The Bouleuterion and its environs in Early Imperial Aphrodisias

Abstract

Research on the remains of the monumental city center of Aphrodisias has been ongoing for over a century. After an Italian mission began here in 1937,1 work was intensified from 1961 under the direction of K. T. Erim of New York University and has continued since 1990 under R. R. R. Smith.2 While many of the projects have yielded results for the High Imperial, late-antique and Byzantine periods, our knowledge of the Late Hellenistic and Early Imperial monuments outside the temple area remains scant. The layout of urban spaces such as the Agora or the “South Pool Complex” is owed to the Early Imperial period and mostly saw only minor changes.3 But while the general urban plan persisted, the Late Hellenistic and Early Imperial buildings were often replaced or remodelled as the urban space was transformed. This is particularly true for the area north of the Agora and south of the Temple of Aphrodite (fig. 1). This paper intends to re-assess our evidence for the function of this space in the Early Imperial period.