep

In the 3 x 3 m trench behind

revealed masl, to a level of 515.16

the east wall of the

deposits elevation pres as the

es of ashlar masonry
places, such as

(combined ht. 0.6 m).

corner, rubble

by

two cours

disturbed the same

In other
masonry

the northeast

rests direcdy on the orthostats, probably as the result of a major repair. The maximum preserved height of thewalls is 1.3m. A stairwaycarved out of a single block was revealed on the north side of the structure in 2000. Other no

top of the orthostat course of thewall. As noted above,

this is an area where the wall seems to have been re

built, and the entire area of the 3 x 3m trench seems to have been dug up at the same time as this rebuilding. The finds from the deposits behind the wall suggest a Late Roman date. Below this level, a siltygray-green

16 P. Kuniholm,

pers. comm. 17Ratte and Smith 2004,157.

2004.

18 A. Chaniotis,

pers. comm.

2003.

722

CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

112 [AJA

N700+

N695 +

N690 +

N685 +

N680 +

N675 +

N670 +

N665 +

Fig. 8. Plan

of southwest

corner

of the North

Agora

(drawing

by E. Ellingsen).

soil was revealed throughout the trench, presumably the earth present before the structurewas built. Only a small portion of thisdeposit was excavated. None of the few sherds thatwere recovered need be later than
the

the construction

in the

It is thus possible that this structure is contemporary with other major features in theAgora, including the
enclosing stoas and the monument in the center.

late first century

B.C.E.

or

early

first century

C.E.

ervoirs, probably the equivalents ofmodern holding struc ponds, and Chaniotis has suggested thatboth the ture under consideration and the pool in the South Agora may have served this function.20Although pos sible, both the very substantial construction and the

late first century

C.E.

of res

While the excavations have provided valuable in formation about the construction and history of this
structure, its function remains uncertain. The two ob

vious possibilities are a pool or some kind of sunken court.19Epigraphic evidence fromAphrodisias attests

prominent location of this feature would be unusual for a holding pond. Nor have anymajor inlet or outlet as pipes been discovered, such would be required for a fountain installation with a constant supply of fresh water, although theycould lie on theunexplored sides
of the structure. The other alternative, that the struc

ture is in fact a sunken courtyard of some kind (per

19Ratte and Smith 2004,158.

20 Chaniotis

2008,74-6.

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

723

or is associated with a sanctuary space) haps assembly even more The results survey conjectural. geophysical south side or a structure in the center, but the excava

had suggested that theremight be an opening on the tions have eliminated these possibilities.
Conclusions About

excavation
useful to

in the North Agora

some summary

theAgora.

Because

no

is planned,
remarks.

further major The

it may be
north

stoa of theAgora was dedicated byGaius Julius Zoilos, probably in the 20s B.C.E.21 The south stoa was built
more than a by Diogenes, also later, generation son of Menandros, for the north in the Tiberian the same period, benefactor Agora.

provide

While
eral

responsible

stoa of the South

the development of theNorth Agora lasted sev

degree of architectural con in the of (e.g., proportions the north and south stoas).

a generations, high was maintained sistency the inner colonnades of

Nevertheless, mains, example, the north in some

the restoration respects, that there was stoa comparable

of the plan (see fig. 2) re It is for conjectural. possible, a room at the east end of large with the large room at the

east end of the south stoa, and it is also possible that the south stoa originally had large rooms like this at
both ends. In

able evidence for the later history of theGreek agora

and of the Greek stoa at a crucial

general,

the North

Agora

provides

valu Fig. 9. View of east side of a sunken court or pool at the south west corner of the North Agora, looking north.

The discovery of the large room at the east end of the stoa adds new detail to this picture. It is comparable with the chalcidica of the basilical stoa at Ephesos, the southwest corner of theAgora of Nysa (where the
aisles of a double-colonnaded stoa terminate later room in simi at the lar arched east end of and a similar but portals), stoa at Iasos.22 south the

period

of transition.

mantled, south

and stoa was

the

large

room

at

the east It is not and one

end certain we

of

the that not di

all of these know sasters of urban what such

extensively events were

rebuilt.

contemporary, them, whether or an

do

occasioned as

or more

Although the area enclosed by these grand (but shopless) porticoes remained largely open, itwas not entirely empty of independent structures. The
square monument (altar? heroon?) in the center of to the east, and just or court corner may the sunken in the southwest pool at the same as the construc all have been built time the square, fountain tion of the enclosing subsequent and stoas. How the square was as an or more used every exclu In a decorative

ofAphrodisias in the early seventh century. In the centuries that followed, it seems quite likely
that

in the Late Roman surface of theAgora show that it remained a busy place until the general abandonment

earthquakes The renewal. large

numbers

program energetic of coins found

quickly given over to agricultural use, perhaps as land

to the cathedral. belonging ninth century, architectural Sometime debris from after the late the surround

the open

area

of

the

center

of

the Agora

was

in this and day

periods?whether meeting place functions?remains

marketplace for ceremonial

sively a

unclear.

ing stoas and other rubbish was collected together and

in the period, southwest the east cor edge

at any rate, it experienced renovation. The monument in the center of major were the square and the adjacent fountain razed and or court was to the southwest covered the over, pool was the south stoa dis substantially repaired, partially the fourth

or fifth century,

or court into the pool dumped ner of the area. In the Ottoman

of what had been the North Agora formed the west edge of the village that spread over the area between
the Theater and the present-day museum, as shown

21 Reynolds monium 7.

1982,

163, doc.

34; Smith

1993, 7, 11-12,

testi

22For Nysa, see Idil 2006. For Iasos, see Berti 11 on plan); Gros 1996, 116-17.

1993,191

(no.

724 CHRISTOPHER by the terraces and working surfaces uncovered

southeast corner of the square. The Agora

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH in the

[AJA

112

remained

prime agricultural land, well watered and filled with clean soil, until Aphrodisias was declared a protected archaeological zone in the 1970s.
Bouleuterion The Bouleuterion, the most

= 1.425), while the narrower doorways (1.23 m) equal 4M modules of 0.285 m (4M x 0.285 = 1.235).
Orchestra. Trench Boul 4 was of the Bouleuterion in order across dug to examine the orchestra earlier strata.

When
important building as

The trenchwas 3m wide and 6.75 m long; itseast side was aligned with the north-south axis of the building. first uncovered
was

in the 1960s, the pit4ike orches

was paved with a fine opus The excavation.25

tra of the Bouleuterion tile floor, which

sec opus

sociated with theNorth Agora, is centered on thenorth

side of the square. Research on the Bouleuterion was

lifted after

supervised by Bier from 1994 until his untimely death inMarch 2004.23 In previous seasons, Bier had shown
that the extant structure was built in the later second

sectilefloor did not fill the entire orchestra; an outer ring, 1.3 m wide, consisted only of mortared rubble (see fig. 10). Bier believed
a remnant was of an smaller and was earlier arrangement, the auditorium when descended the

that the opus sectilefloor

century C.E. In 2002 and 2003, he supervised a series of small excavations designed to investigate earlier construction on the site: in the stage building, the or
chestra, was and underneath the radial

orchestra

all the way to orchestra level.At some later date, the

lowest moved, three tiers of seats of the auditorium were re pit. transforming the orchestra into a sunken

of the auditorium
work carried out

(fig. 10). One

in 2004.

season of follow-up

supporting

vaults

The outer ring of mortared

plastered, thus marks the area

rubble, surely originally

exposed by the removal

Trench stage building (counting fromwest to east) .24 Boul 1 uncovered the north face of a deeply founded

StageBuilding. In 2000, two small soundings (trench es Boul 3 and Boul 1) had been dug up against the northwest corners of the third and fourth podia of the

of the bottom of the auditorium. The opus sectilefloor rested on a mortared

revealed Several several more fragments fragments of a of large this

rubble subfloor at 516.7 masl. Cleaning of the subfloor in 1998

cuirassed statue were

had

statue.26

petit appareil wall running between and underneath the podia on both sides. Trench Boul 3 revealed the extension of this wall, which was interrupted by a door
at the same

recovered during removal of the 0.3 m thick subfloor in the area of trench Boul 4 (02.18A-O). Below this
level, excavation revealed a

way

stage building. This wall clearly belongs to an earlier

structure,

place

as

the

central

doorway

of

the

of theAgora; the level on top of its foundations (516.1 masl) is close to the stylobate level of the north stoa of theAgora (516.2 masl). In 2002, continued excavation in Boul 1 gave the thickness of tal development wall (2.65 m), and continued excavation inBoul 3 this
the bottom masl. of its foundations Further cleaning on undisturbed around the bases revealed

possibly

contemporary

with

the monumen

0.6 m wide and concentric with the orchestra (not shown in fig. 10; itsouter edge lies 1.9 m in from the edge of the orchestra; the elevation on top is 516.44 masl). Bier believed that thiswas the original edge of
the orchestra, before itwas

curving

foundation

wall,

into a sunken pit. Bonded with the back of this lower apparently part of the supporting structure of the au
ditorium. ered No other architectural Below features were uncov rested in the trench. the orchestra subfloor curving wall was a radial wall extending to the north,

enlarged

and

transformed

soil at 515.85

of the podia of the extant stage building revealed the west side of the early doorway uncovered in trench Boul 3 (wdth. 1.43m) and showed that therewere also doorways in the earlywall in the same places as the first
and

a layer of light brown earth, 0.2 m thick, containing only Late Hellenistic and earlier pottery on top of a lens of clean, sandy gravel, 0.08 m thick,which laydi Rear Chamber 3. The upper part of the auditorium of theBouleuterion was supported by a series of radial
vaulted Chambers substructures, 1-9. Connected labeled with from west the rear to east Rear chambers are rectly on undisturbed soil at 516.18 masl.

m). The widths of these doorways correspond closely to the basic planning module of theNorth Agora. The
interaxial measurement of the exterior colonnades of

fifth doorways

of the extant

structure

(wdth.

