1. Position
In the eastern part of Side, next to the sea, a monumental building complex is situated, which is named Complex M on the topographical plans of the city. It is possible that it communicated with the Commercial Market of the city through a street which started at the latter’s south gate and headed towards the complex. On the ground plan it appears as a rectangular building 88.50 meters long an 69.20 meters wide, with an entrance on its northern side. It consists of a court sourrounded by colonnades, whereas three large rooms opened on its eastern side.

2. Architectural description

2.1 Peristyle court

The columns of the colonnade were based on a double-stepped podium. Their main body, 4.75 m. high, was made out of grayish granite. Their bases were of the Attic-Ionic type, whereas the capitals were purely Ionic. No traces of the entablature have been discovered, as it was partly incorporated into the adjacent defensive wall built in Late Antiquity. The bricks of breccia from which the walls of the porticoes were built must have also been used as building material for this wall.

Access to the interior of the complex was possible through a gate 3.5 meters wide along its northern side. It is doubtful whether a second gate was situated directly opposite the former one on the southern side. In the SW corner two doors have been traced, which were probably a later intervention, as they seem to be in perfect accordance with the gate of the Late Antiquity defensive wall. One more noticeable intervention which seems to date from the Byzantine era is a low wall on the centre of the court, made of rubble masonry with clay and lying on a basis of travertine slabs.

2.2 Rooms

To the east of the colonnaded area there were three rooms. Two of them measured 19.50 by 14.75 meters, whereas the middle one was larger, measuring 26.24 by 15.20 meters, which apparently points out to its special function. The importance of this room is marked mainly by the arrangement of the columns of the colonnade, since they formed a protrusion in front of the central room, in perfect correspondence with the colonnade of its façade, consisting of six Corinthian columns in antis. The interior of the room was luxurious, bearing a lavish architectural and sculptural decoration according to the Roman precepts of aesthetics and influenced by the architecture of the elaborate scenae frons of the Roman theatres. The interior surfaces of the walls,¹ which bore marble revetments, spread in two floors and were decorated with columns, antae, niches with architectural framing and aediculae. The result was undoubtedly spectacular.² The floor of the room was covered with thin rectangular marble slabs, whereas the roof was wooden, decorated with coffers.

The side rooms opened to the courtyard of the complex through a colonnade which was later replaced by three doors. Each one of the side rooms was divided in three aisles by a double colonnade.³ During Byzantine times these rooms underwent alterations and their floor was covered with mosaics, decorated with geometric motifs.

3. Sculpture

A large number of statues were found in the area of the complex, most of which were discovered in the central room, where they probably decorated the niches and the aediculae. They are mostly oversized statues, representing gods, athletes and female figures. Most of them are excellent copies of works by famous sculptors of the 5th and 4th century B.C., such as Pheidias, Polykleitos, Myron, Alcamenes and Lysippos, although others are by unknown artists of the Hellenistic period. According to their stylistic and technical characteristics, these sculptures are dated to the Antoninian era (139-192 A.D.).

An original Antoninian work is the statue of an emperor wearing a cuirass, a chiton and a himation. The posture, the rendering of the face as well as the decoration of the cuirass with two opposing griffins lead to the supposition that it represented the emperor Antoninus Pius. However, the head seems to be of a later age, thus representing probably a late emperor of the 3rd c. A.D.

The discovery of these statues contributes to the study of the sculpture of Side, known particularly for the excellent copies of Classical and Hellenistic pieces of art. Furthermore, the study of these copies is of a decisive importance for the study of the plastic art of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, as they maintain a strong Greek tradition and contribute to approaching their originals. Several of these sculptures are copies of Hellenistic works which are no longer extant, nor preserved in other copies. The multitude of these copies of works by Greek sculptors of different eras points to an incessant quest for new types by the artists of Side as well as to a conscious effort to represent the entire Greek and Roman plastic production in the public buildings of the city.⁴

4. Function

The function of this monumental edifice has not yet been securely identified. One could suppose that it was a gymnasium, as it combines the main characteristics of Greco-Roman gymnasia, with a central courtyard, around which porticoes are spread with compartments for various uses at the back. However, in the particular building of Side, no baths or other installations have been found, which could compose the architectural environment of a gymnasium complex. Yet its architectural type does not exclude its use as a space for physical exercise, i.e. as a gymnasium or palaestra, since its plan presents similarities to other gymnasia of Asia Minor dating from Hellenistic or Roman times, such as the Hellenistic gymnasium to the east of the North Agora of Miletus, the Lower Gymnasium of Priene and the palaestra in Vedius’ Gymnasium in Ephesus.

According to another approach, the complex has been identified as a Public market, with three large rooms on its one side, instead of the usual basilica. The middle room should have been dedicated to the imperial cult, whereas the side rooms were libraries or public archives. This latter proposition concerning the use of the side rooms has been contested, however, since their niches have been identified as decorative and not practical, although the entire building does present a similar design to Hadrian’s library in Athens, developed as it is around a large central courtyard surrounded by porticoes and a rectangular building on one side. Thus, the identification of the function of the building remains an open issue, and with good reason, since its architectural plan reminds of Greek gymnasia, whereas it also served as an architectural solution applied to libraries of the Roman period.

Furthermore, the intense decorative character of the complex, particularly of the so-called “imperial hall”, does not facilitate its identification since works of art adorned all public and private spaces in the Roman world.⁵

The building was erected in the late second century A.D. (166-200 A.D.), since the architectural decoration as well as the sculptures discovered there are dated in the Antoninian period.

5. History of research and present state of preservation

The initial presentation and designs of the architectural plan of complex M were accomplished at the end of the 19th century by K.G. Lanckoronski,⁶ together with G.Niemann and E.Petersen, who identified it as a gymnasium. The area was systematically excavated in the years 1947-1967 by the archaeologist A.M.Mansel. Restoration took place at the eastern part of the complex by the architect L.Merey. Nowadays, visitors can see the restored eastern part of the central and south rooms, reaching up to a height of 8 meters at some points. Thus, one can discern the niches, some of the columns, whereas in one of the corner niches of the south room there is in situ the statue of Nemesis, thus offering a glimpse into the initial luxury and decorative glamour of the edifice. Very little is preserved of the open-air peristyle court. It is noteworthy that the columns of the southern side lie fallen one next to the other, which indicates that they had collapsed during an earthquake.