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General view of the archaeological site from the west.

Ancient Theatre of Philippi
 

General Description of Monument

The Ancient Theatre of Philippi lies at the east end of the ancient city, against the fortification wall, with which it forms an indissoluble unit, while its cavea is dug out of the rock of Orvilos Hill. The carefully-constructed east retaining wall of the cavea collapsed following the fall of the great supporting buttress arch. A large number of rocks from the retaining wall and voussoirs of the great arch were discovered during the course of the excavations. In the time of Philip II, the theatre had a horseshoe-shaped orchestra, with a semicircular gutter carved into the bedrock to drain the rainwater from the parodoi; this was discovered inside the later Roman duct. The perimetric Roman duct ran into another drain forming part of the city drainage network and running towards the east wall, probably into a ditch. During the arena phase and the subsequent Late Roman period, in the late 3rd - early 4th century AD, a deep, four-sided room was excavated under the south part of the orchestra, for the introduction of wild beasts to the arena. The Late Classical stage building was wooden and has not survived, although excavations have revealed the post-holes for the large wooden foundation posts. Important features of the Roman Phase I (1st-2nd c. AD) have come to light in the south stoa of the stage building, such as the staircase with marble steps, thresholds and earth floors. The arches of the stoa doorway and arcades have been destroyed. The south side of the stoa was reconstructed with the aid of architectural members found either fallen in situ or built into the walls of the Early Christian workshops. The first row of reliefs depicts Maenads and the legendary King of Thrace Lycourgos, while the second bears masks, vessels and animals. The staircases are preserved in relatively good condition. A significant proportion of the marble steps has been preserved at their lower ends, while traces of their built infrastructure are clearly visible higher up, allowing them to be repaired and restored. In the east parodos was revealed the foundation bed of the south wall, carved into the bedrock. Although robbed of its stones up to a certain height, the south wall of the west parodos provides a clear picture of the shape of the parodos. The marble doorstep and south jamb of the east entrance of the west parodos are preserved in situ. In Roman Phase II (2nd-3rd c. AD), during the conversion of the theatre into an arena, relief images of an armoured Ares and Nike were carved on the upper section of the south jamb. On its north and east side was carved a dedicatory inscription referring to the wild beast hunts of the 3rd c. AD. The epitheatre, an addition of the Roman Phase II (2nd-3rd c. AD), was fully revealed: the outline (north back wall) and the 15 inner communicating rooms, and the floors of the latter. The modern layout of the cavea is the result of the first reconstruction interventions by D. Lazaridis following the uncovering of the theatre, to serve the needs of the “Philippi - Thassos Festival” established in 1959. The architectural members of the lower part of the cavea have been reconstructed by approximation, although their original location has not been identified. Most of the cavea has seats and staircases of undressed stone covered by cement plaster. The passageway divides the cavea into two sections, each subdivided into eight cunei (wedge-shaped sections). The lower section has 10 tiers of seats, while the upper is thought to have had 10-12 tiers. The west retaining wall of the cavea is founded on the natural bedrock and follows its slope. The façade of the retaining wall has 17 courses of stone blocks of varying lengths and with curved faces, built on blocks of roughly equal height. The marble blocks of the west wall found in situ were cracked and chipped. The south end of the wall was missing many of the courses of blocks. Approximately midway along its length (total length: 25.5 m) was the greatest outward shift: 0.38m. at the 9th marble block of the 15th course. The carefully-built façade only occupies part of the thickness of the retaining wall, forming the visible face. Behind the buttress-wall is another, built of very roughly-dressed stone blocks. This wall only has a façade on the outer side, while at the back of the retaining wall the blocks project irregularly, indicating a tendency to twist inwards. There is probably a third wall of undressed or roughly-dressed stones within the bulk of the retaining wall, set into the second wall. The space between the walls is filled with rough stones of varying size and mud, to join them and make the retaining wall act as a single mass of stone. The retaining wall of the west side of the theatre is completed by its north branch, which buttresses the north sections of the cavea. The structure of the north branch is similar to that of the west, and the facing stones interlock at the corner. When the wall was built, a gap was left at the level of the rock corresponding to the mouth of a duct running north to south.