1.23

of 0.285 m. The wider doorway in the stage building of the Bouleu terion (1.43 m) equals 5modules of0.285 m (5x0.285 theAgora is 2.85 m, or 10 modules

much cruder ramped vaults, which project under the Rear Chamber
seating of the lower cavea. The vault connected with

3 had been partially excavated

in the

23 Bier 2008. 24 Ratte and Smith 2004,161-62. ern (trench Boul 00.2)" sounding sounding (trench Boul00.1)."

page 161, "In the west should read "In the eastern On

25 For an illustration, see Erim 1986, 63. 26 Smith and Ratte 2000, 230 n. 14; Smith 16.

et al. 2006,

no.

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

725

KEY I-1Mortar, plaster am Tile, brick of restored I ITopswalls drawn N 1:50

Fig.

10. Plan

of Bouleuterion,

showing

locations

of trenches

(drawing

by L. Bier).

1960s, to a point 4.0 m in from itsouter edge. Rear Chamber 3 was chosen for examination of earlier
strata because it is located

trench (trench Boul 6) along the south wall of the chamber, from a point 1m east of the south doorway to the inner edge (as excavated) of the vault, which projects under the lower cavea of the auditorium. The

tagonal tombmonument, which certainlyprecedes the extant Bouleuterion (see fig. 2).27 Thus, any possible earlier building on this site would have to lie south and/or east of this tomb. The initial excavation took place in a 2.0 x 6.8 m

just

southeast

of a small

oc

elevation at thebeginning of the excavations was 517.6 masl. Excavation proceeded through construction fill associated with the extant Bouleuterion (present to 516.4-516.5 masl), followed by a pebble floor and a

sequence of earlier deposits, apparently cut by the side walls of the chamber, until groundwater made further
excavation

features were found, and neither the bottoms of the side walls of the chamber nor undisturbed soil was ex posed. The bottom of the vault thatprojects under the
lower cavea was reached, however, at 516.2 masl. The

impossible

at 516.0

masl.

No

architectural

side walls of thisvault are well built, but the vault itself

27 On

this tomb, see Erim

1986,64;

Cormack

2004,173.

726 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

is very crude. Apparently, the space between thewalls was filledwith earth during construction; rocks were heaped on top of the earth in the form of theunderside of the vault; the stones and mortar of the vault were
then laid on this earth-and-rubble "form." The same

skeletal remains of an infant,approximately six months A old.29 similar cooking pot covered with a tile,partially
exposed in the northwest similar corner surfaces of were the trench, was at left in situ. Two encountered

technique was used in the construction of the vaults of

the Theater During at Magnesia the on the Maeander.28 trench was extended excavation, initial

517.2 masl and 517.1 masl; fourmore thickened-rim bowls were found at the lower level, two used as lids covering the other two (bowls: 02.32,02.34; lids: 02.33, 02.35). Bowl 02.34 contained
fetus.

to the north, running through the doorway between Rear Chambers 3 and 4. At elevation 516.9 masl, the top of what proved to be a square foundation, 2.2 m along a side, was revealed (fig. 11 [not shown in fig.

the bones possibly of a

human

10]). This foundation, built of unmortared rubble and the Bouleuterion?with the city street aligned?like is preserved to a height of one or two stones. It grid, more likely the base of a smallmonument than part is
of a larger the central structure.

the firsthard surface is 517.4 masl; set into this sur more infantburials placed in the lower face were two halves of broken cooking pots and covered with in verted bowls (fig. 12; pots: 04.48, 04.49; lid: 04.53). At
a level about 0.1 m lower, another burial was found;

The north section of the trenchwas separated from the south half by a 0.5 m baulk and extended as far as the outer edge of the chamber. Here, the level of

Rear Chamber5 and InfantBurials. Rear Chamber 5 is

substructure. A 2.1 x 10.4 m trench?trench

vault, and themarble platform fills the space beneath thisvault. It consists of largemarble paving slabs, 0.24 m thick, apparently laid up against the side walls of
the chamber. Excavation showed that these slabs rest on

at the same level as the orchestra floor (517.72 masl). The south end of the chamber is covered by a barrel

Boul 5, divided into a north and a south section by a 0.5 m wide baulk?was dug along thewest side of this chamber to look for earlier buildings and to examine a marble platform in the south end of the chamber

here, two thickened-rim bowls were placed on top of each other (the lower bowl right side up, the upper bowl upside down), with the bones underneath (not inside) the lower bowl. The pots used in the burials are tentativelydated to the sixth century byHudson,30 while all the surround
correct, the burials level, intrusions into a sixth-century no traces of were per although pits are

ing pottery belongs to the fifth century. If the dating is

fifth-century

ceived. The lowest Late Roman level (517.1 masl) lay directly over foundation deposits associated with the
construction of the Bouleuterion. Excavation

a mortared rubble foundation, 0.60 m deep; only the

west side of this foundation was revealed, also

these deposits was stopped arbitrarily at 516.5 masl.

Conclusions About theBouleuterion. No further excava

through

what other kind of function it could have served in

this location. No other architectural features were un

on the foundation of thewest wall of the chamber. The function of thisplatform isunclear. It seems unlikely that it ispurely structural,but it isdifficult to imagine

abutting

tion in the Bouleuterion

to complete

isplanned, and Bier was able

documentation of the

the architectural

building in 2003. The results of excavation in the or

chestra and in the rear chambers of the Bouleuterion

covered in this trench. In the upper levels of both the

north and the south sections of the trench, were however, found. five or more Late Roman infant burials

are uniformly negative; that is,no evidence has been

found course for an mean earlier that Bouleuterion. no such This does not on of the there was the results building in the area

site, and,

indeed,

of excavation

The south section of the trench extended 2.5 m north of the north edge of themarble platform. The ground levelbefore excavation was 517.7 masl. At 517.5
masl, a hard surface was reached,

of the stage building are suggestive. It ispossible that leuterion, but it may also have been associated with the north stoa of theAgora; perhaps itwas the back wall of a large niche, with doorways leading into the peri We know from the "workshop inscription" that there was a Bouleuterion atAphrodisias in the firstcentury C.E.,32 but itdoes not have to have been situated on the
style-like area of the "Bouleuterion stoa" complex.31 the early wall revealed here belonged to an earlier Bou

chips embedded in it.Lying on this surface near the sidewall of the chamber was a cluster of four thickened rim bowls (02.26,02.36-8). Sunk into a pit in the same floorwas a cooking pot (02.25) with a bowl placed up side down on top of it (02.39). Inside the pot were the

with many

limestone

been

a examined by physical tain that they are comparable. 30 Hudson 2008, 322-24.

28Bing?l 2005,25-38. ^Identification by E. Barnes.

31 The None of the other burials have but it seems cer would

width

of the wall

uncovered

in trench Boul

00.1

anthropologist,

also be appropriate rable with the South Gate (see Scherrer and Trinkl

for an arch-like

of the Tetragonos 2006, 29 [with references]).

structure, compa Agora at Ephesos

32Reynoldsl996.

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

727

Fig.

12. Infant burials

in trench Boul

5 in situ.

728 CHRISTOPHER site of theHigh

that the Boule Early so-called complex,

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

Imperial Bouleuterion;
in another Oikos structure, of the East a formal

it is possible
such as the Bouleuterion in

met Roman

by a combination of archaeological and epigraphic evidence to the Flavian period. In plan, the building consists of twomajor elements: the long hall (108 x

before

the second half of the second century.33 The extant building remained in use at least until
the late fifth a statue of century, when Pytheas, was or in the set up on its stage a lo stage

receiving

Bouleuterion

29 m), comprising the nave and side aisles, and the south hall (16.5 x 29.0 m), a single large room at the south end of the long hall. The long hall and north end of the building have been themajor focus of ex cavation and architectural study.The basic outlines of the south hall have always been clear from the standing
remains, but until recently the only excavations car

cal benefactor,

building.34 The surprisingdiscovery of a series of infant burials in the rear chamber of the building suggests went out of use within the next century.Hudson that it has suggested that these burials were associated with themid sixth-century plague.35 Another (notmutually exclusive) possibility is that this location was chosen

because of itsproximity to the cathedral.

Sebasteion

dug along thewest side of the hall in order to study the

in situ architectural remains; to reveal, remove, and

ried out in this area were a series of trenches dug in 1962.37 In 2005, in addition to ongoing architectural trench (trench SWC 11) was recording, a5.5x13.6m

Agora, a long, oblong court or avenue flanked by triple storied portico-like buildings, and at the far end of the court, a hexastyle prostyle Corinthian temple. In 2005, a number of small trenches (Seb 05.1-5) were dug in
connection with

The Sebasteion is the sanctuary of the imperial cult directly east of theNorth Agora (see figs. 1, 2 [9]). The complex consists of an elaborate gateway opposite the

west wall, subsequently blocked. On the interior, the pier-buttresses project 1.0m from the face of thewall,
on the exterior, to expose 1.2-1.3 the entire m. Trench SWC 11 was sited so as width of the pier-buttresses

pier-buttresses, dividing thewall into three bays, with petit appareil walls running between the buttresses; therewas originally a doorway in the north bay of the

study the fallen architectural blocks; and to expose the floor (figs. 13, 14). The side walls of the south hall consist of four large

southeast corner of the south building. The most im

portant results of these excavations were (1)

a program

of

partial

anastylosis

of the

sure in trench Seb 05.2 of the southwest corner of the raised platform of the temple, (2) the recovery in the
same trench of a number of fragments of one or more

the expo

and a 3.8 m wide stripof the inside of the hall. It runs southward from the northwest corner of the hall to a line 3.4 m north of the south edge of the hall. Further

of itsacroteria (05.50), (3) the recovery in trench Seb 05.1 of a Roman portrait bust (05.49) from the wall of an Ottoman cellar built on top of the Late Roman
street between

basteion, and (4) the exposure

an earlier wall running under

the temple

and

the courtyard end

of the Se

in trench Seb 05.3 of

of the south

antine graves associated with the Triconch Church to the southwest. Two graves projecting slightlyfrom
the east untouched. farther the scarp A in the south third grave was end of the trench in the at the were east left scarp of revealed excavated

to the south, the southwest corner pier has collapsed in a jumble of huge blocks, which were not removed. Excavation beneath the topsoil revealed, just below the surface (519.7 masl), the tops of threeMiddle Byz

the east

differentorientation, possibly the building on a slightly same as that of the citygrid. Only a small part of this wall was revealed (bydigging more deeply in a sound ing beneath the Late Roman street level firstopened up in the 1980s); itsbottom was not reached. Civil Basilica is one of the most important associated with the South Agora, the public buildings secondary public square built in the Early and High Imperial periods between the North Agora and the The Civil Basilica (see fig. 2 [17]).36 The Civil Basilica is dated

to the north

request a well-ar

ticulated skeleton with the head facing to thewest but no grave goods). The graves were set into the top of a 1.5 m thick layer of architectural debris. This layer consisted of petit appareil blocks and rubble (from the side walls of the basilica), approximately 75 large (from the architectural articulation of the side wall), and hundreds of fragments ofmarble wall decoration (esp. toward the bottom of the layer). The earth around the debris was very loose, as if ithad ac blocks
cumulated over the centuries around and on top of

government

representative

(revealing

Theater

33 For 3-5.

the Early Roman 1989,93-6. 2008, 332. On

Oikos,

see Smith

and Ratte

1997,

che

34Roueche 35 Hudson

1989,140. 36Stinson 2007, 37 Two trenches

2008. test trench to the south of the Basilica, reexamined in the middle of the hall. in

the plague

in general,

see Roue

1993, and a single

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

729

N470

N465

N460

N455

N450

N445

1:50 |s| Fig. 14. View of trench SWC silica, looking south. 11 in south hall of the Civil Ba

