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Philipp Niewöhner

Aphrodisias and Ephesus
The suggested relation between antiquities and antiquarian choices in urban devel-
opment and church building may be further corroborated by comparison with other
large old cities in western Asia Minor that shared ancient monuments as well as an-
tiquarian tendencies with Miletus. The foremost example appears to be Aphrodisias,
the provincial capital of Caria, several days’journey inland of Miletus. There, too, the
ancient centre was largely preserved and underwent few changes during the early
Byzantine period.90 A temple of the imperial cult was dismantled and replaced by
shops and workshops, but long mythological friezes that flanked the approach to the
pagan shrine were left standing, with only a few gods, sacrificial scenes, and genitals
removed.91 A monumental tetrapylon that used to form the entrance to a sanctuary of
Aphrodite was restored around 400 AD, after it had been damaged by an earthquake,
and remained intact throughout the early Byzantine period once certain images, like
that of Aphrodite, had been erased. The bouleuterion and the stadium were recon-
figured and continued to serve as auditorium and as a venue for games. The gate to
the South Agora became the monumental backdrop of a new fountain. Squares and
colonnades remained in use, including for the presentation of statues, that continued
to be carved throughout the early Byzantine period.92 A building with portraits of
philosophers may have housed a philosophical school93 that is attested as late as the
fifth century.94
Church buildings invaded the centre of Aphrodisias relatively late. Instead, three
or four early Byzantine churches were erected in the necropolis outside the city walls.95
This situation is reminiscent of Rome or Milan in the fourth century, where most large
and important churches also stood in the necropoleis, and rarely in the city centres.96
At Aphrodisias, this situation appears to have lasted until the sixth century, when the
temple of Aphrodite was converted into the city’s largest church.97 A. Chaniotis inter-
prets this conversion as a propaganda victory of a new Christian establishment over
the traditional pagan elites of the city, to whom he assigns graffiti and inscriptions,
some of which he dates as late as the sixth century.98 In fact, the cult of Aphrodite
could have remained alive until the seventh century, when the city was renamed Stau-
ropolis and an inscription above the north-eastern city gate was modified accordingly,
90 Dalgiç/Sokolicek (2017).
91 Smith (2013), pp. 44-49.
92 Smith (2016).
93 Smith (1990).
94 Roueché (2004), V 8-17.
95 Dalgiç (2012).
96 Krautheimer (1983), pp. 69-92, in particular 79; McLynn (1994), pp. 226-237; Brandenburg (2013); Dass-
mann (2004), pp. 128-133; de Blaauw (2008); Leppin/Ristow (2010), cc. 1172,1191.
97 Cormack (1990); Herbert (2000); Ratté (2001), pp. 130-133.
98 Chaniotis (2002), pp. 103-112; Chaniotis (2008). Cf. Trombley (1993/1994), vol. 2, pp. 52-73; Roueché
(2004), VII 4; Trombley (2007), p. 201; Dalgiç (2012), pp. 370,394.