The stadium at Ephesus, lies at the entrance of the city in the Kusadasi direction. A good example of the stadiums of the period, it is 230 metres long and 30 metres wide. Its entrance is on the west.
The entrance with two rows of columns is in the form of an arch of triumph. The stone blocks standing there, decorated with reliefs of figures such as rabbits and vases, were brought from some other place at a later period and were used here for a second time. The rows of seats on the right were made by cutting into the mountain and the ones of the left were set on long vaulted spaces.
The Stadium was first built in the Hellenistic period, then was altered in Nero’s reign (54-68 AD) for its present shape. In the 3rd and 4th centuries a wall was put up at the east end and an arena was formed where gladiator games, wild animal fights and acrobatic shows took place.
With the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion the Stadium was razed to the ground to avenge the cruelty inflicted upon the early Christians and an important part of the material was used in the construction of the Church of St. John and the surrounding walls.
The Stadium at Ephesus
The Ephesus stadium’s first building phase dates to the Early Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic stadium was rather austere with a simple flat track and earthen banks. During the Roman period the structure undergoes changes and it is converted into a monumental stadium with luxuriousgradines, a sphendone and monumental entrances. The monument was found in 1911, while systematic excavational research in the site begun in 1993.
1. Location
On the northwest slope of Mt. Pion (Panayır), at the north part of Ephesus, next toVedius’ Gymnasium(no. 106), an artificial cavity was dug into the ground, extending over an area of 3.3 hectares. The surviving traces, the dimensions and the elongated form of this structure allowed early on its identification as a stadium, with an E-W orientation.
However, excavations on the site, which will allowus to clarify the form and the ground plan of the monument, as well as its building history, have only recently begun and are still ongoing. Therefore, to date there is no overall study on the stadium of Ephesus.
2. Architectural Design
The Hellenistic stadium probably had the shape of a simple flat track, designed to hold gymnic games, with earthen gradines for spectators.
One of its narrow sides was U-shaped, the so-called sphendone. Therefore the stadium exhibited a horseshoe shaped ground plan, measuring 229 m. in length and 28 m. In width, like most of the Greek stadia. Already from the Hellenistic period, itswest side featured a mechanism for starting races, the aphesis. During the Roman period, and more specifically in the reign of emperor Nero(54-68 AD), the stadium was expanded with the addition of seats for spectators on its north side. According to an inscription engraved on the south retaining wall, this refurbishment was funded by a wealthy citizen named C. Stertinius Orpex, his spouse Stertinia Marena and their daughter.
The funds also covered the construction of vaulted substructures supporting the marbleseating for spectators at the north side.
Spectators accessed the north side of the stadium via two outer staircases and a vaulted
internal corridor, measuring 85 m. in length and 2.9 m. in width.
Six narrow entrances opened on this corridor, through which thespectators entered the upper seating rows of the north side. The seats were divided into kerkides by narrow stairways.
We should note that in the NE section the seats were interrupted and a vaulted gateway was formed. It is argued that this was theentrance for the higher state officials, the notables, as well as the gladiators and the beasts that were kept in special spaces close tothe stadium.
In the southwest section of the stadium stood a monumental gate, which is still preserved in a rather good state.
The gate’s arched opening is flanked by a wall made up of stone blocks in the pseudo – isodomicmasonry system. Smaller arched gateways wereformed at other points of the stadium’s western façade; these lead to the vaulted corridors through which the spectators could reachtheir seats and move about within the stadium.
The track was made up of compacted earth. Its length measured one stadion , i.e. approximately 184 m.
Vertically fixed orthostatai were placed on its periphery which bore relief decoration. The sphendone, i.e. the U-shaped end situated at the east section of the structure, measured 50 x 42 m. In the Late Roman period it appears that this section acquired the form of a circular field; it wasisolated from the rest of the stadium and was used for staging spectacles popular among the Roman troops of the region, like gladiatorial fights and beast-fights.
This means the area was converted into an arena measuring 48 m. in length and 40 m in width.With the advent of Christianity these gory games were suppressed and were replaced by athletic contests.
Archaeological research has also brought to light a water pipes which were running through the south section of the stadium;apparently these pipes were connected to an aqueduct which supplied the city with water.
A possible explanation is that this space hosted aquacades (water ballets) or mock-naval battles, spectacles very fashionable during the Roman period.
The 262 AD earthquake left many parts of the stadium in ruins. The north façade was never repaired; on the contrary, the southwestgate and parts of the west side were rebuilt using the monument’s architectural members, while the area of the aphesis was alsorepaired.
The conversion of the sphendone into an arena for gladiatorial fights should be dated to this period. A series of earthquakes between 359 and 366 AD caused further damage to the monument. In the 5th century AD a Christian church was erected over the site of the stadium.
More specifically, the 1994 excavations revealed parts of a peristyle, which was recognized as the atrium of a church which during this late period occupied part of the stadium’s northern section and remained in use until 1081.
In this period (5th century AD) the track had also fallen into disuse and was usedas arable land, while a cemetery begun surrounding the wider area of the church, remaining in use until the 12th century.
3. Dating
The Ephesus stadium dates to the 3rd century BC and its construction outside the Hellenistic city is attributed to kingLysimachus. It remained in continuous use during the Hellenistic and Imperial periods. It also remained in use up to Late Antiquity. Throughout its history the stadium was repaired and underwent modifications. A large scale refurbishment project was carried out in the 4th century AD and it was possibly related to the large earthquake that ruined many of the city’s edifices. When Ephesus wasabandoned in the 7th century AD the stadium was allowed to become dilapidated. The locals begun ransacking the monument, andquarried it for architectural members that were used as building material or were melted in the area’s lime-kilns.
Stadium at Ephesus
The large stadium or hippodrome was originally built in the 3rd century BC and even received a major rebuilding in the 4th century. When Ephesus was mostly abandoned in the 7th century, much of the stadium was dismantled and its stone added to the fortifications on Ayasuluk hill. There is still a well-preserved monumental gate on the west side.