Fig. 13. Plan of trench SWC 11 in the south hall of the Civil Basilica (drawing by P. Stinson and H. Mark).

this great jumble of stones. Removal of the debris re vealed the marble floor of the basilica, buckled and broken but complete through the southern two-thirds of the trench (at elevations 518.2-518.4 masl); to the was missing, but itspink mortar north, the floor itself bedding was preserved. As reconstructed by Stinson, the inner faces of the side walls of the south hall were decorated with elabo
rate three-storied

A hint of the statuary thatdecorated thehall was pro

vided

were articulated as pilasters; the faces of the walls between them were revetted with marble, including elaborate skoutlosis (patterned) decoration. In the
first story, the Ionic colonnade and

engaged

facades.

The

pier-buttresses

It is possible that the statue originally stood in one of the bays between the pier-buttresses of thewest wall or in front of the south side of the pier aligned with the west colonnade of the long hall.
A second remarkable

portrait head found on the floor just northeast of the north intermediate pier (05.25). Found nearby were pieces of the hand and drapery of the statue towhich the head belonged, as well as a fragment of a scroll.

by

an

extraordinary

late second-century

marble

frieze of the nave of the Basilica were continued into the south hall; the second and third stories were Co rinthian,with a palm frieze in the second storyand an acanthus scroll in the third story. In the bays between the piers of the first storywere arches framing large niches; it is likely that a similar arrangement was con tinued in the upper stories.

mask-and-garland

working drawing, incised in the marble floor of the hall. The drawing shows a sectional view through the entablature of the right-hand side a building with a "Syrian" lintel,namely an arch framed by a pedimental roof.The large scale suggests that this isa 1:1 drawing, but itdoes not match any of the known elements of the Basilica, and it ispossible that themarble floor of the Basilica was used as a drawing board for the con
struction or renovation of another building.38

discovery

was

an architectural

38 Cf. the working

drawings

for the Pantheon

inscribed

on the floor of the Solarium

of Augustus

(Haselberger

1996).

730 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R

SMITH

[ATA

112

Stadium Recent research on the Stadium atAphrodisias has

focused on the structure and

the column aligned with the east side of the stairway.41 Itwas presumably connected with the back wall of the
portico beam

to the building from the south (fig. 15). In 1999 and was revealed (Stair 2000, part of one of these stairways way 3, counting fromwest to east), togetherwith a sec tion of a portico thatran along the frontof the Stadium

side of the building. Most importantwas the discovery of a series of six external stairways thatprovided access

appearance

of the south

for the bottoms of all the cornice blocks bear regular thewest side, by contrast, the blocks are not all where theyhad fallen but had clearly been moved lying On
cuttings.

by

a wooden

beam

socketed

into

the cornice,

around

portico in front of the next stairway to the east (Stair way 4 in trench Stad 20; the stairwayhad been partially exposed in 1999 in trench Stad 14). A third trench, dug in 2002 (trench Stad 18), examined the area of themodern tractorpath into the Stadium, which runs through a break in the seating in the southeast corner

(in trenches Stad 12,15) ,39 Investigation of this stairway continued in 2003 and 2004 (in trench Stad 19). In addition, another small trenchwas dug to explore the

(esp. the columns shafts). The architrave and frieze have been replaced, moreover, by large architrave blocks apparently reused from an earlier
structure. Two of these blocks were uncovered, one

completely, the other inpart. The blocks are 0.72 and 0.74 m high, almost equal to the combined height to the architrave and frieze of theportico to the east (0.81 m), and theyhave been cut back along their long axes in order to fitthewidth of the columns of the portico. The cornice placed on top of them is identical to that
on the east. The reuse of these blocks

of the building. A fourth small trench, also dug in 2002 (trench Stad 17), examined the juncture between the Stadium and the fourth-centuryCity Wall. Trench Stad 19. Earlier excavation had exposed the east side of Stairway 3 and the portico in front. The goals of trench Stad 19were to uncover thewest side
of the tinued approach the portico to determine whether the portico stairway, to the west, if so to ascertain and whether to the stairway structure continued was open con the

pair or modification of the original design. No evidence for any structure spanning the space
in front

represents

a re

ably unroofed, with theporticoes terminatingon either

side, this like street porticoes four at an cornice intersection. blocks To were check turned interpretation, blocks

of the stairway

was

revealed,

so itwas

presum

over to examine them for cuttings on top (the other

cornice could not be turned

to the air or whether across it. Thus, an area

of 5.3 x 16.4 m was opened up on thewest side of the

earlier excavations,

m on the south (fig. 16). The uppermost stratumbelow the topsoilwas a layer of nearly sterile, reddish-brown gravelly earth, present
in thicknesses of 0.5 to 1.5 m

together

with

an area

of 2.0 x 10.5

side, the corner block and the fourth block to the east both had shallow cuttings on them, approximately 0.5 m square. In both places, there are dowel holes in the centers of the cuttings. Both cuttings would have been centered over columns (the firstover the corner column, the other over the next column to the east); thus it seems likely that the cuttingswere for acroteria
lined was up with turned the columns. over and The examined. western corner block top and also It is flat on

over).

On

the east

Excavation

through this layer quickly revealed two column pedestals marking the continuation of the portico on thewest side of the stairway, together with
the fallen stairway columns and and entablature blocks. where Above the in the area of the portico, this red

throughout

the trench.40

equal in thickness to the eastern cornice blocks in the

areas where

located (0.46 m), but ithas no cuttings on top. Either

there was no acroterion

the apparent

acroterion

emplacements was it

are

dish gravel was thinnest, it layon top of stone and tile debris, presumably from the portico and the enclosed spaces on either side of the stairway.To the south, or in front of the portico, the reddish gravel laydirectly on the hard-packed earthen road surface on which the architectural remains of the portico had fallen (521.8
1.4-1.5 m below the present ground surface).

a dowel (like the acroteria of the Sebasteion). Trench Stad 20. The purpose of this 6 x 6 m trench was to examine the portico in front of Stairway 4. The

or at this spot,

set without

trench was sited so as to expose the west end of the portico on the east side of the stairway.The stratigra phywas similar to thatencountered in frontof Stairway 3. As was the case with the portico on the east side of Stairway 3, the corner of the entablature was revealed where ithad fallen, together with one verywell lying
Corinthian capital. But as was the case with

masl,

In 2000, the entire entablature of the east side of the portico was revealed, lyingwhere it had fallen when the building collapsed. As noted in an earlier
report, the entablature terminated in a corner above

preserved

the portico on the west side of Stairway 3, there was

39 Ratte and Smith 2004,150-53. 40 at present ground The elevation

surface

sloped

down

from north to south, from 524 41 Ratte and Smith 2004,152.

to 523 masl.

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

Fig.

15. Plan

of the Stadium,

showing

locations

of trenches

(drawing

by A. Leung).

apparently have

some

disturbance

of the area

after

the col

lapse, for the survivingfragments of the column shafts

clearly been moved. This may be because the col

ing that this portico may have been partially rebuilt. As in trench 19, there is no evidence for an arch or
other structural There element were block. this corner. exposed springing no cuttings from or on on resting of the one top

umns remained partially standing, or lyingat odd an would have interferedwith plowing) gles (where they for some time after the entablature had fallen down. The column fragments discovered in the trench have Doric fluting and so are presumably reused, suggest

the south side of the building or a tunnel like those at the east and west ends of the building. Trench Stad 18 (3 x 15m) was situated along the line of thewall exposed in the east side of the tractor masonry of this path (figs.17,18). A vertical seam in the wall was revealed 1.0m north of the south edge of the trench. South of this seam, thewall isbuilt in its lower part of ashlar masonry supporting a rubble vault.North of the seam, there isno sign of a vault, and thewall is built of reused blocks, includingmany seat blocks from the Stadium. This evidence suggests that the south part of the tractorpath is indeed a structuralvault, originally blind. At some laterdate, the back (north) wall of this
vault was

cornice

Trench Stad 18.A modern tractorpath into the inte rior of the Stadium runs through a break in the seating in the southeast corner of the building, in frontof the
location of Stairway 6. Before excavation

sageway into the Stadium; the seats thatwere removed in thisprocess were then reused in the retaining walls tion required the removal of Stairway 6 or whether it was possible to enter the tunnel by way of structural
vaults present underneath beneath the stairway, Stairways 3 and like those 5.42 known to be of the passageway. It is unclear whether this modifica

punched

through

so as to extend

it into a pas

presumed

began, wall faces supporting a ramped vault visible on both sides of the tractor path suggested that itfollows the line of an ancient feature: possibly a structuralvault like those that supported the earthen embankment on

42 Smith and Ratte

1998, 239-41;

Ratte

and Smith 2004,150.

732 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

Fig.

16. View

of trench Stad

19, looking

north.

