Domitian Square

The road on the west side of the Agora leads to Domitian Square. The square is called this because of the temple built on the south side for the Emperor Domitian. At the end of the short road leading to the square there are reliefs of the god Hermes on two bases standing one on the right and the other on the left in one of these the god has taken a goat and in the other a ram by the horns and is taking them away.

Cauldrons on tripods seen in reliefs were used as libation vessels in religious ceremonies. Their short name is tripod. The excavation of the buildings on the Agora side of the square is completed. No findings could be revealed to indicate the purpose of the construction of the building made of the large squared calcareous stone blocks found here and understood to have been two storeyed.

The second storey of this building opened without doubt onto the Agora. From the remains upwards near this two fountains are among the important structures of the square. The fountain of which a high arched part is restored is called the Pollio Fountain. Following the destruction of the Temple of Isis in the Agora, the statues of the pediment were ranged in a row on the edge of the semicircular pool.

The small vaulted buildings next to the Pollio Fountain were used as shops. These as well as the shops on either side of the temple are an indication that the Domitian Square was an important commercial centre. The existence in Ephesus ruins of shops of a density which would not be seen in other old cities is related to the overseas trade of Ephesus.

Domitian Square Ephesus