Theatre at Daphne

The sector of the hilltop suburb of Daphne known at first as site 161 and then eventually as DH 10-N is believed to be the site of the theatre that served as the main performance space for the city of Antioch, five kilometers to the northwest. It is documented as the site of theatrical performances and such commemorations the Olympic celebration of 365 CE in which Libanius delivered his famous oration on the nature and history of Antioch. The theatre was excavated in 1934 and 1935 by the architect of the Princeton-led excavations Donald N. Wilber and was written up by him in Antioch on-the-Orontes, II, The Excavations 1933-1936 (Princeton, 1938), 57-94. Though this is one of the most completely reported features of the entire Antioch excavation, many questions remain about the chronology and use of the site.

The Theatre at Daphne was the topic of the “Antioch through the Ages” course taught in 2017 by Alan Stahl, where the main question under discussion was the possible use of the structure for pagan and water-based performances in the Christian period of the fourth through sixth centuries. This investigation involved the consideration of sermons by John Chrysostom as well as historical texts by Libanius and John Malalas and a detailed analysis of the fifth-century mosaic from nearby Yakto, which appears to depict the theatre flooded for nautical presentations. Key evidence for the chronology of the building and continued use of the structure came from the numismatic analysis carried out by class member Stephen Timmel ’17, whose findings are excerpted here, with his permission:

       Wilber divides the use of the theatre into two historical phases.  The first, dating to the first three centuries CE, was characterized by careful construction and intensive maintenance and likely corresponded to a period of heavy use.  During this time, the theatre was connected to a series of aqueducts and gutters that allowed the orchestra to be filled with water on a regular basis.  During a second phase that Wilber attributes to an earthquake in 340, the gutters and fountain were paved over and portions of the stage and parados passages were rebuilt.  The paving over of prominent water features suggests a dramatic change in the use of the theatre with potentially important consequences.  Based on a homily by John Chrysostom which decried the corrupting influence of nymphs in the local theatre, there is the possibility that this architectural change represents a shift away from erotic pagan practices which might correspond to the rise of Christian influences in Antioch.

       Despite the important consequences of the dramatic architectural changes in the theatre, there is very little textual or archaeological evidence to support Wilber’s attempts to date these changes.  Wilber defends his use of the date 340 for the damage and repairs to the theatre based on “a preliminary study of the coins and the stratification in the different sections” in the theatre, with little further justification. However, the field notes from the beginning of the excavation make a contradictory claim: “Many of the blocks of masonry had been quarried in modern times – some of them by the owner, Mahomet Samour.  This quarrying accounts for the scrambling of strata and sherds.”  Since the archaeological strata were substantially disturbed by modern quarrying, Wilber’s “preliminary” judgement of strata is far from obvious.

       Of the 739 coins recovered from the theatre, none is reported with the excavation depth; instead, all are marked by relations to a feature corresponding to their location in the theatre.  Other than the scrambled stratigraphy, another possible reason for this vague means of identification is that 274 of the recovered coins were found in the direct vicinity of the gutter.  This makes intuitive sense, since most of the theatre is composed of flat limestone slabs.  During a rainstorm, any coins in the seating along with some in the orchestra floor would have washed into the gutters and then out of the theatre.  Thus, the prevalence of flowing water and flat stone surfaces renders conventional means of determining stratigraphy from coin deposits virtually useless.

       While the overall structure of the theatre and the nature of its excavation makes sealed deposits under architectural features rather unlikely, the few such deposits that exist form another reason to doubt Wilber’s analysis of the theatre.  Four coins which date from the early third century and before were found with the labels “stereo level under stage floor” and “under sandstone orchestra floor west side.”  The east parados to the theatre contains numismatic evidence which opposes Wilber’s overall timeline for the theatre.  An Arabian coin from Rabbel II (CE 70-106) was found under the earliest floor of the east parados (but not labelled as sealed), presenting a possible date for the initial construction of the passage.

       The east parados entrance to the theatre contains eight coins found under the floors, including several labelled by the excavators as sealed deposit, three of which date the later floor to at least the reign of Marcian (450-457), while another such sealed deposit contains fifth-century monogrammed issues. In addition, my analysis of the 221 unattributed coins revealed that many of these coins are ‘minimi’ of the fifth-century or early sixth-century.  More work is needed to date any of the coins precisely, but even a cursory examination is enough to show that these finds are generally later than those available to Wilber and point to a later date for the rebuilding than that suggested by Wilber.

       This chart shows some uncertainty even at this coarse level. However, some interesting conclusions can be drawn from this data.  Use of the site on which the theatre was built appears to spread far beyond the documented use of the theatre itself.  The presence of Seleucid coins around a theatre which is clearly Roman in design suggests an earlier use for the site before the construction of the excavated theatre.  The small but significant number of Islamic and Byzantine coins suggests that, while the theatre was no longer extensively used, it was still accessible and occasionally frequented long after the fall of Rome.