Excavation through post-Antique debris and fill in a 2 x 3 m sounding in front of the seam between the original vault construction and the secondary pas sage revealed two seat blocks reused as a step leading into the vault/tunnel at a level 3 m below the present was not possible todig below this lev ground surface. It el. Further to the north, the passageway was filled with large debris and was not completely excavated. At the meets the podium wall of the Stadium, point where it a large block remains in situ on the east side however,
of the passageway; itmust have served as a doorjamb.

than the long sides. The stratigraphic evidence sug gests that the extension of the vault into a tunnel was associated with the conversion of the east end of the
Theater to ca. 400 into an arena, C.E.44 dated by numismatic evidence

incorporated into the retaining wall of the Stadium, and they do not run under the seating area. This is a ramped vault, which extends well beneath the seat ing area. It ispossible that there are other such vaults throughout the Stadium, or that the curving ends of the building were built differently and more securely

Cleaning east of the passage showed that the reddish gravel packing that covered the first several rows of seating when the east end of the Stadium was modified
for use as an arena runs up

the north wall of the passageway. It also became clear thatat least in thisarea, thepacking covers thefirstfive rows of seats (rather than just the first twoor three, as documented on the north side of the arena) .43
The structural vault later transformed into a tun

against

and

is retained

by

nel is different from the other vaults on the south side of the Stadium. The latter are level barrel vaults

preserved row of seats (row 26). The back wall of the building, however, runs in a straight line, at a 30? an measured gle to the CityWall, which is built over it; at a perpendicular along a radius of the curve of the auditorium, thiswall lies 7.5 m from the topmost row

Trench Stad 17. This trench explored the southwest corner of the Stadium, at the point where itmeets the CityWall (see fig. 15). As exposed in the trench, the back of the rubble packing of the auditorium de scribes a curve (concentric with the curving seating of the ends of the building), 3.33 m from the topmost

43 Smith and Ratte

2000,225.

44 Smith and Ratte

2000,226.

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

733

N1140

-f

Fig.

17. Plan

of trench Stad

18 (drawing

by A. Leung).

structural Fig. 18. View of vertical seam between later passageway in trench Stad 18, looking east.

vault and

of seats. It is thus possible that the outside ends of the Stadium described half of a dodecagon. A drain chan nel and a mortared rubble wall running parallel with the CityWall attest the continued use of this area in the Late Roman period. Conclusions About theStadium. Numismatic and ce
evidence suggests a date for the initial construc

century CityWall.
the portico was

It ispossible that the renovation of

with the construction of

ramic

tion of the Stadium in the late firstcentury C.E.45 The architecture of the portico running along the north side of the Stadium seems about a century later, and
no evidence for an earlier

was contempo thewalls.46Another possibility is that it with the conversion of the east end of the Stadium rary into an arena in ca. 400 C.E. This is the likelydate of the conversion of the structural vault in the southeast corner of the Stadium into a passageway giving access to the interior, a modification made necessary by the construction a half a century earlier of the CityWall
blocking access to the original east tunnel.

contemporary

The excavations carried out in 2003 and 2004 show that the extant portico was substantially repaired at some later date. The original location of the large ar chitrave blocks reused in the entablature of the newly exposed sections of thisportico isunknown, but blocks from the same series were also used as lintel blocks in the northwest and northeast gates in themid fourth

portico

has

been

recovered.

CityWall A new studyof the Late Roman CityWall ofAphro disias was begun byDe Staebler in 2001.47 In 2002 and West Gate (trench Wall 2003, trencheswere dug at the the city's principal entryway,and on opposite sides 1), of thewall at a point approximately 50 m north of the West Gate (trenchesWall 2 and Wall 3).

45 Ratte

and Smith 2004,147. 2008,314.

47 De

Staebler2007,2008.

46DeStaebler

734 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

situ. A second, disturbed surface lay approximately 0.25 m below this level. Excavation showed that this surface consisted of large blocks, presumably from the City Wall, which had been loosely arranged so that their tops were all at the same level,with the in terstices filledwith gravel. Pottery from thisgravel and the earth below suggests a date of the ninth to 10th was approximately 0.8 centuries C.E. This debris layer
thick. It rested on a layer of earth (natural accumu

Trench Wall 1.This trench (3.0-4.0 x 9.5 m) bisected West Gate, revealing itssouth themain passage of the side (fig. 19). Excavation uncovered three successive road surfaces. The Ottoman cobbled road, which was bur in use until the 20th century and was only lightly was uncovered at 518.37 masl and leftpartly in ied,

of the gate. Excavation did not proceed beyond the level of thispavement, which in itsearliest phases may be contemporary with the construction of the walls. The original gate opening was 3.52 high and 2.46 m x wide?very close in proportions to 10 7 (7 units of = 2.464 0.352 m m). Trenches Wall 2 and Wall 3. Two small trenches were well-preserved section dug on opposite sides of the very of the curtain wall inwhich a number of gladiatorial stelae were first noticed in 2001 (figs. 20, 21 ).49This section was chosen because it is the highest stretch of

lation), which lay in turn on a marble paved road at 517.2 masl. Pottery from the earth directly above the road dates to the late sixth or early seventh century.48 In the southwest corner of the trench (including the threshold of the gate and the area just outside), the pavement remains in good repair. Elsewhere, it has been replaced with fist-sized cobbles set in gravel. A 0.27 m deep wheel rutwas worn or cut in the threshold

Fig. 19. View east.

of

the West

Gate

in the City Wall,

looking

wall (max. ht. 9.4 m) above modern ground level (here 519.1 masl). Trench Wall 2 is a 3 x 4 m sounding out side the wall. Here, excavation through agricultural soils revealed the top of the foundations at 518.7 masl. The foundations consist of a single course of reused blocks, projecting 0.1 m in frontof the face, on top of
mortared rubble. Below this course, the earth in front

earth. The bottom of the wall was reached at 517.15 masl. Thus, the total height of the foundations is 1.55 m, of which only the bottom thirdwas set in undis turbed soil. The builders apparently felt that deeper foundations were not necessary for the stabilityof the wall and that the hardness of this soil was adequate

to deter sappers. The upper part of the foundations seems to have been buried in fill brought in for this purpose. Trench Wall 3 (3 x 5 m) was situated directly Wall 2 on the inside of thewall. The opposite trench of the trench and the construction of the stratigraphy
foundations were

of thewall is redder and includes many chunks ofwhite mortar. At 517.6 masl (1.4m below the present ground surface), both the construction of the foundations and the earth to thewest change. The foundations project a further 0.80-0.85 m in front of the face of thewall,
and the earth

Wall 2. The finds from both trenches tered in trench corroborate the mid fourth-century epigraphic date
for the construction of the wall.50

broadly

similar

to what

was

encoun

Northeast

Sector

deposit, apparendy undisturbed soil. Below this level, the wall was set in a trench dug in this hard, orange

changes

to a very hard,

orange-colored

Exploration of the area immediately northeast of the city as a possible site for a new Aphrodisias Mu seum was begun in 2000 and continued in 2003.51

48 Diagnostic unguentarium Ratte

sherds

included

and a base

(Hayes 1972,166-69 [580/600-660+C.E.]). 49

and Smith 2004,147; Kontokosta

a fragment of Late Roman a fragment of plate of ARS Form 105 a 2008.

(Hayes 1972,100-7 [325-400C.E.]). 51

Ratte and Smith 2004,167-70.

50 Diagnostic

sherds

include

an ARS

dish

of Form

61A

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARLA

735

Fig. 20. View

of a well-preserved

section

of the City Wall,

looking

east.

Fig. 21. View

of the base

of the City Wall,

looking

east.

736 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

use. It seems to lie outside

[AJA
the cemetery, and

112
it con

Although the plan to build on this location was even tually abandoned in favor of adding a new wing onto

of the old Geyre schoolhouse (fig. 22). The total area explored was thus 78 x 103m, or just more than 8,000
m2. The a depth trenches of 3 m. were The dug three western down wherever columns possible of trenches

the existing museum, useful information about the immediate environs of Aphrodisias was recorded. In 2003, a grid of 19 3 x 3m test trenches was established at 25 m intervals in and north of an olive grove north

tains no major buildings and no evidence for intensive

habitation.

OtherProjects
Gaudin's Fountain. The structure known as Gaudin's

Fountain and theMiddle Byzantine Triconch Church

are at the southeast situated and respectively corners of central Gaudin's Aphrodisias. a Late small Roman tetrastyle structure, temple. which Limited reused southwest Fountain the facade de

to

was of a

proved to be largely devoid of architectural features,

but a number of graves were uncovered on the east

excavations

side of the olive grove.

Excavation immediately throughout below the area the topsoil revealed generally a clean, accumula silty

tion layer, approximately 1-2 m thick.Below this de posit laygravelly earth interspersed with potsherds of
Roman cases and reach earlier sterile date. Excavation did not The in most ancient of soil below in this stratum. three

signed to clarify itsbuilding history were carried out in 2002. Triconch Church. The interior of the Triconch Church was excavated in the early 1960s, and limited
excavations pose more were undertaken in 2002 A in order small trench to ex situ of its exterior facade.52

ated directly north of the north apse of the church

revealed graves parts found of just two below successive cemeteries: ground a set of the modern surface,

features

tared rubble wall, perhaps from a similar structure, in trenchNES 13 (in themiddle of the olive grove). An anomalous find from trenchNES 13was a small Early Bronze Age marble figurine (03.55). The only substantial structure visible in the olive
grove is a

possibly part of a domestic structure or farming build ing (it had a terracotta cist set into it and was buried beneath well-preserved tiledebris); and another mor

trenches included Roman pipes 1.5 and 2.8 m below ground level in trenches NES 8 and NES 12; a mor tared rubble wall less than 0.5 m below the surface in trenchNES 22 (in the northernmost row of trenches),

exposed

the western

columns

which clearly postdate the destruction of the church, since they are dug into earth containing debris from
the church; and a second

apparently contemporary with the use of the church, the last major building atAphrodisias before the final abandonment of the city in ca. 1200 C.E.
Architectural and Site Conservation.

set of graves

at a lower

level,

tion projects were undertaken in the South Agora (new touristpaths through the area), theBouleuterion capping of petit appareil masonry walls), theTemple of Aphrodite (cleaning and repair of the columns), and the Stadium (repairs to the false arcade of theLate Ro man amphitheater at the east end of the building).
SCULPTURE Documentation, Research, Publication (cleaning and repair of the auditorium's marble seats,

