Sebasteion at Aphrodisias

Sebasteion Temple is located within the settlement of the Caria region near Geyre Village, which belongs to the district of Karacasu in Aydın Province.

A sacred area belonging to the Roman Emperors (Sebastoi) situated on the east side of the main street that runs north‑south through Aphrodisias and southwest of the forecourt of the Temple of Aphrodite. The site of the temple is an old area outside the grid city plan. The temple was built during the period when Roman Emperors were regarded as gods, in order to show respect for the emperors' power and to emphasize the strong bond between the city and the Roman Empire. The word Sebasteion, meaning Temple of the Emperors, also confirms this relationship.

History

The temple was begun during the reign of Tiberius, the second emperor of Rome (AD 14‑37), and was completed around AD 60 in the reign of Nero. The temple, dedicated to Aphrodite, the Roman divine emperors (Theoi Sebastoi) and the people of Aphrodisias, was built under the leadership of two local families.

The temple consists of four parts: the main temple structure at the eastern end reached by high stairs, the monumental gate (propylon) at the western end, and long colonnades on both sides of the central courtyard.

The Propylon on the city’s main north‑south street is a very high structure adorned with columns. The lower level features Ionic columns, the upper level Corinthian columns, and a Baroque frieze above the gate. A total of 16 columns form four aediculae. Among them are bases belonging to a series of statues.

After this entrance, a marble‑paved courtyard is entered via stairs. At the east end of this courtyard, which measures 14 m × 90 m, there is a Roman Corinthian‑style temple, and on the north and south edges there are three‑storey structures reaching heights of 14 m. On the second and third floors of the north and south façade structures there are 200 life‑size reliefs. The total number of columns, Doric on the ground floor, Ionic on the second floor, and Corinthian on the third floor, exceeds 300, and the rooms on the ground floor, which were used as the production centre and market of the building, were added in the Late Antiquity.

The original function of the Sebasteion reliefs on the second and third floors of the north and south façade structures can be interpreted as establishing a connection between the mythological heroes of ancient Greece and the Roman emperors; also, by depicting 50 local peoples who joined the Empire under Emperor Claudius, visualizing the power of the Roman emperors derived from ancient Greece.

The temple’s architecture combines Hellenistic and Roman traditions. The central narrow area being surrounded by very high and ornate side façades, and the design of the relief‑decorated façades between pilasters and attached half‑columns, inspired by the stage‑building decorations of ancient theatres, reveal the Hellenistic aspect of the structure.

It is known that all the reliefs used in the construction of the temple were produced simultaneously by marble craftsmen from various sculptural workshops or masters in Aphrodisias and were placed in situ.

Of the 200 reliefs used in the temple, 80 that can be found through excavations are exhibited since 31 May 2008 in the Afrodisias Museum Love‑Heart Hall designed by architect Cengiz Bektaş.