Ephesus (Antiquity), Heroon of Androclus

1. Location

The heroon of Androclus (map no. 48),1 mythical founder of Ephesus, is in a central location of the city, at the southwestern edge of Embolos, south of the Commercial Agora, between the so-called Octagon, a funerary monument of Arsinoe IV (in the east) and the Hadrian's Gate (in the west).2

2. Architectural description

The building is U-shaped in its ground plan, as a recess appears in the middle of its front side.3 Its total length was 10.35 m. and had a depth of 5.8 m. The monument stood on a three-stepped crepidoma, which along the façade appeared as a unified base, as it did not have steps. The last step of the crepidoma, which served as the stylobate, was formed as a bench, while its corners were decorated with lion’s paws.

Above the substructure, a tall solid core of Doric architecture formed the monument’s socle. It was made of re-used bolstered ashlar. The outer sides of the socle were revetted with marble orthostates 1.04 m. crowned with molding (30.5 cm high) and followed by courses 90 and 30 cm high. The recessed middle section of the front side did not bear marble revetment, but was made of carefully cut orthogonal masonry.

The corners of the socle were strengthened by pilasters (antae). Four pilasters existed on the front side, two of which flanked the middle recess, while Doric half-columns divided the sides of the socle into two sections 2.45 m. long. The piers stood on bases (36 cm. high) and the capitals (37.5 cm. high) were decorated with floral rosettes. The total height of the pilasters and columns is calculated at 4.1 m. high. A Doric entablature (1.27 m. high) ran around the first level of the elevation. The metopes of the frieze were decorated with palmettes, rosettes and phiales.4

Above the Doric socle was the second level of the elevation, which was also U-shaped following the architectural plan of the underlying floor. The upper storey was composed by an open arrangement of Ionic columns developed also above the façade’s projections, while the back side was closed off by a wall, strengthened at the corners by pillars. The capitals were decorated with rosettes, while a parapet joined the central columns of the side colonnade with the corner pillars of the back side. The columns stood on Attic bases. Emphasis was given to the architectural design of the recessed middle part, which was accentuated by a combination of columns and pillars bearing an arch. The Ionic entablature was formed by an architrave, a frieze and a dental cornice. The three-fasciae architrave (epistyle) contained a crowning with an ovolo and cavetto. The frieze bore relief representations which depicted heads of bulls (bucrania) and fruit garlands. The sima was decorated with lion heads, which also served as rain water drains.

Half-pediments crowned the side wingsof the U-shaped structure. The sculptural decoration of the pediments continued as a relief frieze in the recessed middle part, which was crowned by a triangular pediment. The tympanum of the central pediment was embellished with a shield, while in the corners were pedestals on which the acroteria were placed. Inset decorative elements possibly decorated the cornice. Wooden beams supported the monument’s marble roof. The coffers were divided into central rhombi and into four corner triangles and were undecorated. The height of the upper storey is calculated at 6,5 m., while the total height of the monument was over 13 m.

The careful construction of the building in conjunction with the ressaut treatment of the facade, created by the recessed middle section and the projections, contributed no doubt to an impressive visual result. Based on the architectural remains, one could conclude that the monument’s design indicated its structural and functional autonomy, while the back side remained unadorned because it was not visible.5

On the north side of the monument is a small rectangular construction measuring 4x8 m. which is defined by a row of benches. Construction details led researchers to the hypothesis that these benches possibly belong to the monument’s original equipment and are functionally connected to it.6

3. Sculptural decoration

Parts of the monument’s pediment sculpture and the frieze have been found. Made of grayish marble, they bear relief representations of battle scenes. Each relief depicts a different combat, giving the impression that the representations were thematically independent despite being placed alongside each other.7

The most important of these reliefs depicts the figure of a horseman with short chiton and chlamys, which furls out behind him. The figure is reminiscent of Androclus, mythical founder of Ephesus,8 as depicted on the frieze of the temple of Hadrian, as well as on a coin from the Antonine period.