Major

conserva

excavation between trenches NES 14 and NES 15 in the third and fourth columns of trenches (counting
from west (easternmost) to east). A number of 2m to be of trenches trenches below also ground in the fourth uncovered level. Most hypo column 1 and appears

large

hypogaeum,

uncovered

in an

earlier

graves, notable

between iswhat

another,

gaeum, in trench NES 17; simple cist graves, possibly of Byzantine date, were uncovered in trenches NES 7 and NES 18; a possible pot burial was exposed in the scarp of trenchNES 15.
The easternmost column of trenches thus

collapsed

In theperiod covered by thisreport, studyand photo graphic campaigns were pursued for the publication

to infringeupon a cemetery, probably running along

a north-south however, no road significant farther ancient to the east. There are, architectural remains

appears

from the Sculptors' Workshop (VanVoorhis), and the parapet reliefs ("Ninos frieze") from the Civil Basilica (Yildinm). A study of the accumulation of statues in theHadrianic Baths (100-600 C.E.) was completed for

of the following bodies ofmaterial: gladiatorial stelae (Kontokosta), figured marble table legs (Phillips), the cult statue of Aphrodite (Brody), the material

in the rest of the area examined

(the western

two

, thirds) which may have been reserved for agricultural

a volume on statues in late antiquity (Smith).53 A major collaborative project on portrait statuary from the sitewas completed. This isboth a catalogue

52 Limited 1993

excavation

in the interior was also carried 1995, 48-51).

out

in

For

2007; Smith2007;Kontokosta 2008; Phillips 2008. 53Brody

(Smith and Ratte

Yildinm

the parapet 2004.

reliefs in their cultural-historical

setting,

see

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

737

Fig. 22. Plan

of test trenches

in the northeast

sector

(drawing

by E. Ellingson).

and an interpredve study that aims to describe

character and use of public statues in a well-preserved

the

Greek city under the Roman empire.54 It juxtaposes some 220 statuary itemswith the epigraphic evidence of inscribed bases for about 270 persons who were hon ored with public statues.Distribution maps of the finds
of

with possible bases was carried out by Lenaghan. This work produced important new results and important joins, especially in relation to the portrait statues from theAgora Gate and the propylon of the Sebasteion. Statue ofLivia
other discoveries Among new female rial is a whole in the Sebasteion statue reconstructed mate from

together with more detailed plans and diagrams that show the position of statue finds in individual com plexes of the city center, such as the Bouleuterion,
Theater, Hadrianic Baths,

statuary

and

bases

around

the

site were

prepared

In conjunction with thisproject, a major campaign of joining fragments to their statues and testing statues

and Agora

Gate.

A five separate components (figs. 23, 24) ,55 draped fe male torso found at the Sebasteion Propylon (82.101) was joined to the lower part of a draped statue and itsplinth (72.314) found built into the Late Antique
(seventh-century?) fortification wall constructed on

54 Smith etal. 2006. 55 showed that the statue bases Study of clamp alignments for Drusus Caesar and Lucius Caesar (82.116A) (84.37) did indeed carry statue plinths 82.116B and 82.108 and that a

Aemilia Lepida (82.210) (Smithet al. 2006, nos. 27, 28, 81

[Lenaghan]).

tall, headless

statue

(81.151)

should

belong

on

the base

for

738 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

base (72.275) for a statue of Livia, originally from the Sebasteion propylon but found reused in the same Late names Antique wall at the Theater.56 The inscription the statue as "Julia Sebaste Hera, daughter of Augus tus."The context for the base at the Sebasteion propy lon isTiberian, and the subject can therefore hardly

be either Julia, the disgraced daughter of Augustus, or Julia, the daughter of Titus, but should rather be Livia (JuliaAugusta), who was adopted byAugustus in 14 C.E. in his will.57The name Hera naturally refers to her role as consort of Zeus Patroos Sebastos Kaisar, a form inwhich Augustus was probably honored in the same building complex.58 Given that the base and statue belonged together and that the base identifies the subject, it is possible to supply the figure's head. A portrait head (73.240) that was also found in the late wall at the Theater

can be identified independendy and with certainty as Livia,59 and since it is of the right scale, style, and on the statue even technique, it should be restored it cannot now join (the neck and shoulders though are broken). Scale, date, and identity match. In other the head belongs not because itjoins but be words, cause it can be shown to be of the same person and
from the same context.60

The reconstructed whole is an impressive figure of the dowager empress of the Tiberian period, seen from the Greek East. The veiled statue has large, matronly forms and a swinging dynamic posture in which the right arm was extended, probably holding a phiale. The head, which had a separately added "no dus" (knot) of hair over the brow, wears the Roman

statue of Julia Fig. 23. Reconstructed of the Sebasteion, from the propylon

Sebaste

Hera

275), plinthand feet (72.314), torso (82.101), and head (73. 240), Tiberian. Aphrodisias Depot (drawing K. G?rkay). by

connecting

(Livia) base (72.

the ideal features ofHellenistic divinities. This reconstructed figure isan important discovery, a statue of the firstRoman empress represented as a new Olympian goddess, Julia Augusta Hera. The fash
ion-hairstyle is Livia's, the face isHera's.

fashion-hairstyle of one of Livia's portrait types that is best attested in the East. The plain, rounded face and facial features have nothing, however, of Livia's portrait physiognomy and are a simple modulation of

the line of the back of theTheater stage building. Its missing right knee (82.224F) was also located. These fragments were doweled together. Careful study of the clamp cuttings in the back of the statue's plinth showed that itonce belonged to a

Statuesfrom the Agora Gate the dense finds of portrait statuaryfrom the Among
Agora

bled and shown either certainly to belong (to join) or veryprobably tobe from the same statue. The method used was to plot on a detailed map the findspots of all

Gate,

fragments

of

several

statues

were

assem

the statuary fragments recovered in the excavation of

no. 17 (base). 1980,109-17, ^Reynolds 57 Suet. Aug. 101.2; Tac. Ann. 1.8. nally from the Sebasteion.

59Inan and Alf?ldi-Rosenbaum

58 westCity MAMA 8 431; fromthe Wall but probablyorigi

5.4 (Erim).

1979, 61-2,

no. 6, pis. 5.3,

60 Smith etal.

2006, no. 80

(Lenaghan).

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARIA

739

longs.The missing part of theneck was modeled in clay in order to set the head on the statue and to assess it
in

pieces belong where there isno join, but theycan show the possibility. This, combined with close findplaces, can make a connection likely. A near-complete
assembled was

position.61

Such

reconstructions

cannot

prove

that

draped
six pieces,

female portrait statue

whose association was

from

Aydin Museum.63 The missing part at thewaist can be easily restored with the aid of theAydin figure. Small

suggested by theirfindspots and statue typology (fig. Most of the pieces were found close together 26) .62 at the south end of theAgora Gate. The lower part of the figure was assembled from four joining pieces of verydifferent surface preservation: feet and plinth (83.192B), knees (87.420), right thigh (77.32), left thigh (83.60B). An upper torso (83.192A), found in the same area, does not join but can be shown to be part of the same veiled statue because both parts follow a statue design attested by a headless example in the

of statue of Julia Sebaste Fig. 24. Head from the propylon of the Sebasteion, Depot.

Hera (Livia) (73.240) Tiberian. Aphrodisias

the building and then to bring out from the depots and try tomatch up all the pieces of similar subject,
statue close type, to one scale, and manufacture The results that were confirmed found has another. what

been found in the studyof other building complexes at the site, that fragments of statues found close together often belong together. The assembly of two of these
statues, one male, one female, both from the southern

end of theAgora Gate, are brieflydescribed. The male himation figure (fig.25) was a torso com posed of three fragments (upper body and back of legs [77.30] and right shoulder [83.63]). To this a left shoulder (87.388) was added. A plinth signed by a sculptor named Apellas (87.445) that has a joining right lower leg (T-448) was also seen to belong: the drapery of the lower leg lines up with thatof the torso. A battered beardless head wearing a crown (86.29)
found in the same area some meters from

Fig. 25. Reconstructed (77.30), restored ismodeled disias Depot. and

himation (83.63, second

combining plinth (87.445), right lower leg (T-448), torso

shoulders head (86.29), in clay. The (Plinth with a temporarily 87.388) restored neck century. The plinth is signed by Apellas. Aphro and leg not shown.)

statue from the Agora

Gate,

Gate

(in the adjoining

south stoa) probably also be

the Agora

61 Smith et al. 2006, nos. 54,55 62Smith etal. 2006, nos. 86,202

(Lenaghan). (Lenaghan).

63Bing?l

1989,61,

fig. 2.

740 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA

112

was found to the South Agora belongs to this figure; it join break to break to the shoulders of the upper part of the statue (83.192A).
The statue was a tall, slender, demure

may predate the construction of theAgora Gate (mid second century) and somay have been brought to the building from another context in late antiquity. An inscribed base found in the same assemblage ofmate rial at theAgora Gate honors a local woman named Ammia, daughter of Zenon.65We might see a portrait of thiswoman, exempli gratia, in one of these two fe
statues.

a strong twisting movement in its body and a mod esdy downcast gaze and traditional ideal Hellenistic features. It belongs well with another Hellenistic-style female portrait statue from theAgora Gate (restored in 1996) signed by its sculptor Menodotos and found also at the south end of the building.64 Both figures

figure

with

male

Four further statues from theAgora Gate, all male

himation statues, were assembled from

Five other statues, from various parts of the site,were

also completed with new fragments.67

fragments.66

Dometeinos

An interestingdiscovery concerns the display setting of the best documented and best preserved of all High Imperial Aphrodisian portrait statues. The statue of L. Antonius Claudius Dometeinos Diogenes (fig.27) was leuterion, where itwas found with itshead, fallen in The statue frontof its tallbase, which remains in situ.68 once stood on the base, but the two cuttings in clearly itsplinth and the two cuttings in the top of the base are at first puzzling. If the statue was set up with the front line of itsplinth set parallel to the front of the base, the clamps would not align. was made of the clamp cuttings in 2004, A new study
set up ca. 200 C.E. at the western entrance to the Bou

statue of woman from the Agora Gate, Fig. 26. Reconstructed 83. lower part (four fragments: 77.32, 83.60B, combining (89.8), second century. Aphrodisias Depot.

