1. Introduction

In early antiquity the term "nymphaeum" (nymphaeum, nympheum, nimphium) was ascribed generally to the sacred space for the worship of the nymphs, and more particularly a cave which was at the time considered the natural habitat of nymphs.¹At first, natural caves begun to be replaced by artificially constructed areas which clearly imitated their natural counterparts. The next step, according to the written sources appears to have taken place at around the 3rd century BC when fountains were no longer reminiscent of caves.²

It appears that until at least the end of the 1st century AD, the word nymphaeum had a mainly religious significance. Only from the beginning of the 2nd century AD onwards it was used for buildings connected to water which were not necessarily dedicated to the nymphs. The term began to wear out as it was used for "public" buildings and its relation to the nymphs was restricted to the use of statues of nymphs as decorative elements, although in many cases even these are absent.³

The nymphaeum as a term ended up characterizing fountain buildings of exceptional architectural aesthetics which no longer have a religious nature but are distinguishable for the opulence of their decoration. One could say that their functional role prevailed over their religious importance. However, the fact that they were constructed under the auspices of the emperor or were dedicated to him, as well as nymphaeums’ relation to water, the source of life, lent them religious value.

Their detachment from the worship of the nymphs was also apparent in the fact that majestic nymphaeums in large towns were often used by rich citizens as a means of their public projection and promotion of their ambitious plans. By funding a nymphaeum, they also determined the iconographic programme of its decoration. In this way they gained the advantage of depicting themselves and members of their family on a public building, very often situated next to the figures of the empire and the imperial family members.⁴

2. Fountains and nymphaea in the eastern part of the empire (1st and 2nd centuries AD)

During the imperial years in the Greek area and Asia Minor, monuments connected to water such as nymphaea became particularly popular. The tradition of the architectural configuration of water springs, which were considered sacred areas and were enclosed by an aura of respect towards the ancestors, is followed by the tendency to include this type of monuments to a town’s urban planning. Within this framework, the stoae, arches, tetrapylons, monumental fountains and nymphaea acquired unprecedented opulence and majesty.⁵

The term nymphaeum is conventionally used by archaeologists for constructions very different to each other. Their common features are their monumentality and their function as vehicles of a, more or less, official iconographic programme.⁶ They were public buildings usually located within the boundaries of a town, often at the beginning or along the route of the irrigation system.

The first monumental fountain building refered to officially as a nymphaeum is in Syria, in Soada/Dionysias (es-Sûwêda), and was an offering to Trajan (8-117 AD).⁷ It appears that until the 2nd century AD the term nymphaeum was used mainly in the eastern section of the empire where, moreover, it was closely connected to the worship of the nymphs.⁸

3. Nymphaea in the Roman world

The architectural embellishment of nymphaea in the Roman world presents great diversity and can be categorized as follows:⁹

1. Nymphaea-caves (crypta, spelunca, caverna):¹⁰ Fountain constructions reminiscent of a natural cave (specus) and are not significantly decorated. These were single-roomed, arched constructions.

2. Royal nymphaea: They consist of a rectangular room, topped by a semi-circular arch and end in an apse. They were often subterranean or slightly sunken and gave the impression of a cave.

3. Cascading waterfalls:¹¹ On the wall of a room, in a niche, there were recesses in a semi-circular arrangement upon which water fell in a constant flow and quantity. This cascading fountain is charactersized as a water theatre.

4. Nymphaea with a theatre's façade:¹² Decorated like the scaena frons of a theatre. They are arranged in more than one floor and the wall of their façade was adorned with columns which formed niches and templets (aediculae) were statues were placed. This type of nymphaeum was characterized by the existence of 2 cisterns: one for the collection of water at a higher level and a second one for the pumping of water at a lower level. The following variations existed:

a) Sigmoid shaped nymphaea:¹³ Nymphaeum in the form of an exedra. The shape of the exedra was reminiscent of the cave from where the sacred water flowed and which, during the years of the Antonines (138-192), were usually constructed within the urban planning of a town or within temples.¹⁴ It was a semi-circular niche in the wall of the buildings, flanked by rectangular wings and functioned as a cistern for the collection of water. They were also found in Africa, Syria and Palestine (e.g. Leptis Magna, Tipasa, Bosra, Amman, Laodicea ad Lycum, Gerasa). In many of these examples, another pumping cistern often existed, for example in the nymphaeum of Herodus Atticus in Olympia.¹⁵ This type of nymphaeum is usually crowned by an arch (reminiscent of cave nymphaea).