The reconstruction programme of the ancient theatre of Philippi was inaugurated in the framework of the 2nd Community Support Fund with the following works: the reconstruction of the east retaining wall of the cavea; the restoration of the small buttress arch; the partial restoration of the large buttress arch with ancient material and only two voussoirs of new material. The reconstruction work subsequently continued, with funding from the 3rd CSF and with the inclusion of the Theatre of Philippi as a Credit Management Fund for Archaeological Works (TDPEAE) project, as follows: On the stage building, the south face of the north wall of the stoa was conserved and partially restored with brick and stone; the north face of the same wall was also pointed and rebuilt to a low height. The transverse walls of the stoa chambers were conserved and restored. The restoration and reconstruction of some of the pillars supporting the arcade was completed. The arched doorways were rebuilt with brick. Part of the walls supported by the arches was also rebuilt. Copies of the original facing slabs were placed on the pillars of the south stoa, together with the surviving cornices. The slabs and cornices of the two corner pillars were restored to their full height, to give an impression of the limits of the stoa and support the springers of the restored arches. To give a satisfactory idea of the layout of the façade of the monument, the walls behind the pillars which had lost their facing slabs were also reconstructed. Simplified copies, bearing only the surrounding moulding without relief decoration, replaced the slabs of the 6th and 7th columns from the west, which were not found. The two identified cornices were conserved and replaced in their original positions. Copies, made of the same cast material used in the restorations, were placed on the remaining pillars. The walls of the north façade of the stage building were restored: the surviving sides were pointed and rebuilt. The earth floors of the first Roman phase were restored. In the orchestra, where the subterranean area of the arena was roofed with a metal structure, the drainage system was restored to full working order. The chosen solution was the construction of a new built duct which continues the ancient duct along two branches and drains rainwater away from the orchestra, under the stage and south of the organised archaeological site. On the north side of the orchestra, the ancient slabs were replaced at the correct height and the paving was restored. The marble ring around the arena was restored with the addition of new marble members, and the whole surface of the orchestra was paved. On the staircases, which are preserved in relatively good condition, the planned restoration work included pointing and rebuilding walls, not exceeding the height of the preserved inner core, restoring a limited number of marble steps, and minor restoration of the inner marble facing of the balustrades and missing sections. Restoration work on the east parodos involved the partial reconstruction of the south wall. The doorstep and south jamb, corresponding to the features preserved on the west parodos, were restored. On the west parodos, the east jamb of the doorway in the south wall was restored to make it obvious that there was a door there, while the south wall and its east end were restored with 27 new slabs to the height of the jamb.

The reconstruction programme of the ancient theatre of Philippi was inaugurated in the framework of the 2nd Community Support Fund with the following works: the reconstruction of the east retaining wall of the cavea; the restoration of the small buttress arch; the partial restoration of the large buttress arch with ancient material and only two voussoirs of new material. The reconstruction work subsequently continued, with funding from the 3rd CSF and with the inclusion of the Theatre of Philippi as a Credit Management Fund for Archaeological Works (TDPEAE) project, as follows: On the stage building, the south face of the north wall of the stoa was conserved and partially restored with brick and stone; the north face of the same wall was also pointed and rebuilt to a low height. The transverse walls of the stoa chambers were conserved and restored. The restoration and reconstruction of some of the pillars supporting the arcade was completed. The arched doorways were rebuilt with brick. Part of the walls supported by the arches was also rebuilt. Copies of the original facing slabs were placed on the pillars of the south stoa, together with the surviving cornices. The slabs and cornices of the two corner pillars were restored to their full height, to give an impression of the limits of the stoa and support the springers of the restored arches. To give a satisfactory idea of the layout of the façade of the monument, the walls behind the pillars which had lost their facing slabs were also reconstructed. Simplified copies, bearing only the surrounding moulding without relief decoration, replaced the slabs of the 6th and 7th column from the west, which were not found. The two identified cornices were conserved and replaced in their original positions. Copies of the same cast material used in the restorations were placed on the remaining pillars. The walls of the north façade of the stage building were restored: the surviving sides were pointed and rebuilt. The earth floors of the first Roman phase were restored. In the orchestra, where the subterranean area of the arena was roofed with a metal structure, the drainage system was restored to full working order. The chosen solution was the construction of a new built duct which continues the ancient duct along two branches and drains rainwater away from the orchestra, under the stage and south of the organised archaeological site. On the north side of the orchestra, the ancient slabs were replaced at the correct height and the paving was restored. The marble ring around the arena was restored with the addition of new marble members, and the whole surface of the orchestra was paved. On the staircases, which are preserved in relatively good condition, the planned restoration work included pointing and rebuilding walls, not exceeding the height of the preserved inner core, restoring a limited number of marble steps, and minor restoration of the inner marble facing of the balustrades and missing sections. Restoration work on the east parodos involved the partial reconstruction of the south wall. The doorstep and south jamb, corresponding to the features preserved on the west parodos, were restored. On the west parodos, the east jamb of the doorway in the south wall was restored to make it obvious that there was a door there, while the south wall and its east end were restored with 27 new slabs to the height of the jamb.

History of Modern Uses

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