Despite appearances,
this gallery is not solely a salute to the theaters of
antiquity.
Theaters are,
however, often the most intact in situ reminders of the
civilization they represent. A theater occupies a
characteristic site (often at the base of a hill) and
recognizable shape (semicircular and tiered) and you can tell
what it was by what it still is.
The theater is an
expression of the interests of the citizens and also of their
wealth and capacity to build. Many of the cities and towns in
coastal Anatolia were rich from the trade that flourished
between Asian and Asia Minor cities and states and
Mediterranean cities and states. This prosperity lasted -
regardless of exigencies of conquest and rulership - for
millennia.
We can imagine the
audience, seated in the theater, witnessing a revival of
Antigone. The orchestra, where the actors appear, is backed by
an imposing wall - such as the one at Hierapolis - enclosing
the performance precinct. This massive backdrop is
characteristic of the Roman period, roughly zero BCE +/- 200
or so years, which is when most of the theaters in coastal
Anatolia were built or reconstructed.
It doesn’t take much
mental energy to set the scene: there are already tourists in
the seats and around the orchestra - just give most of them
cushions and wraps and a few others apparel-of-the-Roman-day
costumes, and you’ve got yourself an event.
If the theater
recalls the flourishing moment by virtue of its relative
integrity, many fragments of antiquity are more revealing of
absence. Of other remnants of ancient civilizations, many are
in museums and private collections, some are still buried, but
most have been victims of time. Large and notable structures
which still remain on site, such as temples (temple of athena, prieneandsanctuary, temple of apollo,
didyma), an occasional library (library
of celsus, ephesus) and a monumental gateway (tetrapylon, aphrodisias) are not quite what
they once were, often rebuilt and consisting of a few
columns or a wall or a pair of columns joined by a lintel or
an arch.
Not only that, but
these shards, in themselves incomplete, are merely a microcosm
of the whole city, which is represented by a street plan or
occasional foundation (knidos
ancient site and harbor), a marble brick (sculpture
from temple of athena, troy), a platform (base of temple of zeus, pergamumandplinth for the knidian aphrodite), or is entirely
missing.
None of this
matters, of course, when you’re there or when the photo of the
antique site has its own truth. I won’t go so far as to say
your hair stands on end (although it does) but you can sense
that something special went down here, whether it’s a
cosmopolitan setting such as thesacred way and theater, ephesusor a mountain
retreat such asview from arykanda. Civilization
happened. You can still tell, 2000 years later (or, in other
locations, 4000 years or 20,000 years). This is what visiting
an ancient site does: we recognize it, because it’s
entirely our place - just a moment or two away.