The main characteristics of the relief figures is the lack of movement and the shallow plasticity, while the thematic composition is reminiscent of other 2nd century BC examples from Asia Minor, such as the frieze on the temple of Apollo Smintheus in Troad, and that on the temple of Dionysus in Teos.9

4. Dating

Criteria for the dating of the monument in the second half of the 2nd century BC stem from the stylistic characteristics of the architectural and sculptural decoration, as well as from excavational data. More specifically, the heroon’s morphological elements and decorative motifs present similarities with equivalent examples from Hellenistic monuments in Greece and Asia Minor.10

Moreover, the building technique of the ashlar masonry implies an earlier construction from the nearby Octagon, which was built using the opus caementicum technique introduced into Asia Minor at around 50 BC. Thus, the construction of the Octagon which dates from the second half of the 1st century BC is the terminus ante quem for the dating of the heroon. At the same time, based on the study of the pottery,11 the erection of the monument is placed at around 150-100 BC. It is therefore a Hellenistic construction.12

5. Identification

Scholars have identified the monument as the heroon of the city’s founder Androclus, mentioned by Pausanias. According to the periegetic writer, this heroon was located on the road which leads from the Artemision to the Olympeion and the Magnesian gate.13 The topographical position mentioned by Pausanias was thought to coincide with that of the monument in the Lower Embolos.14 The choice of site for the construction of the monument, moreover, is directly connected to the religious significance of the Embolos which was part of the Processional Way while at the same time it was chosen for its proximity to the Commercial Agora.15 Inscriptions also testify the presence of the Androkloneion in the city, some of which may even have come from this particular monument.16

Archaeological data also support this identification. The monument’s building type in combination with its decoration suggests that it is probably a cenotaph or a heroon, although heroa, in general, were not of a characteristic architectural form nor did they house dedications of a particular type.17 It is worth noting however, that the U -shaped ground plan is reminiscent of a fountain building, something which led researchers to the conclusion that the building in Ephesus was possibly used as a fountain already from the Hellenistic period, its water supply secured by a channel which came from the south.18 It is therefore an unusual and particularly complex architectural composition, as it combined functions both of a fountain building and a heroon. At the same time it is believed that this honourary and functional combination possibly refers to the myth of the city’s foundation according to which the spring Hypelaeus had an important role.19

A significant role in the monument’s interpretation was also attributed to the figure of the rider, which seems to represent Androclus. One could support with some, perhaps, reservations, that the U-shaped monument in the centre of the city, on the south side of the Embolos, is identified as the Androkloneion, the heroon in other words of Androclus, which is mentioned in ancient sources.

The historical framework for the construction of the heroon of Androclus is placed in the period after 133 BC, when Attalus III, king of Pergamon bequeaths his kingdom to the thriving Roman Empire, resulting in the Greek cities on the west coast of Asia Minor gaining their freedom. This was a suitable moment for the city to honour its hero-founder Androclus with the erection of a monumental heroon in the centre of Ephesus. This was a political move which acted as a reminder of the descent of its citizens, a means for the revival of local tradition and a decree of the city’s independence.20

6. Byzantine years

During the early Byzantine period the monument seems to have functioned exclusively as a fountain. Today, the facade of the fountain basin survives. The walls of the fountain basin were decorated with small pillars and parapets with rhombi and crosses.21

7. Ηistory of research and state of preservation

The heroon of Androclus in Ephesus, due to Pausanias' reference, was the object of inquiry by 19th century travellers and the first archaeologists. The majority of scholars sought its traces outside the city, in the area of the Artemision, on the eastern side of Panayidag along the Processional Way, where many funerary monuments existed. When the Olympeion was later identified as a building within the city’s walls, the facts changed and the monument of Androclus was also sought within the city. The possible locations suggested, however, did not include the aforementioned U-shaped heroon on Couretes Street, which was discovered in 1904, and since then it has been mentioned in research as a nymphaeum or a Byzantine fountain.22

The importance of the heroon was neglected for a considerable period of time. The monument’s systematic archaeological research began in 1986 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute and in 1995 H. Thür published a detailed study and proposal for its restoration accompanied by drawn reconstructions.23

Today, the heroon’s ruins survive to a height of 4 m. in its south-eastern corner. The largest section of the substructure and some courses of the socle are visible, while on the facade, the Byzantine fountain basin decorated with Christian symbols attracts the attention of visitors. Architectural fragments, such as drums and capitals, frieze-reliefs and remains from the pediments have also survived.24

1. Androclus was son of king Kodros from Athens and head of settlers in Ephesus. He founded Ephesus in a location indicated, according to legend, by a god-sent oracle, after the expulsion of local populations of Lydians and Leleges [see. Athin., Deipnosophistae, H.62, Kaibel, G. (ed.), Leipzig, Teubner]. He later helped the inhabitants of Priene against the Carians in their attempt to secure an Ionic colony. Androclus died in the battle and the Ephesians transported his body to Ephesus where, according to Pausanias (7.2.8-9), they buried him along the road which led from the Artemision to the gate of Magnesia.