b) Nymphaea with a rectilinear and longitudinal façade:¹⁶ This shape presents similarities with theatre façades, e.g. of Ephesus or Aspendus. This type of nymphauem has projections at the edges and is decorated with colonnades often covering more than one floor. In many cases the back wall has semi-circular niches where the water was collected. Characteristic examples are the nymphaea of Miletus, Aspendus, Kremna and Sagalassus.¹⁷

c) Nymphaea with niches (apses):¹⁸ Usually three of them are placed along the same axis like in theatre façades, i.e. in Bosra in Syria. They are the evolution of the sigmoid shaped nymphaea and were multistorey buildings of eminent monumentality, i.e. the nymphaea of Side and Perge.

This so widespread architectural type during the Imperial years is found more often in the provinces than in Rome. During certain periods and depending on the area, particular preferences and partial architectural characteristics were established.¹⁹

4. Nymphaea in Asia Minor

The nymphaea in Africa and Asia follow the theatre façade type.²⁰ The style of the architectural formation of the section behind the cistern with columns, niches and templets and the trend towards the creation of the sense of depth is observed after the end of the 2nd century AD. It found its basic expression in the monumental façades of the theatres in Asia Minor during the Severan dynasty (193-235 AD) and continued in the opulent nymphaea of the same geographical area, i.e. in Aspendus. The large political and administrative centres such as Ephesus, Miletus, Aspendus, Hierapolis, Side, Perge were ornamented with luxurius and impressive nymphaea which formed part of their "great urban architecture".²¹

During the 2nd century AD Asia Minor was full of these buildings. Their equivalents in Italy were older and no longer evolving. The more complete forms of nymphaea which are related to the scaenae frontes were concentrated in the eastern section of the empire. Perhaps the Hellenistic tradition which was still flourishing in this part of the empire as well as the rapid development of the regions in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean favoured, since the years of the Antonines (138-192 AD), the unprecedented and monumental development of the arts.²²

The study of some of Asia Minor’s monumental fountains led to the correlation with theatre facades. Acccording to Malalas²³, Hadrian constructed in Daphne (suburb of Antioch on the Orontes) «the theatre of the founts» about which however we do not know if it was an independent nymphaeum or a theatre scene. Also, in the theatre of Antioch on the Orontes was constructed the nymphaeum of the proscenium. In Perge in Pamphylia a nymphaeum of significant dimensions was discovered; as shown by surviving architectural members it functioned as an outer support of the theatre’s scene.²⁴ The primary function of the nymphaeum in Perge which dates from the end of the 2nd century to the beginning of the 3rd century seems to have been that of a support.

A similar construction is also found in the Nymphaeum in Side,²⁵ which chronologically belongs to the Antonine dynasty (138-192 AD),²⁶ The Side nymphaeum is reminiscent of the septizonium²⁷ of Septimius Severusin Rome. On the façade wall are three large semi-circular exedrae. The entire façade has richly decorated entablatures which are supported by three-storey colonnades. The particular building combines all the characteristic elements which consist a nymphaeum. It is probably the evolution of the shapes which characterizes the architecture of fountain buildings already by the Hellenistic period which with the passing of time were connected to characteristic elements of other architectural types.

The nymphaeum in Miletus²⁸ dates in around 79-81 AD. It had a Π shaped ground plan and enclosed the cistern for the collection and pumping of water. It had three-storeys in the centre and two at the edges. The entire length of the façade had a single row of columns in the centre and a double row at the ends. The monument’s importance is emphasized by the main characteristic of its decoration, the small temples. Semi-circular and rectangular niches in succession are formed in the façade wall. In front or inside these, statues were placed. The architectural decoration of this monument is undoubtedly reminiscent of the façades of the theatres of Asia Minor and presents the same lack of depth observed in these.²⁹ Immediate comparisons can be made with the theatres of Ephesus and Aspendus, as all three monuments are characterized by the intense decorative character of Roman architecture. However, in the nymphaeum in Miletus the alternation of niches and small temples offers a more impressive result.³⁰ The comparison between the façade of a nymphaeum and the façade of a scene is also possible for the case of Aspendus, between the town’s theatre and its nymphaeum, which chronologically belong to the 2nd century BC. The façade’s decorative elements are similar: the porticoes, the niches, the entablature and the triangular pediment in the centre.