Aphrodisias Civil Basilica

About

The largest roofed public hall in the city center, spanning three full city blocks. Its decoration and a surviving dedication place its completion in the late 1st century CE, roughly a generation before Hadrian's reign began. Centuries later, once Aphrodisias became a provincial capital, the building may have served as the governor's administrative seat, but in 117 CE it was still a civic law-court-and-commerce hall.

What happened here

This is the town's indoor hall, and in winter it is where everyone goes. Court sits at one end on a raised platform, screened off with wooden partitions when the case is private. Around it, business goes on regardless — contracts witnessed, cargoes argued over, bankers at their tables, men sheltering from rain with nothing to do. The roof is carried on two storeys of columns, and the upper gallery is a good place to watch a trial without being counted as part of the crowd. Advocates are paid by reputation and perform accordingly; a good one draws an audience the way an actor does. Noise carries badly, which everyone complains about. Building one is the standard way for a rich citizen to be remembered.

Sources

• https://aphrodisias-excavations.com/civilbasilica/
• https://www.academia.edu/2381884/The_Civil_Basilica_of_Aphrodisias

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