Les vestiges architecturaux visibles actuellement en surface sont peu

The architectural remains actually visible on the surface are few in number: beyond the extremely damaged portions (the remains of a fountain, the ruins of a Byzantine church, an exedra, and elements of a fortification system),our attention was principally drawn to the remains of the theatre and of the stadium.  In addition to work on the two buildings, we have also inventoried and documented 78 scattered building blocks.  They were discovered during the survey of the city or were gathered by the city government of Dinar, chiefly after the great earthquake of 1995.  The inventoried blocks, notably six Doric and Ionic capitals (Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine), twelve bases and thirty-eight column barrels, as well as many elements of the cornice, were the object of a short description and series of measurements.  The most interesting pieces were drawn on a scale 1:5.  This inventory has already permitted us to make hypothesis concerning the monumental architecture of the city.  The most monumental and important blocks date from the Hellenistic period to the Augustan epoch, which corresponds to the situation of the theatre.  These blocks were cut from compact limestone, while the architectural elements of the Imperial period were principally carved from marble; the latter are of more modest dimensions but display finer workmanship.

Three architectural groups emerge from the inventoried elements:

- Many blocks of the Doric order (barrels, capitals, a fragment of a geison) were found in the area of the stadium and of the center of the modern city, and may be attributed to the ancient agora.  Judging by their diameter, the columns must have had a height of approximately six meters.  The form of the capitals permits us to date the building to the first century B.C.

- Another large building is attested by the presence of nineteen column drums and a capital, all Ionic.  Judging from their diameter, these columns must have had a height of at least ten meters. Taking into account the monumentality of the whole, it would not be astonishing if we found ourselves in the presence of the remains of a great temple or entertainment building from the beginning of the Imperial period.

- The last group of blocks, which has not yet been studied in detail, belongs to a circular building of which the diameter was approximately five meters.

Theatre

The theatre of Apamea is located on the west face of the hill of Üçlerce. The greater part of the steps remains on the slope of the hill.  They face to the west, and one can estimate that they could accommodate roughly ten thousand people.  The theatre was excavated in 1980 during a rescue operation conducted by the Museum of Afyon and whose results have been published in a preliminary report (Topbaş 1993). The remains of the cavea are limited chiefly to some elements of the foundation (still very visible) and certain seats for proedria.  As for the skene, its structure has been clearly identified and appears to offer a bit more elevation still.  The foundations of the skene, built upon the slop, are composed of hard stones without mortar.  Opposite these have been found the basic elements of the base of the proskenion.  Elements of the architecture permit it to be restored to its original aspect; its façade was probably composed of a mixed entablature, Doric-Ionic, which was introduced in the region at the end of the Hellenistic period. The materials used (compact yellow marble), moreover, suggest a period of construction prior to the Empire. Between the foundations of the proskenion and of the skene one may note the presence of other foundations, formed of broad bands of approximately eighty centimeters in thickness, which have several large openings.  This must relate to a phase of reconstruction during the Roman period, when the proskenion – as in a number of Hellenistic theatres in Asia Minor – was transformed into a scaenae frons.  The transformation seems, however, only to have been partial, since it appears that the Hellenistic columns were retained.  It is interesting to note that the Late Hellenistic theatre located in this prestigious place was not modernised in a comprehensive fashion or replaced by a new building in the Imperial period.

Stadium

The remains of the stadium are located at the heart of the city of Dinar proper, on the south face of Toptepe. The steps of the stadium were discovered during the rescue excavations of the Museum of Afyon in 1980.They are located on private property enclosed on three sides by lands that have recently been built upon. After the museum’s excavations, the ground was used as a dump, and only a single line of steps remained visible on the surface.   After having nicely cleaned the area (several tons of waste were removed) we were able to reveal a series of six steps relatively well-preserved in situ.  These undertakings have permitted us not only to study the remains of the stadium, but equally to emphasize the importance of the site. We plan to proceed with the work of restoration and to create a protected area with restricted access.  This project is being undertaken in cooperation with the city government of Dinar and the Museum of Afyon.

Readings taken on the spot (scale 1 : 25, plan and section), as well as the results of a geophysical survey, have permitted us to recreate in part the impressiveness of the building. The exposed parts probably correspond to the portion of the stadium close to its north-east border. The other steps of the stadium in situ have been discovered fifty meters to the south-west.  The natural surface of the rock, which has been worked, also permits us to reconstruct the placement of the nivea and the spina. The racecourse must have had a width of approximately twenty-seven meters, which gives a total width for the building of approximately fifty-four meters, with a length estimated at approximately one hundred eighty meters.  The form of the stone lions which decorate the staircase of the stadium makes it possible to date their construction to the end of the Hellenistic period or beginning of the Imperial period.