1. Chronology – topography

Amongst the ruins of the buildings of Aspendus, a town of Pamphylia, stands the Agora complex, built on the town’s acropolis and covering a rectangular area of dimensions of 70 x 60 m. It was the town’s commercial and administrative nucleus, which included stoas with shops, a Bouleuterion, a Nymphaeum and a Basilica, all following a cohesive pattern of architectural organization around a rectangular open-air space. Another public building which is functionally connected to the area of the agora is the Exedra, which is located in its southeastern corner, on the road that leads to the town’s southern gate.¹

The initial complex of the Agora is dated to Hellenistic times, while it underwent significant interventions and changes in the Roman period. During the first building phase, in the 2^nd century BC, the following buildings appeared; the Western Stoa, the Bouleuterion or Odeion in the North, and the Eastern Stoa. However, the Agora took its final shape in the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries AD, with the erection of the Nymphaeum in the northern side and the replacement of the Eastern Stoa by the Basilica, while the Western Stoa and the Bouleuterion or Odeion had been maintained. The erection of the Exedra belongs to the same construction phase.

2. Architectural description

Access to the Agora is achieved through two roads that rise up and over the hill and begin from the south and east gate of the town.² The buildings that comprise it are arranged around a rectangular open-air area, without edificial connection. These are the Stoa on its western side, the Bouleuterion, the Nymphaion in the north and, finally, a second Stoa with shops which is incorporated into the Basilica on the eastern side.

2.1. Western Stoa

The Western stoa is a two-storey Hellenistic building with a preserved lenght of 70 m, which was separated in 20 chambers, from which only 15 survive today. They all shared the same dimensions , 4.20 m long and 9 m wide, and served as shops. The surviving separating walls of the chambers are made of carved conglomerate bricks, according to the pseudo-isodomic masonry style. Specifically, the carved stones are arranged in such a way that single rows of spread bricks are alternated by double rows of rectangular blocks, placed perpendicularly to the single rows, without the use of mortar. The brickwork reminds us of relevant examples of Hellenistic buildings of the western coastal Asia Minor, in Heraclea-by-Latmus and Pergamon. At the separating walls’ mid-height the surviving beam cases attest to the existence of a semi-storey. Therefore, the stoa is two-storey, a type which is widely known in Asia Minor. The entire construction was based on a podium, which made the stoa being in higher ground than the Agora, and access to it was through stairs. In front of the building’s chambers there was a colonnade, from which no traces of parts of entablature or pillars have been found, so as to help define the building’s architectural style. This Hellenistic building was also used in the Roman period.³

2.2. Bouleuterion, Ekklesiasterion or Odeion

It is located in the north of the Agora. The building has not been excavated and only the foundations and the lower layers of the stonework have survived. Its basic construction material is carved bricks of conglomerate, while the use of idle stones in masonry is regarded as a later intervention. It is a semi-circular building with a meeting hall, an antechamber and an atrium next to it. Its general dimensions were 38.50 m in length and 30 m in width. Initially the building was identified as a Odeion, but the typological similarities that it presents with the Bouleuterion of Miletus led to the assumption that it must have been an assembly house. Besides, the semi-circular assembly hall, reminds us of the Bouleuterion of Olympia in mainland Greece. Thus, the building was identified as a Bouleuterion or an Ekklesiasterion and it was dated to the second half of the 2^nd century BC, which means that it belongs to the Agora’s Hellenistic phase. In the interior, the meetings chamber included seats which were arranged amphitheatrically and a small orchestra which served as a speaker’s podium. Although no traces of the seats survive, the beam cases on the walls led to the assumption that the seats and the building’s roof must have been made out of wood. Given that the same building type was also used in the construction of the Odeion and the Bouleuterion, it is difficult to distinguish this specific building, thus it most probably served as both.⁴

2.3. Eastern Stoa

On the southwestern side of the Basilica, two underground oblong aisles have been traced, which are distinguished by arch rows with pseudo arches. Initially the two underground aisles were considered to belong to the Basilica. More recent research, however, proves that they formed the underground rooms of a Hellenistic stoa, in the place of which a Roman Basilica was constructed later on. The building was a two-aisle Hellenistic stoa of commercial character, which made use of the inclined ground in its position to form underground auxiliary spaces. Its main storey was at the level of the Agora. Its position, facing the western commercial stoa, ensured a symmetrical arrangement of the buildings around the cluster’s open-air space. This type of stoa reminds of Asia Minor stoas of equivalent type, which were found in Aegae, Alinda and Assos, and was characteristic of the towns which lay under Pergamon’s sphere of influence. The structural manner and the morphology of the additional elements encourage assumptions about the building’s dating and its probable use. The stonework comprises of great blocks of equal size, without mortar. The poor building technique, combined with the absence of decoration, lead to the assumption that it was most likely a storage area. The construction of ‘arches’ on the wall which separate the two aisles does not derive from a professional manner of vault-making, but from the placing, in both sides of the opening, of successive bricks with projecting ends that were carved into an arch shape. This arch-making technique and the use of console is often met in Hellenistic architecture. The use of the same system of arch-making in the basement of the Upper Gymnasium of Pergamon is also worth mentioning.⁵

