1. Location

The Theatre Street (map no. 78)¹ extends from the north-east corner of the square in front of the theatre of Ephesus until the city’s edge in a S-N direction. In fact, it is the extension of the so-called Marble Street and joins the theatre district with the city’s northern exit, the Coressian gate. This, according to all evidence, was situated between the city’s stadium (map. no. 104) and the Vedius Gymnasium (map no. 106). Thus, the Theatre Street occupies the root of the western slope of Panayir Dag (mountain Tracheia). Like Embolos, the Theatre Street was not included in the town plan of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. On the contrary it seems than it followed the ground’s natural relief as it ascended gently towards the city’s exit. It first bends slightly to the northwest, then turns again to the north–east in the direction of the Byzantine Palace (map. no. 81). Approximately 15 m. to the south of the so-called Apsidal building (map. no. 80), the Theatre Street is intersected on its western side by an alleyway, which possibly began further west in the harbour area.

2. Location – Function

The area, where the Theatre Street is placed, is identified with the Ionian village of Coressus² which occupied the hill of the acropolis and the western slope of Panayir Dag. During Roman times, Coressus was one of Ephesus’ most important quarters, while the street which led from the theatre to the Coresian gate to the north was possibly called Plateia in Coressus.³ This street, apart from its obvious commercial character explained by its proximity to the harbour, formed since the Archaic period – and before the establishment of new Ephesus – part of the Processional Way, as it connected the Artemision with the Triodos.⁴ Also, during the Archaic and Classical periods this natural route at the foothills of Panayir Dag provided access to the necropolis of later Embolos. Later, possibly out of respect for the area’s history and sacredness, the “Plateia in Coressus” retained its old layout and was not included in the Hippodamian grid.⁵ During the Hellenistic and Roman periods moreover, the Theatre Street marked, together with the Coressian gate, the Sacred Way through which the city’s adolescents accompanied the Artemis procession. Finally, during the same period, the Theatre Street was the only route towards the stadium – and later – towards the Vedius gymnasium on the city’s northeastern edge.

3. Architectural Description – Monumental Topography

The Street’s design, as it is revealed today, dates from the Late Imperial period and definitely after the destructive earthquakes of the 3^rd century AD. During this last phase the “Plateia in Coressus” was approximately 650 m. long and had a maximum width of 7,70 m. Its surface was paved with marble. Porticos with shops flanked the road along its entire length. The colonnades along the façade were formed by columns of various types and sizes, which led to the creation of unequal intercolumnar spaces. The columns were possibly covered by arches. The porticos were 4,1 m. (east side) and 3,7 m. (west side) deep.⁶

The “Plateia in Coressus” begins in the corner formed by the square of the Theatre (map no. 72), and the Arcadiane (map no. 83). In the Imperial era the Theatre Gymnasium (map no. 79) was erected at this location, which has only partly been excavated. The building’s architectural type combines both the gymnasium’s palaestra (colonnaded courtyard to the south) and the bathing facilities. Moreover, the central hall of the complex’s northern wing was possibly dedicated to the imperial cult.⁷ About 100 m. further north, always on the street’s western side, after the intersection already mentioned, lay the Apsidal building (map. no. 80), 40 m. long, with a W-E orientation. Here were found marble bath tubs which came from the nearby thermae. Although the building looks like an early Christian basilica, it is more likely – according to the excavators – that it had a secular use.⁸

Further north, on the square’s western side, is the so-called Byzantine Palace (map. no. 81).⁹ During the first construction phase in the Roman period, the building was orientated towards the Theatre Street and included bathing facilities. During the Late Antique, the baths were incorporated into a more extensive complex which included, among others, an oblong hall with two niches at its ends, and a central tetraconch room to the east, measuring 260 m². The identification of this building with the palace of the proconsul of Asia during the Early Christian era or the byzantine general of the area is quite plausible. Also on the street’s western side and at a distance of about 20 m. a fountain (map. no. 102) with a peristyle court¹⁰ was erected during the Early Byzantine times.

On the road’s eastern side, exactly opposite the fountain, is the impressive stadium complex (numb. 104).¹¹ This was of course the site of the Hellenistic stadium of which, however, very few elements survive. In its present form, the stadium was built in the mid 1^st century AD with donation of the freedman C. Stertinius Orpex, and was repaired and renovated after the 262 AD earthquake. The earthquakes which occurred during the following century possibly caused further damage, but the stadium’s decline had began with the rise of the new religion and was sealed with the erection of a church on its façade. During the Middle Ages the stadium area was used as a cemetery. The Coressian gate can be placed with great certainty between the stadium and the Vedius gymnasium (map. no. 106), which is dated during the reign of Antoninus Pius. It signaled both the northern entrance to the Hellenistic and Roman city and the intersection of the Processional Way which descended from the northeast and continued into the city. With the erection of the byzantine wall, they moved the Coressian gate further to the east, between the stadium’s eastern edge and the gymnasium.

4. History of the Theatre Street

The street’s history began before the planning of new Ephesus by Lysimachus. The Coressus settlement, whose establishment dates to the years of Ionian colonization,¹² extended to the wider area. During Archaic and Classical years the street received no artificial modulation; it was rather a natural passage between the hill of the acropolis and the western slope of Tracheia. Following the modulation of Tracheia it joined the road which came from the Artemision to the east, feeding into the route of the processions which took place on celebrations in honour of Artemis and included the latter Embolos.

After the colonization of Hellenistic Ephesus, the initial Ionian village was naturally incorporated into the new hippodamian town plan and formed the Coressian quarter. Although the Theatre Street retained its initial course, we must assume that during Hellenistic times it acquired its monumental form through paving and the erection of porticos and shops (tabernae) along its route.¹³ Such a hall bore, according to inscriptions, the name of Stoa of Servilius. He is possibly identified with the consul Servilius who also served as governor of Asia during 46-44 BC. It is not unlikely that he funded the erection or renovation of the stoa which would perpetuate his name along one of the city’s most important streets.¹⁴ At the end of the street to the north the Coressian gate was erected, which signaled the entrance of the Processional Way into the city. Almost nothing survives from the street’s Hellenistic building phase; it is however certain that the stadium was built during this period at its northern end as was the theatre.

We also have little evidence about the street’s Roman building phase. The theatre’s gymnasium, at the beginning of the street, is the only Roman building, together with the theatre, which is preserved in good condition. It is certain that the architectural unification of the street occurred during the Early Imperial years with the erection of porticos along its entire length.¹⁵ These porticos offered access to rooms which were arranged behind them and functioned as shops and workshops. During the first half of the 3^rd century AD, the asiarch and benefactor Publicianus Nikephoros funded the renovation (possibly after a fire) of another portico. He appears to have donated the space formed by two, three or more intercolumniations to commercial and craftsmen guilds as testified by a series of inscriptions on columns which originate from the portico. This area, which extended from the façade to the portico’s rear rooms, was used by the various guilds for the production and display of their produce. The researchers who studied these inscriptions in depth confirm that they come from the 3^rd century portico which was funded by Publicianus Nicephorus.¹⁶

Over the following centuries and despite the devastating earthquakes of the 4^th century, the plateia of Coressus did not cease to form the main street of Ephesus, if we can judge by the edifices erected during this era (palace, fountain, church in the stadium, Apsidal building). On the other hand, the chronological limit for the deposition of the porticos can be pinpointed with the construction of the Byzantine walls which used building material from the street’s ruins.¹⁷ This enclosure confined, during the 7^th century, Ephesus to the Coressus area and the main S-N road remained the Theatre Street, stripped however of its old grandeur.

5. History of Research – State of Preservation