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The Stadium at Aphrodisias

Bibliographic Data

ID4534114
AuthorsKatherine Welch (0000-0001-7334-6510, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume102
Issue3
Pages547-569
Publication date1998-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/506401
OpenAlexW2326805340
LanguageEN
Citations received15

This article presents the preliminary results of an ongoing campaign of architectural and archaeological documentation of the Stadium at Aphrodisias. A combination of stylistic and historical evidence suggests that the Stadium was part of the monumental building program undertaken in the city in the first century A. D. The Stadium has a peculiar form in that it has two sphendonai (curved ends) rather than one. It is one of a small group of such stadia in the Greek world that epigraphical evidence suggests had a specific name: στάδιον ἀμφιθέατρον ("amphitheatral stadium"). The unusually complete archaeological record at Aphrodisias indicates that throughout the Imperial period the Stadium was used not only for Greek athletic competitions, but also for Roman spectacles such as gladiatorial games and venationes. In Late Antiquity a small stone amphitheater was built into its eastern sphendone, obliterating part of the Stadium's running track. It is argued that this was a way of making permanent an arrangement that had always been temporary in past centuries. Gladiatorial contests had largely ceased by the time that the amphitheater was built into the Stadium, indicating that amphitheaters such as this one were intended not for gladiatorial games, as is often supposed, but for the venationes that seem to have flourished at the site well into the sixth century, long after they had been officially banned in all cities of the eastern Roman empire

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Documentation · Period (music · Stadium · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Computer Science · Historical and Literary Studies · History

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    Open Access•Esen Öğüş•Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology•2020

  • Information Landscapes and Economic Practice in the Roman World

    Open Access•Miko Flohr•Managing Information in the Roman…•2021

  • Late Antique Portraits in a Public Context

    Open Access•R R R Smith•The Journal of Roman Studies•1999

  • Marble relief ‘Nero and Armenia’ from the Sebasteion at aPhrodisias in Caria (Asia Minor)

    Hasmik Z Markaryan•Światowit•2019

  • Anadolu Anti̇k Stadyumlarinda Yönlendi̇rme

    Ece ÇOKSOLMAZ•Amisos•2022

  • Se réunir à Saittai, cité de Lydie du nord-est

    Open Access•Marine Mazzei•Cahiers « Mondes anciens•2024

  • From Stadium to Harbor

    Rick Bonnie•Bulletin of the American Schools…•2017

  • Gladiators and Monomachoi

    Michael J Carter•The International Journal of the…•2009

  • The surprisingly long history of the Olympics of Antioch (AD 212-520)

    Sofie Remijsen•Syria•2020

  • Preliminary Report of the Stadium‐amphitheatre Excavations at Perge

    Open Access•Aytaç Dönmez, Ahmet Erdem Dönmez•Oxford Journal of Archaeology•2025

  • The Greek Ephebate in the Roman Period

    Nigel M Kennell•The International Journal of the…•2009

  • Archaeological Research at Aphrodisias in Caria, 1999-2001

    Christopher Ratté, R R R Smith•American Journal of Archaeology•2004

  • The Gladiatorial Spectacles in Cyprus and the Enigma of the Amphitheater at Salamis

    Michalis Karambinis•American Journal of Archaeology•2025

  • Gladiatorial and Beast-Fight Monuments from Mytilene

    Michalis Karambinis•American Journal of Archaeology•2020

Unique citing works15
Citations per year0,56
Citation span1999 - 2025 (27)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 15

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