Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 June 2015
The theatre of Sagalassos lies to the north-east of the city, high up the mountain. It is undoubtedly one of the best preserved monuments on the site (Pl. XXV (a)), although some parts of it have collapsed as a result of successive earthquakes. The southwestern part of the cavea, which was built on artificial substructures, and the free-standing stage building are particularly badly damaged, but even there the blocks still lie scattered in the vicinity and very few pieces are missing. Despite this, opinion concerning the reconstruction of the scaenae frons, and even some details of the cavea, differs widely (see below).
During the 1991 season at Sagalassos we started a study of the building and its decoration. Even though this has not been completed, some results have already arisen, which I would like to discuss in this article. A close examination of the fallen blocks of the stage building, gave clear indications for the reconstruction of the scaenae frons. Their decoration supplies clues for the dating of the monument. New study of the theatre façade allows a one-stage reconstruction, as proposed originally by G. Niemann in Ch. Lanckoronski's work concerning the cities of Pisidia and not the two storeys, proposed by D. de Bernardi Ferrero, and a date in the last quarter of the second century A.D.