Ephesus (Antiquity), Stoa of Damianus

1. T. Flavius Damianus, donor of the Stoa

The sophist T. Flavius Damianus was one of the prominent citizens of Ephesus and a celebrated philosopher, a representative of the Second Sophistic during the Imperial period.1 His floruit is placed approximately in the late 2nd and early 3rd century.2 Following the norms of the Imperial Period, Damianus sought to become a civic patron by adorning his city with a splendid edifice. In his apparently practical spirit, he chose to construct a stoa which connected the city with the Temple of Artemis3; he dedicated this stoa to himself and his spouse, Vedia Phaedrina,4 an offspring of the illustrious family of the Vedii Antonini.5 His pupil, the renowned sophist and biographer of sophists Philostratus, made a number of visits to his master and his homeland, having the chance to record life in Ephesus during this prosperous period. Thus he preserves valuable information on the topography and architecture of the city, including the Stoa of Damianus.6

2. Topography

The Stoa of Damianus (no.7)7provided shelter along a part of the processional Sacred Way, by roofing the distance from the Artemisium (no. 1) to the stadium (no. 104) and from the Magnesian Gate (no.10) back to the sanctuary.8 The building’s remains are still visible on the north and east feet of Panayir Hill, especially to the south of the East Gymnasium (no. 12).9 Archaeological research, especially in 1991-1993, revealed that this stoa was not entirely rectilinear, but featured a Descent and an Ascent, which formed an angle at the point in which they met.10More specifically, the so-called “Ascent” crosses the so-called ‘fig orchard’, continues East along the small plain of Marna towards the Artemisium and follows a course parallel to the carriage road that connected Ephesus with Smyrna and Pergamum. The "Descent", on the other side, led off from the Magnesian Gate to the temple, crossing the eastern feet of Panayır Dağ.11

3. Architectural remains and archaeological finds

Large pilasters were placed at the sides of the stoa. Their lower part, which functioned as a base, was made up of local limestone; their upper part was dressed with rock slabs and the characteristic red bricks in the opus caementicium technique. The foundations of the pilasters reached deep into the ground, perhaps as deep as 3 m.12 The reason for this was the swampy and unstable soil, which often flooded when the Cayster overflowed.13 Between the pilasters there was a small wall (0.85-088 m. in width and 1-1.30 m. in height) whose apparent function was to strengthen the entire structure and provide protection from floods during rainy days, when water would have flowed down the mountain slopes. The raising of the stoa’s floor -which was not paved- above the ground level served the same purpose.14

The stoa’s roof, according to meticulous archaeological and architectural studies, would have been vaulted. More specifically, the most appropriate roofing method for this case was the use of arches resting directly on the pilasters, thus on the whole the structure presented the sight of a building with groined vaults.15 The stoa has been unearthed to a length of over 2.5 km, and its width measures approximately 3.70 m.16

During the excavational research several burials were discovered along the processional Sacred Way, in sarcophagi, burial chambers and graves resembling houses, dating from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman period.17Some of these sarcophagi are inscribed. Thus we learn that one of these contained the remains of Aurilianus Olympius, a senator from Ephesus, and those of his wife, Dionysia. Some sarcophagi were apparently reused over the centuries for multiple burials. One, for example, originally the resting place of Aurelius Heracla, his spouse Claudia Eutuchiane and their child, was reused at least six more times, evidently only for prominent citizens.18

Most burials to the south and north of the Ascent are placed in the mid-space between the stoa and the carriage road. Three sepulchral stelae were discovered there, bearing relief depictions of the deceased. In all three cases the stelae belonged to the graves of gladiators, and two names survive: Euxeinos and Palumpus. Other burials are slightly earlier: the remains of the deceased were interred after cremation in large earthenware jars. These burials on the northern slope of Panayır Dağ suggest that in the Late Roman period this area had probably become a small necropolis.19



1. On Flavius Damianus’ work as an educator and a philosopher see Bowersock, G., Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire, (Oxford 1969), esp. p. 27.

2. For biographical data and information about Damianus’ political career in the Roman Empire see Halfmann, H., Die Senatoren aus dem östlichen Teil des Imperium Romanum bis zum Ende des 2. Jhds. N. Chr., Hypomnemata 58, Göttingen 1979. Keil, J., "Vertreter der zweiten Sophistik in Ephesos ", ÖJh 40, 1953, pp. 18-21. Knibbe, D. - Langmann, G. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca Ι, (BerMatÖAI 3, Wien 1993) pp. 56-57. Flavius Damianus is depicted as a priest in a statue found in Ephesus and exhibited at the Izmir Archaeological Museum (cat. no. 648).

3. See, Engelmann, H., “Philostrat und Ephesus”, ZPE 108 (1995), pp. 77-87· Knibbe, D. – Langmann, G. (επιμ.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca Ι (BerMatÖAI 3, Wien 1993), pp. 16-27.

4. His spouse descended from the illustrious family of the Vedii of Ephesus. Her brother was P. Vedius Papianus Antoninus, who died childless and bequeathed his considerable fortune to the Temple of Artemis. The name of the Vedii was passed on to one of Damianus’ sons, Titus Flavius Vedius Antoninus, see Knibbe, D., Langmann, G. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca, I, Wien 1993, pp. 56-57.

