See the main post here: The Temple of Dionysus at Teos
Post on the North and South stoas: The Temple of Dionysus at Teos: North and South Stoas
The Temenos
Temenos is a Greek term used to describe an area that has been demarcated as a sacred ground belonging to a respective deity. It was common for large temple sanctuaries to have temenos areas surrounded by various related structures.
The temenos of the sanctuary of Dionysus at Teos was surrounded on all four sides by enclosing structures that formed a trapezoidal courtyard around the main temple building. This courtyard consisted of four stoas, which are designated as the North, South, East, and West stoas.
Under Roman rule, many Greek temples followed the Roman fashion of completing the enclosure around the temenos area, creating an enclosed courtyard space around the main temple building, typically consisting of stoas and a propylon (monumental entrance).
Stoas
Stoas were covered colonnaded walkways, built typically for public use. They were often added to prominent public spaces, particularly to agorae and Roman forums, and sometimes to temple sanctuaries.
Often monumental in their architecture and scale, they served to beautify the area and provide shelter from the elements. Various functions could take place in a stoa, including the sale of goods, the display of artwork, and religious gatherings. The Stoic school of philosophy derives its name from the stoa where the Zeno of Citium and his followers would gather to discuss philosophy.
The West Stoa
The West stoa borders the western edge of the temenos. It is approximately 73 metres long, measured along the back wall.
The West stoa columns do not fit neatly into the canonical orders; they employ a hybrid Doric-Ionic order. The Ionic features of the columns include their exceptionally slender proportions, and the capitals which feature an egg-and-dart ornament above a bead-and-reel; it could be thought of either as an enriched Doric capital, or as an Ionic capital without volutes. The Doric features include the absence of a moulded base at the bottom of the shaft, which is characteristic of the Greek Doric; and the simple capital whose main visual elements are an echinus and abacus.
The entablature of the West Stoa is wholly Ionic in style, with a three-fascia entablature, a continuous plain frieze, and a dentil course. We have chosen to colour the frieze blue, although no evidence of colour is visible today.
The lower portions of these columns were left without fluting. Fluting columns is an expensive process, and the sharp edges of the fluting are particularly prone to wear. The bottom portion of a colonnade was sometimes left unfluted in high-traffic areas, where people passing by and leaning on the columns would erode the edges over time.
The interior wall of the West stoa is thought to have been decorated with a Pompeian First style fresco, also known as incrustation or masonry style. This type of wall decoration uses moulded stucco to imitate the appearance of an ashlar masonry wall, often colourful and sometimes textured to look like marble. Architectural details such as cornices and miniature engaged pillars, columns, and fences were sometimes included, too. Remains of stucco belonging to a First style fresco have been found in excavations of the West stoa, and it is thought that this type of wall decoration was present in the other stoas too. In our reconstruction, we have chosen to take a conservative approach, showing a plain white First style wall; the original wall decoration may have been more elaborate and colourful.
The East Stoa
The East stoa is in the Ionic order and borders the eastern edge of the temenos. It is approximately 43 metres long, measured along the back wall. The columns are regularly spaced except for the two central columns, which are placed wider apart and align with the main gate of the propylon.
The Ionic order we have employed is largely an educated guess; the proportions and details of the order are approximations, as detailed drawings and dimensions of the superstructure elements were not available at the time of making. The design of the capital is based on a smaller Ionic capital that was found in the temenos area, but we’re not certain which building it belonged to. The entablature of the East stoa notably had no frieze.
We are not certain what style of wall the East stoa had, it may have had a First style stucco wall as seen in the other stoas, but we have chosen to depict the East stoa with a marble ashlar wall. We have chosen also to enhance the ornamentation of the capitals with a yellow-red polychrome application, and ornamented the volute eyes with bronze fittings.
The “South Room”
In the south-eastern corner of the temenos was a room whose appearance is not yet fully understood. We have chosen to depict it using the Ionic order of the East stoa, but this is only a guess/placeholder until further information comes to light. It featured a large central opening with two columns. The room was about 11 metres in width and 7 metres in depth.
The function of this room is currently unknown. Some possibilities include it being a storeroom, or a place for displaying statues of prominent individuals. We have chosen to leave it empty due to this uncertainty.
The Propylon
The propylon is the monumental gateway that served as the main entrance to the temenos. It was approximately 12 metres wide and 7 metres deep.
Fragments of Corinthian capitals were found nearby and are believed to belong to the propylon. Our reconstruction follows the proposed restitution given by M. Kadıoğlu (in Teos Dionysos Kutsal Alanı Propylonu, 2022). The design of the propylon is distinctly Roman in character and has been compared to the Market Gate of Miletus.
The architrave featured a Latin inscription, the remains of which read:
… COSꞏXIIꞏDE … O … VS … TRIBVNICꞏPOTES …
These are the remains of a Latin imperial dedicatory inscription, which follow a well-known format, given as a series of titles of the reigning emperor. This allows us to precisely date structures that have these inscriptions on them. The inscription has been restored by M. Kadıoğlu as:
IMPꞏCAESARꞏAVGVSTVSꞏCOSꞏXIIꞏDESIGꞏXIIIꞏPONTꞏMAXIMVSꞏIMPꞏXIIIIꞏTRIBVNICꞏPOTESTꞏXX
Imp(erator) Caesar Augustus Co(n)s(ul) XII Desig(natus) XIII Pont(ifex) Maximus Imp(erator) XIIII Tribunic(ia) Potest(ate) XX
Emperor Caesar Augustus, consul for the twelfth time, elected to the consulship for the thirteenth time, pontifex maximus, hailed as imperator for the fourteenth time, endowed with the power of the Tribune for the twentieth time.
Although no evidence of colour appears to remain, we have chosen to apply some polychromy to the capitals, friezes, and pediments. We have attempted to imitate a Roman style of polychromy for this structure; Roman polychromy appears to have been typically more restrained, and featured more muted colours than Greek polychromy (compare with the temple building and the North and South stoas). We have also coloured the inscription in red, which was commonly applied for the purpose of improving the visibility of the letters.
Construction Dates
According to M. Kadıoğlu, both the content of the inscription and the style of the Corinthian capital point to the propylon being constructed in the Augustan period (27 BCE – 14 CE). Augustus was consul for the twelfth time in 5 BCE and for the thirteenth time in 2 BCE, giving a consular date range of 5 to 2 BCE.
The East and West stoas on architectural grounds may date from the early Roman period. They may be contemporary with the propylon, as part of a large building programme sponsored by Augustus, who is honoured as ktistes (an honorary title, traditionally used to describe the founder of a city) on the coins of Teos.
The construction date of the “South Room” is currently obscure.
Gallery
Click on images to enlarge.
West Stoa
East Stoa
“South Room”
Propylon