192B,87.420) and upper torso (83.192A) withjoining head

fragments and heads often travel farther than large body parts from the place a statue fell.A veiled female head (89.8) excavated in the east end of the pool of

using a one-to-one model of the plinth of the statue set on the top of the base. This showed that the clamp cuttings could indeed be made to align, but only if the plinth of the statue had been set down on the base at a strong oblique angle so that its straight front makes an angle of 17?, tracing a line from the front

and Ratte 1998, 246-48, figs. 24, 25; Smith et al. 2006, no. 85. 65 Smith et al. 2006, appx., H 226. 66 in Smith et al. 2006, nos. 53 These finds are published statue [75.196], now with lower body [NAgPy 89. (himation

64 Smith

[71.479],

1.1]), 56 (himation statue [75.219], now with plinth and feet [83.204], a lower leftleg [80.20], and joining righthip
[T-57]), 57 (himation statue [83.62], now with plinth and low er statue [83.61], now with lower 58 (himation legs [83.33]), Smith et al. 2006, no. 2 (togate youth from the Theater

no. 4 (small togate statue from Theater [73.1], now with lower no. 17 (colossal Antoninus Pius from added); part [67.181] no. 94 [T-592]); Agora Gate, with part of right hand added (large Herculaneum statue from Bouleuterion [62.488, 63.

[65.365, 68.286] and righthand holding a scroll [68.284]);

now with upper

right

arm

in two joining

fragments

body [83.60A]and probablyplinthand feet [83.203]). 67

feet 67.532). and Alf?ldi-Rosenbaum ^Inan 139,140 (Erim); Smith etal.

T-516]); no. 98 70], with twoparts of plinth joined [T-515, Wall [61.81]with plinth and (statue inCeres typefrom City
1979, 210-13, no. 186, pis. 2006, no. 48, figs. 19,24.

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This means that right of the base toward the back left. the statue was not set up in accordance with the line given by the front of itsplinth, and the statue's head was not turned to itsright. Instead, in front view, the body turnedwhile the head looked straightahead over the front of the base. Probably, the figurehad been designed to standwith the plinth straight to the front,but when the statuewas was adjusted on the spot and lowered intoposition, this

the figure turned 17?.The second position gives thefig ure more impact and immediacy, turns thehead to face more anyone entering theBouleuterion, and unites it
Bouleuterion, Dometeinos' the statue niece.69 Her of Claudia (more Antonia broad-based) Tatiana, statue

closelywith itspair setup at the eastern entrance to the

was set on itsbase without any clamps or fastenings.A

new made reconstruction of Dometeinos' were and a photomontage drawing statue monument, incorporating

this change in itsposture (see fig. 27). The adjustment to the setting of this important statue is of intrinsic interest both in terms of the aes went into the display of these expensive thetic care that monuments and in termsof the level of detail that can be recovered about theirhistory from close studyof all
surviving components.

Polychromy A scientific studyof painting and gilding on marble sculpture at Aphrodisias was pursued byAbbe. About

25 pieces, mosdy freestanding statuaryof the Roman period, were examined using raking, transmitted,and ultraviolet light, in conjunction with 5-40x magnifica
tion. Good traces of color were found and document

ed in photographs on about 15 pieces, from which samples were taken in order to analyze the pigments
and materials used.

The results clarified the sequence of pigment appli cations and of gilding techniques in the following key ked male leg (74.8) from theTheater Baths and south wall. Two gilding campaigns with separate grounds
were recorded on an over-life-sized left hand from the examples. Gilding was studied on an over-life-sized na

(2004) of a statue monument Fig. 27. Photomontage set on base Dometeinos tonius Claudius Diogenes, alignment, ca. 200 C.E. Aphrodisias Museum.

of L. An in correct

(70.11). A combination of and red underpaints was found on a portrait yellow head fragment from the south wall (75.305). Red and black paint with localized gilding was recorded on an "Apollo" head from theHadrianic Baths (66.271). This study of the relationship between carved and painted
surfaces on Roman sculpture at the site continues.

area of the Bouleuterion

Sarcophagi and FuneraryMonuments A major documentation project focused on thegreat numbers of sarcophagi and sarcophagus fragments that survive from the city and itsnecropoleis.70 Important
aims are to record

(containing in 2005 some 500 items) tomatch the sar

the pieces

in a

sarcophagus

database

^Inan 138,140

and Alf?ldi-Rosenbaum (Erim); Smith etal.

1979, 213-16, 2006, no. 96.

no.

187, pis.

70Smith and Ratte 1996,25-9; Ratte and Smith 2004,175-82.

1998,245-46;

2000,241-43;

742 CHRISTOPHER cophagi with their (separately recorded)

and tion to find and inventory reattach numbers, to them which contain

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA
is unfinished in terms one

112

inscriptions
excava informa vital

available for the potential carving of relief decora

tion. The its sarcophagus only of decoration?ostentatiously say. In terms of its function unfinished, as a container might

their original

tion about their find contexts. The original excavation

numbers have been recovered for more than 100 sar

for bodies,

cophagi and sarcophagus fragments by a painstaking process of elimination, gradually matching the pieces with descriptions and measurements given in the old records. This work will eventually provide a better un

derstanding of sarcophagus use on the roads in and out ofAphrodisias, and this is the subject of a current doctoral project by Awan. A new study has investi

it is fullyfinished and ready and was indeed used: the inside isa fully worked rectangular interior. (The nor mal upper lip of the chest and a corresponding offset in the underside of the lid are, however, not carved.) The sarcophagus represents a radical choice in a wide range of unfinished decoration that sarcophagi might exhibit in theHigh Imperial period.72 east necropolis in 2002 (S-479; ht. 103 cm; wdth. 227 cm; depth 104 cm; fig. 30). This large, high-quality sar cophagus isdecorated on all four sides in a distinctive style associated with the earliest series of sarcophagi
in Roman empty Asia Minor.73 Its itsmain design is spare, with much It has thin, space around components. Early Garland Sarcophagus. Excavated in the south

by the deep local impact of the famous citizenship edict of Caracalla of ca. 212 (the so-called Constitutio
Antoniniana) .71

gated the quantity ofwell-dated sarcophagi produced in the early third century and argues that a boom in sarcophagus use in this period should be explained

Many sarcophagus fragments have been newly joined and several sarcophagi recomposed from dispa
rate parts. Most important are the remains of a Doki

meion-style garland sarcophagus

substantial new fragments were

(S-90) towhich four

added and a large,

tightly wrapped garlands supported at the corners on horned rams' heads. On the long sides, the garlands hang in three shallow swags set high on the chest with

high-quality local garland sarcophagus (S-388) that were scattered was put together from 17 fragments that through various depots (fig. 28).
New ments finds from of and sarcophagi the area around other funerary monu continue Aphrodisias

grape bunches hanging from them.On the short sides, the single swag carries a decorative motif above: on the left side a shield; on the right, a flower. On the
long sides, the lunettes are empty, and the three swags

to accumulate, brought to light by farming activity. In 2002 and 2004, three complete and very different
sarcophagi and were excavated by An the museum interesting in the east stele of the southeast necropoleis.

are supported in themiddle by a pair of bulls' heads (back) and by a pair of Herakles hip-herms (front). The Herakles herms are of a kind usually associated with the gymnasium. To the common festal effect evoked by the garlands and heads of sacrificial animals,
the hip-herms and social add standing a reference associated to the learning, with culture, the gymnasium.

second century B.C.E. was found in 2005 (see below).

These

large repertoire of carved marble tombs and inscribed social history. UnfinishedSarcophagus withLid. Excavated in the east necropolis in 2004 (S-525; ht. with lid 135 cm; wdth. 230 cm; depth 101 cm; fig. 29). The sarcophagus is in in its level of deliberate incompleteness. Both the lid with a jacket of exterior stone and the chest are left thathas plain, rough-pointed quarry surfaces. It isnot
plain sarcophagus or even an unfinished plain sar a teresting for the extreme and unusual choice it makes

tions to Aphrodisias'

pieces

are,

in different

ways,

important

addi

This is educated decoration. The sarcophagus should be dated in theEarly Imperial period.74 The handsome of the third century and belongs
use of the for violation continuation currently inscription carved above the central

therefore to a later

swag,

however,

is

It records the only sarcophagus. penalties of the monument and is the presumably on the lid. The of a text once written lid the sarcophagus was found with itbut can

on

cophagus but rather one with the full depth of stone

wdth. 210 cm; depth 70 cm; fig. 31). The sarcophagus contrasts in date, scale, and social levelwith the early

not be itsoriginal lid: itdoes not fit properly. Garland Sarcophagus of Philippos and Zenas. Excavated in the southeast necropolis in 2002 (S-478; ht. 84 cm;

71 Smith 2008. 72 On the controversial

see Huskinson sarcophagi, 73 On the controversial chronology of early garland sarcoph inAsia Minor, see esp. Strocka 1996. agi 74 Cf. the material 1996, 459-62. At by Strocka gathered Aphrodisias, good dated parallels for both the design and

on Roman interpretation of unfinish 1998 (citing earlier literature).

can be found in the effect of the garlands mask-and-garland frieze of the Portico of Tiberius in the South Agora and in the garlands ing. The on the ethnos bases of the Sebasteion's North Build flower in the lunette on the right-hand end of the sar can be in the flowers decorating closely paralleled cophagus reliefs in the second story of the the bases of the mythological South Building.

the

Sebasteion

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Fig. 28. Reconstructed

garland

sarcophagus

(S-388),

third century. Aphrodisias

Depot.

garland sarcophagus above. It is a thoroughly ordi nary,modest, routinely worked garland sarcophagus of conformist third-centurytype. Aphrodisias has some 60 more or less complete examples like it (as well as
ca. 140

was

a slave

comfortable

were sufficiendy and they well-off to aspire to the kind of stylishburial in carved marble favored by theirbet
ters and masters.