5. On the Vedii family and their benefactions to the city of Ephesus see Kalinowski, A., "The Vedii Antonini: Aspects of Patronage and Benefaction in Second Century Ephesos", Phoenix 56 (Spring-Summer 2002), pp. 109-149.

6. According to Philostratus with the construction of the Stoa “Artemis would not be deprived of her devotees when it rained”. Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 2.23. Philostratus’ testimony is also amenable to a different interpretation. It is unclear whether the Stoa of Damianus (no. 7) represented the final section of the official processional way that crossed through the temple to a length of a stadion, or it constituted an independent street sharing a common starting point with the main Sacred Way, later following a shorter course, which was apparently only used on rainy days. Cf. Engelmann, H., "Philostrat und Ephesus", ZPE (108 1995), pp.77-85.

7. The numbers refer to the building numbers on the topographical plan available.

8. For more details see Engelmann, H., "Philostrat und Ephesus", ZPE (108 1995), pp.77-85.

9. Remains of the stoa’s pilasters on either side of the way that led off from the Magnesian Gate to the Cave of the Seven Sleepers. See Scherrer, P. (ed.), Ephesus. The New Guide (Istanbul 2000) p. 62.

10. Architectural remains from the Stoa of Damianus were unearthed in the late 19th cent. by J. Wood during his exploratory excavations for locating the site of the Artemisium. See J.T. Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus (London 1877). Systematic excavational research in the site begun in 1991 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the supervision of Knibbe, see Knibbe, D., "Via Sacra-Damianos stoa" in Karwiese, S. et.al., "Grabungen im Ephesos, 1992", ÖJh 62, 1993, pp. 19-20. Knibbe, D., Pietsch, W., "Via Sacra-Damianos stoa", in Karwiese, S. et.al., "Grabungen im Ephesos, 1993", ÖJh 63, 1994, pp. 17-20. Knibbe, D., "Prozessionsstrasse (Via Sacra) – Damianos stoa" in Karwiese, S. et.al., "Grabungen im Ephesos, 1994", ÖJh 64, 1995, pp. 16-18. Knibbe, D., "Prozessionsstrasse (Via Sacra) – Damianos stoa" in Karwiese, S. et.al., "Grabungen im Ephesos, 1995", ÖJh 65, 1996, p. 13.

11. See Knibbe, D., Pietsch, W., "Via Sacra-Damianos stoa", in Karwiese, S. et.al., "Grabungen im Ephesos, 1993", ÖJh 63, 1994, pp. 17-20. Knibbe, D.-Langmann, G. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca Ι, (Wien 1993, BerMatÖAI 3) pp. 16-27. Engelmann, H., "Philostrat und Ephesus", ZPE (108 1995), pp.77-85.

12. The foundations of the pilasters were conjoined with robust walls. For more details on the construction of the foundation see Knibbe, D. - Thür, H. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca II, Grabungen und Forschungen 1992 und 1993 (BerMatÖAI 6, Wien 1995) p. 27.

13. Before commencing the construction of the stoa, the monument’s architects were well aware that the area was alluvial and that it had only acquired the characteristics of stable soil approximately 300 years earlier. For this reason they opted to employ foundations of larger than usual dimensions, a practice widely held to provide greater structural stability in unstable soil. For further details see Knibbe, D.-Thür, H. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca II, Grabungen und Forschungen 1992 und 1993 ( BerMatÖAI 6, Wien 1995), pp. 26-28.

14. The carriage ways that coursed along the stoa were paved in the 2nd/3rd cent. AD. P. Scherrer (ed.), Ephesus. The New Guide (2000, trans. Χ. Bier-G.M.Luxon) p. 62. 

15. Cf. Knibbe, D. - Langmann, G. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca Ι, (Wien 1993, BerMatÖAI 3) pp. 47-50. There it is argued also that the closest example of a similar stoa, especially in terms of the roofing, is that of via tecta in Pergamum, which connected the city with the Asclepium.

16. On the length of the Ascent and the Descent, as well as the total number of pilasters in the stoa see Knibbe, D. - Langmann, G. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca Ι, (BerMatÖAI 3, Wien 1993), p. 26.

17. For further details on the burials and the sepulchral monuments discovered in the area see Knibbe, D.-Thür, H. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca II, Grabungen und Forschungen 1992 und 1993 ( BerMatÖAI 6, Wien 1995) pp. 33- 83.

18. J. Keil, Vorläufiger Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in Ephesos, Öjh 1930 Beiblatt, pp. 7-18. Knibbe, D. - Langmann, G. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca Ι (BerMatÖAI 3, Wien 1993 ) , pp. 22-25, 43-46.

19. For details see Knibbe, D., Pietsch, W., "Via Sacra-Damianos stoa", in Karwiese, S. et.al., "Grabungen im Ephesos, 1993", ÖJh 63, 1994 pp. 18-19. Knibbe, D. - Thur, H. (eds.), Via Sacra Ephesiaca II, Grabungen und Forschungen 1992 und 1993 ( BerMatÖAI 6, Wien 1995) pp. 42-46. P. Scherrer (ed.), Ephesus. The New Guide (2000, trans, Χ. Bier-G.M.Luxon) p. 58, 62.