2. See Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 80; Scherrer, P., Ephesus. The New Guide (2000), p. 126.

3. For the description of the monument we mention contractually the north side as the main side rather than the north-eastern as arises from its precise orientation. The east and west wing of the facade  were 3,55 m. long, while its central section, the so-called niche, is 3,26 m. long and deviates from the facade by 2,3 m.

4. Decoration which presents similarities with buildings of the Late Hellenistic period in Samothrace, such as the Arsinoeio and the propylon of Ptolemy II. On the back side of the heroon in Ephesus the metopes were undecorated. See Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), σελ. 91-97.

5. For more details on the heroon’s architectural design, see Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 82-88; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 159-163.

6. In the square area between the heroon and the benches was discovered a sarcophagus from Late Antiquity, decorated with garlands. The marble head of a priest of the Imperial cult, which dates from the period of the Flavians or Trajan, was found inside the sarcophagus. According to chronological evidence, the sarcophagus must not have formed part of the heroon, in which moreover there is no burial chamber. Thur, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, OJh 64 (1995), p. 89-91; Thur, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 164.

7. For the reliefs of the heroon and their interpretation see H. Lauter, “Ein republikanischer Triumphalmonument aus Ephesos”, in Akurgal, E. (ed.)., The Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Classical Archeology Ankara –Izmir 1973 2 (Ankara 1978), p. 925‑931, pict. 295‑298; Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 88‑89, 96‑99; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 165-171.

8. According to mythical tradition, Androclus, son of king Kodros of Athens, founded Ephesus on the location where he killed a wild boar in accordance to an oracle he had received, see Strabo, 14.1.3., 4, 21. Athin. Deipnosophistae, 7.62.

9. Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 96-97; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 171.

10. For the stylistic characteristics of the heroon and the issue of its comparison to 2nd century BC buildings in Greece and Asia Minor see Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 91-97.

11. The pottery found at the building’s foundations do not include Eastern Sigillata A, which appeared in Ephesus after 80 BC.

12. For a dating of the monument based on excavational data see Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 91; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 164-165.

13. Paus. VII, 2, 8-9. Pausanias mentions that the statue of an armed man was placed on Androclus’ tomb.

14. A different view has been stated by Engelmann, H., who supports that the evidence which comes from Pausanias must lead the search for the monument of Androclus within the city’s walls. See Engelmann, H., “Das Grab des Androklos und ein Olympieion. Pausanias VII 2, 9”, ZPE 112 (1996), p. 131-133.

15. The study of ancient sources proves that the burial of the ancient city’s founder took place within the city’s walls, usually in the agora. According to tradition the hero’s tomb protected the city from enemies and was a place of worship. Honours were attributed annually and his worship was accompanied by athletic, riding, musical games and processions. The hero’s area of worship could have been a tomb, a shrine, a funerary monument or a cenotaph, even an altar or he could have been honoured simply by a dedicatory statue. See Martin, Resherches sur l’ Agora greques (Paris 1951), p. 194-200.

16. See Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 63‑103; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 176. For the inscriptions see Knibbe, D. – Engelmann, H., “Neue Inschriften aus Ephesos” , Öjh 59 (1989), p. 143-144.

17. For the monument’s categorization under the heroon building type and the presentation of comparable examples from Greece and Asia Minor see  Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 190-192.

18. See Dorl-Klingenschmid, C., Prunkbrunnen in kleinasiatischen Städten. Funktion im Kontext (München 2001), p. 180-181.

19. Strab. ΧΙV 634.

20. Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 63-103. Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 177.

21. Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 80; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 164.

22. On the issue of the search for the tomb of Androclus see Wood, J.T., Discoveries at Ephesos (Boston 1877), p. 126-127; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 173-176.

23. Thür, H., “Der ephesische Ktistes Androklos und (s)ein Heroon am Embolos”, ÖJh 64 (1995), p. 63-103; Thür, H., “The processional way in Ephesos as a place of cult and burial”, in Ephesos. Metropolis of Asia. An interdisciplinary approach to its archaeology, religion, and culture. Papers presented at a symposium organized by Harvard Divinity School, March 1994 (Valley Forge 1995), p. 157-199.

24. Wiplinger, G. – Wlach, G., Ephesus. 100 Years of Austrian Research (Vienna 1996), p. 153.