enough

to know

his parents,

able inscription on the lid and chest gives their story. A woman named Agathangelis had the sarcophagus made (that is, she paid for it) but is not buried in it. She had it made for her partner, Philippos, who is a freedman (apeleutheros),and for the boy Zenas, who is surely their son, though this is not stated because the boy is (still) a slave and so technically has no parents. He isowned, we are told, by a thirdparty, one M. Au

ther examples). The swags support twoportrait busts, a balding, full-faced, elderly man on the right, to be taken as Philippos, and a youth with thick leonine hair on the left,tobe taken as Zenas. The long and remark

fragments

from

an

uncertain

number

of fur

Hellenistic Stele fromKaracasu. Fully preserved pedi mented stele (6672; ht. 98 cm; wdth. 50 cm; depth 15.5 cm; fig. 32) found in 2005 by a farmer in a field about 5 km south of theneighboring townof Karacasu, about 20 km fromAphrodisias. Beside the sarcophagi, the grave relief represents a much earlier period of social life in the environs of Aphrodisias. In the plain field below the relief figures, faint traces of two lines of lettersappear. A few lettersare visible: I, If,O, and A. They are small, neat, widely spaced Hellenistic let ters (letter ht. 1.5 cm). A splayed I, with oblique up
and lower horizontals, looks second per century rather

how fardown the social scale themarble habit spread. Aphrodisias has well-attested middle-level sarcophagus
buyers?a metalworker, a paint seller, sculptors75?but

relius Chrysippos, and is referred to in the text only as thisman's slave (doulos). This would be unsurpris ing earlier inRome but ishighly unusual in conserva tive provincial society in this period. This is our first slave portrait at Aphrodisias. This new find showswell

than firstcentury.76 The

statuary poses, unconnected,

two figures stand in frontal,

with clear space between

them. In dress, posture, and effect, theyare typical of Middle and Late Hellenistic city stelae. The woman is tighdywrapped in the "pudicitia" pose, and theman
wears a chiton and himation

in the swaggering manner of the famous Aischines statue. This is a striking, civic, public posture. Both well-mannered pos figures have tall, elegant, stylish,
tures and well-designed contours. There is a consider

in the "arm-sling"

posture,

this is the firstsarcophagus for a slave at the site.Nor are they common elsewhere in the Greek East. The sarcophagus also illustrates the wide range of fates that awaited the chattel slave in the ancient world, from the unspeakable to the prosperous. Our Zenas

able difference in quality and design between the new stele and the only other figuredHellenistic stele from Aphrodisias.77 This other stele is larger but less fluent and somewhat awkward in its reception of Hellenistic

75 For a paint seller and sculptor, see MAMA 8 574, pi. 22. For a metalworker and another sculptor, see (or glassblower) Smith and Ratte 1996,26-9, figs. 23,24. toA. Chaniotis. 761owe this observation

77 Pedimented with three figures Rl

stele

dere (Atak?y), kmnorthof 8 et Aphrodisias (T-590) (Smith al.

2006,300, [with earlier sources], pi. 154).

(a woman

of Euphrantidas and Artemidoros, two men), between from Dam

744

CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

112 [AJA

(S-479) from the southeast necropolis, Fig. 30. Early garland sarcophagus in the third century. Aphrodisias inscribed and reused Museum. C.E.,

late first century B.C.E.

or

early first century

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^^^^^^^^^^^^yy^^l^^^ ^pi^pj}_^^^i^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Aphrodisias Fig. 31. Garland sarcophagus Museum. (S-478) of Philippos and Zenas, a slave, from the southeast necropolis, mid third century.

funerary representation. The quality of the new stele is

seen in the overall

hand holding drapery (see above, under "Civil Basili a short beard, and a thick, curling, modish hairstyle, all treated with the highest technical refinement and varied textures of the best marble portrait sculpture of the later second century C.E. In its sumptuous style and effect and large scale (ht. 35 cm; ht. from chin to crown 30 cm), the portrait stands at the top of the hon orific scale at Aphrodisias
and no doubt represented ca"). The head has youthful, ideal handsome features,

the figures,as well as in the handling of details, such as the engraved edging of the himatia of both figuresand in the neat oudining of the figures against the back
with a narrow ground more more connected, chisel. The new stele presents social culture a for sophisticated

proportions,

contours,

and

layout

of

the emerging monument-buying classes of theAphro disias Valley in the second century B.C.E. New Statuary: Tiberius and Antonine Youth are a high-quality Antonine portrait head from the Civil Basilica, now published,79 and a statue of Tiberi us put together from pieces excavated in the North Agora, which isdescribed below more fully. AntonineHead. This head (05.25; fig. 33) was once
Among other new statuary finds,78 most important

(for nonimperial
a young man

subjects)
of the

of one

city's leading families. Tiberius.This statue (see figs. 4,5) had a complicated but interesting archaeological life.A headless statue (02.5) was found in 2002 reused ina Medieval wall built
at the entrance to the

part of a large statue: ithas a neck support behind and was found on themarble pavement of the chamber at the south end of the Basilica with a fragment of its left

The statue is a high-quality draped male figure with bare chest, sensitivelyworked in the best Early Impe

corner of theNorth Agora. A large slice from the back of what was once a large Early Imperial portrait head (02.7) was also found in the same wall in the same year.

large

chamber

at the southeast

78 are new statuary finds from 2002-2005 Other significant fe the lower part of a broad-based, Hellenistic-style draped male portrait statue (02.06) found at the City Wall near the West Gate (Smith et al. 2006, no. 100); numerous fragments of or a colossal Late statue Early Imperial cuirassed Republican in the Bouleuterion, where found in excavations (02.18A-O) the statue had been broken up and used as packing under the opus sectilefloor of the building's orchestra in the later second

(Smith et al. 2006, no. 16); a life-sized female century C.E. head (04.57) with ideal features and plain ideal hairstyle, ex the head (goddess or idealized cept for a braid wound around to the east of the chamber at the southeast portrait?), found corner of the North naked male por and a headless, Agora; trait bust of the second century C.E. (05.49) found in upper levels to the southeast 79Smith etal. of the Sebasteion. no. 221, pis. 161-63. 2006,297-99,

746 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA
its most and

112 loosely
ver easy

The composition of the statue was modeled

on sion a divine as after known figure the "Dresden Zeus,"80

complete be it would

to identify it as a senior Olympian such as Zeus or Asklepios. Both were important local gods at Aphro
disias. There is, however, no

served nape of the neck as Zeus should have. Long hair rolled up in a styleAsklepios often wears might be a possibility, but so would short hair. A short hairstyle
would indicate a mortal and in such a costume,

sign

of hair

on

the pre

an emperor. The find place is close to the propylon of the Sebasteion, where a major Early Imperial portrait
group stood.81

surely,

The discovery in 2004 ofmore fragments belonging to the back of the head (02.7) found in 2002 provide such a portrait. The five new fragments (04.38, 04.41, were found fallen and smashed at 04.60,04.61,04.69) floor level in the chamber in front of a niche in the

middle of itsnorth wall. The fivefragments join each other and the back of the head found in theMedieval wall in 2002. The six fragmentsmake up the back and right half of an over-life-sized portrait head (ht. 28 cm; see fig.5). The fragmentaryhead has a clear Augustan or early Julio-Claudian allure. It looks at first likeAugustus but does not wear one of his "official" hair fringes. The subject isTiberius. The tallbrow, short, compact pro file, prominent chin, and sharp nasolabial lines are all features of Tiberius' mature portrait physiognomy.

Aphrodisias,

stele discovered Fig. 32. Hellenistic second century B.C.E.

in 2005

at Karacasu, Depot.

near

They can be found in provincial versions of Augustus portraits but not regularly and not in combination.82 Also distinctive to Tiberius' portraits are the deep, square shape of the head in profile, and in front view thewidth of the outer contour of the head above the
ears. his The latter is a constant and individual feature of portraits.

Aphrodisias

Tiberius had at least six official portrait images of

which rial manner, carved from a narrow block that made versions are known around the

the figure shallow front to back and that required a separately added back right shoulder. The early date is clear from the refined surface finish, from technical
mannerisms, and from

number reflects his long period as an imperial figure

and

empire.83

The

In 1999, part of a statue plinth with a naked male foot (99.36) of the same scale as the statue had been
found near the same wall. Further excavation inside

the piecing.

38 C.E. The official portraits had short fringes (diffi cult for sculptors to remember and distinguish) but a clear physiognomical individuality,both younger and older, setwithin a clear Augustan style.Provincial ver sions often heighten the aspect of Augustus likeness
?as this one does?in order to create a clearer dyna stic effect.

potential

honorand,

from

at

least

12 B.C.E.

to

the chamber in 2004 recovered an ankle fragment (04.42) that shows that the foot and plinth also join. The ankle joins the statue above and the foot and plinth
fragment below.

Of themature Tiberius types,what remains of the most easily taken as a heavy, simpli hair fringe here is fied version of the hair of the typecalled Copenhagen

^Lippold 81 Reynolds

1950,190 1980,1986;

n. 9, pi. 66.3. Smith et al. 2006,44-7.

82 see the For examples, plates 83 1993a, 56-8. B?schung

in B?schung

1993b.