2.4. Nymphaeum

The nymphaeum was a monumental, two-storey fountain-like construction and it was one of the most impressive buildings of the Agora. It was built in the 2^nd century AD, before the erection of the Basilica, in order to set more clearly the boundaries of the Agora’s territory and to emphasize its outline. At the same time, it defined the Agora’s Roman character. Architecturally it has many similarities with the Nymphaeum at Side, a neighbouring town. From the entire structure only the façade has survived, 32.50 m long and 15 m high, built from carved stones of conglomerate. It also had a marble lining which, unfortunately, has not survived. In each storey there were 5 niches, placed in regular spaces which were covered by semi-vaults. The middle niche of the lower storey was larger and served as an entrance door. The upper storey niches were probably decorated with statues. Water supply from the town’s aqueduct was achieved through a double canal.⁶

2.5. Basilica

The Basilica was situated in the eastern end of the Agora and had replaced the eastern commercial building. Only its foundations have survived. It had a length of approximately 105 m and a width of 27 m. It had a rectangular ground plan and was divided with rows of pillars in three aisles. In its northern part there was an antechamber, a quadrangular construction with walls of approximately 2 m thick, also built from carved stones. Its surviving height is 15 m. The building had an arched opening on the north side, which was the main entrance , and three arched openings on the south side, which led to the Basilica’s main space. The middle gate in the south wall was wider than the other two, above which there were windows. Externally, the building was supported by buttresses. In the interior of this quadrangular construction, on the eastern and western sides, there were niches which were decorated with statues.

In more recent times, the building was repaired and some repair traces from the use of smaller carved stones and idle-stone construction are visible. In the Byzantine period the Basilica served as a church. At that time a semicircular arch was added to the south end of the building.

As far as construction material is concerned, the foundations of the Basilica were made of carved stonework, while the construction of the walls of the upper stonework was less carefull, with the mixed use of bricks and idle stones.⁷

2.6. Exedra

The Exedra is situated in the southeastern corner of the Agora and is oriented to the south, facing the road which leads from the town’s south gate to the Agora. Its construction is dated to the Roman period. It has a rectangular ground plan and it is built from stones mixed with abundant connecting mortar. In its southern side, a semicircular space was formed, built from large carved bricks, with a marble lining, which was covered by a semi-vault. Internally, in regular spaces and in a height of 1.70 m from the ground’s surface, there were five niches, which were covered by semi-vaults and were decorated with statues, from which none has survived. The entire structure served as a kind of lecture theatre, where orators and philosophers gave their speeches.

3. Interpretation

The Agora of Aspendus, although it does not present any specific peculiarities compared to the agoras of other towns in Antiquity, presents an interest as far as the development of its architectural style is concerned, throughout two consecutive historical periods. The interventions and the choices which were made at each period represent the spirit of each era, related to the shaping of free public spaces. This concerned the arrangement of buildings and the choice of their morphology and function.

In Hellenistic monumental architecture the buildings which were chosen to surround the Agora’s open-air area were free-standing and autonomous, keeping a significant distance from each other. They were symmetrically arranged, with respect to the single character of the open-air space which they surrounded, without creating the feeling of a closed space, as was the case in Roman forums with the use of a peristyle. The opposite sides of the Agora of Aspendus are defined by stoas, on which the influence of Pergamon’s architecture was evident, which became known either through the neighbouring Attaleia or through Pergamon itself, as the city was under the influence of the kingdom of Pergamon after the battle of Magnesia. In addition, a particular feature of the Hellenistic agoras is their direct connection to the road network. This feature was also traced in Aspendus. Besides, this was one of the reasons that explained the preservation of space between the buildings, which facilitated free movement among them and access to the town’s main roads. This characteristic, however, gradually disappeared after the Late Hellenistic period, and was replaced by agoras that were closed in all directions, a type of agora which was widely met in the Roman Imperial period.