Aphrodisias / A Brief History
The Ancient City of Aphrodisias
The earliest known settlement at Aphrodisias in Caria dates back to about 7,000 years ago, and the site was occupied continuously down to its foundation in historical times as a Greek-style city-state in the early second century BC. Colonists from Greece had established themselves on coastal sites in Caria long before its occupation by Croesus of Lydia and then the Persians in the mid-later sixth century BC. However it was not until the Hellenistic era, following the expulsion of the Persians by Alexander the Great, that Greeks began to occupy inland Caria.
After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, western Anatolia was initially assigned to Lysimachus and then was invaded and taken over by Seleucus, another of Alexander’s Macedonian successors, in 282 BC. It remained under Macedonian-Greek rule as part of the Seleucid empire till the defeat of Antiochus III by the Romans in 190 BC. They put western Anatolia under the control of the Attalid kings of Pergamum. Their last king, Attalos III, had no heirs and on his death in 133 BC his kingdom, which included Caria, was bequeathed to Rome and became eventually (in 129 BC) the Roman province of Asia. Aphrodisias was already at this time a Greek polis or city-state and a famous cult-centre of the goddess Aphrodite.
The cult of this local goddess claimed ancient origins. There was a tradition that, after the sack of Nineveh by the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC, a group of Assyrians, led by king Ninos, came to Aphrodisias bringing with them eastern cults. This tradition of foundation by king Ninos is represented on a relief of c. AD 100 found in the civil Basilica at Aphrodisias.
From the first century BC the sculptors of Aphrodisias exploited the fine marble from the nearby quarry in the Sabakos mountains (Baba Dag), producing statuary, reliefs, portraits, sarcophagi, and decorative elements. The city’s sculptors were soon in demand in Rome and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area. The temple of Aphrodite in the Ionic style was built in the late first century BC and provided continuity with the cult of the goddess in the pre-Roman era.
After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Aphrodisias developed a close relationship with the Caesarian faction and later with the Julio-Claudian emperors. This relationship originated with an Aphrodisian named C. Julius Zoilos who was probably a slave of Julius Caesar and a freedman of Octavian (who became the emperor Augustus in 27 BC). Octavian was keen to protect the city’s interests, as witnessed by a copy of a letter of commendation for Zoilos from Octavian to one of his agents in the region, inscribed on the Archive Wall of the city’s theatre and still visible there. In 39 BC the Roman senate issued a decree granting very significant privileges to the Aphrodisians – autonomy within the Roman province of Asia and exemption from taxes payable to Rome by other provincial cities.
The cult of Aphrodite served to reinforce the city’s links with the Julio-Claudian emperors through one of Rome’s chief founding heroes -- Aeneas the son of Venus-Aphrodite, and his son Iulus. This Aeneas connection is represented in some of the reliefs from the Sebasteion, the city’s great temple complex dedicated to the early Roman emperors which was built in the mid-first century AD (Sebastos is Greek for Augustus).
Augustus’ successor Tiberius confirmed the privileges granted to Aphrodisias and subsequent emperors continued to show their good will, as shown by the imperial letters inscribed on the Archive Wall. The Roman imperial period (first to third centuries AD) witnessed the increasing fame of the city’s cult of Aphrodite and the importance of its school of sculpture.
The emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in AD 312 and by the later fourth century, under the emperor Theodosius, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman empire. Aphrodisias was established as a bishopric of the Byzantine church but retained a strong interest in its old gods too. The Christians eventually prevailed, and around AD 500 the temple of Aphrodite was converted into the city’s cathedral.
After catastrophic earthquakes and repeated Persian and Arab invasions, most of the city and its public buildings were abandoned in the seventh century AD.
The earliest known settlement at Aphrodisias in Caria dates back to about 7,000 years ago, and the site was occupied continuously down to its foundation in historical times as a Greek-style city-state in the early second century BC. Colonists from Greece had established themselves on coastal sites in Caria long before its occupation by Croesus of Lydia and then the Persians in the mid-later sixth century BC. However it was not until the Hellenistic era, following the expulsion of the Persians by Alexander the Great, that Greeks began to occupy inland Caria.
After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, western Anatolia was initially assigned to Lysimachus and then was invaded and taken over by Seleucus, another of Alexander’s Macedonian successors, in 282 BC. It remained under Macedonian-Greek rule as part of the Seleucid empire till the defeat of Antiochus III by the Romans in 190 BC. They put western Anatolia under the control of the Attalid kings of Pergamum. Their last king, Attalos III, had no heirs and on his death in 133 BC his kingdom, which included Caria, was bequeathed to Rome and became eventually (in 129 BC) the Roman province of Asia. Aphrodisias was already at this time a Greek polis or city-state and a famous cult-centre of the goddess Aphrodite.
The cult of this local goddess claimed ancient origins. There was a tradition that, after the sack of Nineveh by the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC, a group of Assyrians, led by king Ninos, came to Aphrodisias bringing with them eastern cults. This tradition of foundation by king Ninos is represented on a relief of c. AD 100 found in the civil Basilica at Aphrodisias.
From the first century BC the sculptors of Aphrodisias exploited the fine marble from the nearby quarry in the Sabakos mountains (Baba Dag), producing statuary, reliefs, portraits, sarcophagi, and decorative elements. The city’s sculptors were soon in demand in Rome and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area. The temple of Aphrodite in the Ionic style was built in the late first century BC and provided continuity with the cult of the goddess in the pre-Roman era.
After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Aphrodisias developed a close relationship with the Caesarian faction and later with the Julio-Claudian emperors. This relationship originated with an Aphrodisian named C. Julius Zoilos who was probably a slave of Julius Caesar and a freedman of Octavian (who became the emperor Augustus in 27 BC). Octavian was keen to protect the city’s interests, as witnessed by a copy of a letter of commendation for Zoilos from Octavian to one of his agents in the region, inscribed on the Archive Wall of the city’s theatre and still visible there. In 39 BC the Roman senate issued a decree granting very significant privileges to the Aphrodisians – autonomy within the Roman province of Asia and exemption from taxes payable to Rome by other provincial cities.
The cult of Aphrodite served to reinforce the city’s links with the Julio-Claudian emperors through one of Rome’s chief founding heroes -- Aeneas the son of Venus-Aphrodite, and his son Iulus. This Aeneas connection is represented in some of the reliefs from the Sebasteion, the city’s great temple complex dedicated to the early Roman emperors which was built in the mid-first century AD (Sebastos is Greek for Augustus).
Augustus’ successor Tiberius confirmed the privileges granted to Aphrodisias and subsequent emperors continued to show their good will, as shown by the imperial letters inscribed on the Archive Wall. The Roman imperial period (first to third centuries AD) witnessed the increasing fame of the city’s cult of Aphrodite and the importance of its school of sculpture.
The emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in AD 312 and by the later fourth century, under the emperor Theodosius, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman empire. Aphrodisias was established as a bishopric of the Byzantine church but retained a strong interest in its old gods too. The Christians eventually prevailed, and around AD 500 the temple of Aphrodite was converted into the city’s cathedral.
After catastrophic earthquakes and repeated Persian and Arab invasions, most of the city and its public buildings were abandoned in the seventh century AD.