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of the brow. The Aphrodisias version has fewer, thicker locks and combines the parting with the sharp angle in the hairline at the corner of the brow. Such sim plified, exaggerated, adjusted, and misremembered Julio-Claudian hair fringes are well documented at Aphrodisias
Several

624 after a head in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek.84 It has short locks above a tall brow swept to the viewer's right from a parting above theouter corner of theright eye and a sharp angle in the hairline at the leftcorner

in the reliefs from the Sebasteion.85

technical, and

tors strongly suggest an association of the head with the statue. Since new excavation to findmissing parts is not planned, it isuseful to layout these arguments here.86The head isof the same scale, distinctive tech nique, and Early Imperial date as the statue, and the
head and statue are from the same context and in a

archaeological,

stylistic

fac

similar fragmented condition. Part of the head came from the same wall as the statue; part of the statue (the ankle) was found inside the chamber, where most of the fragments of the head were found; and generally at Aphrodisias, statue parts found close together have a good chance of belonging together. There are some

additional arguments in this case. First, the smashing into fragments of both the head and the statue's feet and plinth would encourage theirdispersal. That sub stantial fragmented parts of both the feet of the statue
the head remained in the same area to be found

and

a (05.25) young man Fig. 33. Portrait head of bearded the Civil Basilica, 160-200 C.E. Aphrodisias Depot.

from

and joined
both. Second,

is suggestive of a single context for them

no parts of any other statue were found

in the excavation of the chamber. And third, there are remains of a major contusion at the back right of the
neck break that are matched

we of the compound names that find difficult tounder

stand: Sebastos Hera, Julia Sebaste Kaisar. Augustus seen was earlier, worshiped or Zeus Patroos in the form

broken surface seem tomatch up (see fig.4). We may have here the trace of the heavy blow that broke the head from the statue and splintered the neck. The iconography of the statue might suit a senior emperor but would be unusual for such a figure.At were Aphrodisias, as elsewhere, senior imperial figures often assimilated to senior Olympian gods under one

sion on the surviving neck fragment attached to the head at the back right. When the head is in the correct position on the body, the two sides of this distinctive

by

remains

of a contu

more usual kind of half-naked imperial figures (those wearing the so-called hip-mande) are tobe thought of as wearing something different, the cloak of the com
mander.89

of Zeus at Aphrodisias under this latter tide.87 Such titles supply formulations that allow us to understand better the aims of statue iconography. It was highly unusual for an emperor to be por trayed in thisway, bare-chested in a himation.88 The

could have been made

Conceivably,

the himation

in the new

statue

imperial by purple color, but

84 624 type. Fittschen and Zanker Tiberius, Copenhagen (1985, no. 12 n. 8) list 23 versions and variants. B?schung a total of 25 versions known to him. (1993a, 58, Lf) mentions 85 on the Ara Pacis has a Smith 1987. The Tiberius figure of a few thick, short locks (Conlin similarly simplified fringe in Smith et al. (2006, no. 168) but head is published of the two is the statue?though the likely connection noted. 87 MAMA 8 431; supra n. 60. A new inscription mentioning a of Zeus Patroos Sebastos Kaisar was found in 2004 (I priest ^The not

1997,fig.195).

sandals 1968, 112, no. 125, (Niemeyer inMuseo altar from Abellinum, 46); (2) a marble Irpino, pi. em of a statue of a beardless Avellino, with a representation in thismanner and carrying a in a himation peror (?) draped form but with Greek statue flanks a trophy and is receiving scepter?the (Gradel 2002,95, fig. 4.2G, H). 89Cf. Smith etal. 2006, ch. 5 n. 1 (Hallett). sacrifice

04.05). statue in the Archae 88Two rare examples are (1) a Balbinus Zeus Museum of Piraeus, also in the basic Dresden ological

748 CHRISTOPHER

RATTE AND R.R.R. SMITH

[AJA
continued on the reliefs

112

of a senior Olympian god, in this case surelyZeus. The bare feet (instead of theGreek sandals that might ac such a costume) suggest that the emphasis company
was

the of this costume statue form and borrowed meaning was no doubt for an emperor the transferred identity

of the South Building was begun in 2005. At the same

time, conservation work from

the Sebasteion, which are now on display in a new hall attached to the present Aphrodisias Museum (opened

phy rather than on other (Greek civic)meanings of the himation. This might be an unusual, local conception of imperial power akin to the Olympian representa
tions of the emperors in the Sebasteion.90

placed

on

the aspect

of

elevating

divine

iconogra

merly (and wrongly) identified as Demos.93 Statue ofYoung Priestfrom Theater. Conservation
to other important discoveries about another

inMay 2008). Other stone conservation focused on a horse in blue-gray marble from the Civil Basilica (70.569)92 and a portrait statue from theTheater, for led

of Amalgamated divine titles the kindjust mentioned would usually be represented by a divinely costumed was body combined with an imperial portrait head that

often adjusted in the direction of an elevated idealism (ofwhich the new head is a clear example). The por trait showed that the subject and identityof the statue
the emperor, while the costumed body gave an ex

was

planatory description of his Olympian character. We may conclude that the head represents Tiberius and almost certainlybelongs with the statue in the form
of Zeus found with it.

and of the same scale, technique, and date; and the

costume,

They

are

from

the same

context

statue ofDemos.94 The restoration of 1979 had started to come dangerously apart (themain parts had been joined without dowels), and the statuewas dismantled and removed from themuseum display in 2001. The dismantling of the figure allowed several things to be seen thatwere not readily apparent before: (1)
the statue had

eral fragments in theTheater in 1970. Ithad then been restored and set up in 1979 on an inscribed ancient base found near it in theTheater thathad supported a

statue (fig.34), a tallhimation statuewith ideal youth ful features (70.630), which had been excavated in sev

imposing

hensible in its local context. It may be remarked finally

that this new Tiberius scale, and theme statue is close in terms of context, statue of Livia to the newly recovered

though

unusual,

is

appropriate

and

compre

(see figs. 23, 24). They may have belonged together, in some connection with the propylon of the Julio Claudian Sebasteion, the earliest part ofwhose statue find context of the Tiberius, in the large room at the southeast corner of theNorth Agora, is only about 40 m from the Sebasteion's propylon. Display in thisroom would
and program was conceived in the Tiberian period.91 The

tiquity; the right footwas doweled to the ankle at the break, and the stump of the left leg above themiss ing ankle was drilled out in a deep, irregular square ancient dowel hole (a major kind of repair seen also on figures from theAgora Gate);95 (2) the top of the inscribed base carried something perfectly cylindri cal, quite unlike the plinth of the statue; and (3) the
statue's crown has two small busts attached

already

fallen

and

been

restored

in an

concealed
forehead.

behind
This "bust

the thickwreath of hair over the

crown" is of a kind normally worn

to it, partly

then have been a second use of the Tiberius,

be noted that although the statue was

by priests and cityofficials.96 The statue therefore did not belong on the base for
Demos and represents youth restoration not a aristocratic went a major in the role in a handsome divinity but of a local It under priest. and this suggests

it should

found virtually complete (though in fragments), there was no base with it.The Livia was certainly part of the main statue display of the propylon, and parts of it were found reused behind the Theater. The Tiberius use, with the Livia on may then have stood, in its first
the entrance gate and to the Sebasteion.

that it may be one of the statues that inscriptions on the cornice of the Theater logeiondescribe as having
been taken from somewhere else, restored, and

antiquity,

there on the logeion in themid second century.97 The statue itself is of themid-later first century.
The statue was restored and remounted in the mu

set up

Anastylosis

Conservation

in Following detailed theoretical documentation to 2004 of the survivingarchitectural elements of 2000 the Sebasteion, physical anastylosis of the eastern end

seum in 2002/2003.
young aristocrat

Itwas an honorific portrait of a

a priest's crown decorated

with twobusts of the gods he served. The figure wears

wearing

nose (03.30) was found in in the of the sunken square precinct 2003 during excavation North Agora, and a fragment of its tail(?) (04.07) was recov in 2004. The newly conserved monument ered at the Basilica has now been mounted 93 Infra n. 94. in the new museum hall.

90 See Smith 1987. 91 1980,1986. Reynolds 92 The missing end of the horse's

94Himation for Demos

2006, no. 50). 95 an extensively See especially himation repaired from the Agora Gate (Smith et al. 2006, no. 57). 96 Rumscheid 2000. doc.

statue, formerly associated with inscribed base (Erim and Smith 1991, 74, no. 6, fig. 8; Smith et al. statue

97For hgeion statues, see Reynolds 1981, 320-22; 1982, 181, further in Smith et al. 2006, ch. 2 nn. 43-4. 53; discussed

2008]

ARCHAEOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

AT APHRODISIAS

IN CARLA

749

this statue.The crown would be gilded and the clothes painted purple. Some color ispreserved on this figure in itseyes and on itsshoes. The statuewas made in the major restoration probably in themid second century fora new display setting, togetherwith other statues,on of top of the cornice of theDoric logeion theTheater. The piecing together of this statue's history is a good example of the long lives of ancient statues and of how combined conservation and archaeological study bring interesting new results. CONCLUSIONS Aphrodisias is an unusually rewarding site for the studyof key aspects ofGreek city lifeunder theRoman empire, such as the design of a grand urban environ
ment first century, suffered severe damage, and underwent

and the dense deployment of statue honors as the major currency of political lifefor itsbenefactor elite.
The research

to represent

the

community's

claims

to status

of current archaeological and historical investigation at the site, emphasizing careful documentation and study of itspreserved remains. Important new finds of sculpture include a statue of Livia (see figs. 23, 24), the sarcophagus of a slave (see fig. 31), an An tonine portrait head of the highest production level (see fig. 33), and a statue of Tiberius (see figs. 4, 5).
last two were recovered in the

reported

on

here

offers

a cross-section

The

tions near their ancient display contexts. In addition,

the excavations have

ongoing

excava

a himation and Fig. 34. Portrait statue of a youth wearing bust crown from the Theater, mid-late first century, restored in 2002/2003. Museum. Aphrodisias

detailed understanding of the city's urban develop ment: from the completion in the early firstcentury C.E. of the Late Hellenistic building program of the Agora through the construction in the later firstand second centuries of a splendid array of public build ings enacting the interplayofGreek and Roman tradi tions to the dramatic transformations of late antiquity, illustrated in the fourth century by the construction of a new citywall, and in the sixth century by the use of the substructures of the Bouleuterion of infant children. for the burial

provided

a more

concrete

and

in a way that left its (missing and sepa rately attached) right arm free to perform the ritual act of pouring a libation. Priesthoods were expensive civic offices thatgave theirholders prominence in the community, in both lifeand statues. Priests led public itshimation
processions, conducted sacrifices, and

DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY

OF CLASSICAL OF MICHIGAN

STUDIES

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48104

RATTE@UMICH.EDU

festival games, and theywore regal-looking purple cloaks and elaborate bust crowns made of gold.98 It is thisprestigious priesdy costume that is represented in

presided

over

ASHMOLEAN OXFORD UNITED OX1

MUSEUM 2PH

KINGDOM

BERT.SMITH@ASHMUS.OX.AC.UK

98Ath. 21 lb; Dio Chrys. Or. 35.10; W?rde

1988,4-17;

Rumscheid

2000,10,41-3.

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