The ancient theatre of Mytilene is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable archaeological monuments of Mytilene, but also of the Prefecture of Lesbos in general. It is located on the western slope of the present-day hill of Agia Kyriaki, near the inland walls of the ancient city, in the western part of its expansion that took place during Hellenistic and Roman times. It has an eastern orientation and a panoramic view of the city, its two harbours and the opposite coast of Asia Minor. The initial phase of the ancient theatre of Mytilene probably dates back to the second half of the 4th c. BC. In the 2nd c. BC, its stage took the form of a two-storey monumental building, while during the Roman period, it was converted for use of an arena.
It is considered one of the most important theatres of the ancient world, as according to Plutarch (Life of Pompey, 42.4), it served as a model for the stable Roman, stone theatres. More specifically, we learn from Plutarch that in 62 BC Pompey visited Mytilene, declared it free and exempted it from the heavy financial penalties imposed on it in earlier times by the Roman Senate. The new relationship of Mytilene with Rome, which has since taken the form of an alliance, was decisively influenced by the scholar and historian of Lesbos, Theophanes. The city staged the emperor’s triumph in the theatre, paying him great honours. Pompey, seeing the theatre, admired it to such an extent that he instructed his architects to build a “copy” of it in Rome, but larger and more splendid. Pompey’s theatre was inaugurated in 55 BC and is considered the first and largest stone theatre ever built in Rome. Only a few parts of it survive today. There is no consensus in research regarding those features of the theatre that impressed Pompey so much that he wanted to copy them. According to one version, that feature was a temple and a colonnade-arcade in the upper part of the cavea. A second version is that he was impressed by the general type of the theatre, with the natural connection and coherence of its main elements: the stage, the orchestra, the cavea and its side corridors, and especially the two-storey marble stage structure of the 2nd c. BC, which was one of the first ever constructed.
Excavations aiming at the restoration of the theatre were carried out at the site in 1882, 1928, 1958, 1967, 1972 and more recently, between 2012-2015, in the framework of the “Project for the unification of the archaeological sites of Mytilene”. From the findings of the archaeological research, the portable finds and the architectural parts (intact or fragmentary), which are either on the site or outside of it (often in second use, built-in in other later buildings), it is possible to largely reconstruct the original form of the ancient theatre of Mytilene.
The funnel-shaped cavea, with a capacity of at least 10,000 spectators, was formed by chiseling the rock on the western slope of the hill, where 64 rows of stone seats were laid. With a radius of about 50 m. and a maximum width of 124.6 m. on the N-S axis, it was divided by two corridors into three tiers: the lower, middle and upper tiers. Two strong retaining walls, made of six rows of 0.49 m. wide stone blocks, in accordance with the isodomic masonry system and with trapezoidal fronts following the mitred and stepped downward section of the cavea, delimited the eastern ends, where the side corridors for the entrance of the spectators were formed.
Vertical staircases, placed transversely in the three tiers of the cavea, provided access to the stands and the stone seats of the theatre, none of which, unfortunately, have been found in their original position. On the basis of their technical characteristics, they can be divided into two major categories and each of them into further subcategories and variations, depending on their position in the cavea. On their upper horizontal surface, in addition to the main seat, they had a slot (in the form of a shallow cavity/deepening) for the feet of the back row spectators. Their vertical front face was decorated in relief with a band, an angular decorative strip and a straight front, while the lower end was shaped as a hollow slot, in the form of a recess, which provided the necessary space for the spectators’ feet. On five of the seats that corresponded to the front seats of the officials (presidency), the inscription: providers and mayors is preserved. A marble throne that was used as the throne of the Metropolitan of Mytilene, now housed in the Former Archaeological Museum of Mytilene, preserves an engraved inscription of the 1st c. BC, replacing an earlier one (rasura):
ΠΟΤΑΜΩΝΟΣ | ΤΩ ΛΕΣΒΩΝΑΚΤΟΣ | ΠΡΟΕΔΡΙΑ
and is believed to have come from the presidency of the theatre. It was originally intended for a priest of Apollo and later for the orator Potamon of Mytilene, son of the philosopher Lesbonax (both prominent citizens of Lesbos). Individual incised letters and symbols (probably of the Ottoman period) found on the upper horizontal surface of several seats provide us with important information regarding the lifespan of the monument.
The circular orchestra of the theatre, with a diameter of 25.12 m., was made of soil and was not lined with stone slabs, as in other cases of ancient theatres. During the Roman period, the theatre was converted into an arena: the earthen floor of the orchestra was lowered, the stalls were removed, the first three rows of seats were dismantled and replaced by a strong retaining wall (parapet), almost 2 m. high, which protected the spectators from the violent events that took place in the arena. At the same time, in the lower part of the middle of the cavea, under the last rows to the west of the orchestra, two vaulted rooms were opened up, with internal communication in their western part, probably auxiliary rooms for the gladiators and the venationes. The wall of the orchestra, which rested on large marble beams, was made of small unprocessed stones, while the exterior was clad with a marble wall of local greyish marble. Its facade, and more specifically, the fronts of its stone plinths, bore a series of carved inscriptions indicating the names of priests, public figures and sponsors who contributed over the years to the care, maintenance and improvement of parts of the theatre. One of them refers to Marcus Claudius Tryphonianus, a general of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who maintained a ‘‘family of gladiators’’, under the protection of his wife and high priestess, Orphia Laelia (IG XII, 2, 447). As a whole, the epigraphic evidence on the parapet is an important indication of the chronological placement of the conversion of the theatre into an arena in the 2nd c. AD.
The side corridors of the theatre, by which the entrance of the spectators was achieved, were independent of the stage and had the form of two-door monumental gates with Ionic style finials, as in the ancient theatres of Epidaurus, Dodoni and other Sicilian theatres. A niche with a projecting relief and gabled finial adorned both the south and north side corridors, while a marble theatre mask of Hellenistic times may have originated from former sculptural and architectural decorations. In the rectangular entrance area, measuring 16.80 m. x 5.41 m., situated to the east of the southern retaining wall before the side corridor, a Sanctuary of Nemesis was found in May 2019, as evidenced by a stone bench for depositing offerings and performing libations, as well as votive inscriptions referring to priests and public figures of the period.
The stage was originally simple and had a stone proscenium. The first drastic changes that contributed to its monumental configuration should undoubtedly be associated with the development of dramaturgy and the flourishing of the New Comedy in the 2nd c. BC. The present state of preservation of the stage is particularly fragmentary. Its best-preserved western wall is built with the same construction system used for the parapet of the cavea. The stage is divided into four parts by two ramps and a central underground opening, in the form of a corridor, at the eastern end of which, a built rectangular and two cylindrical clay ducts were found. The underground area was probably used for rainwater drainage or was related to the channelling of water into the area of the orchestra for the purpose of re-enacting iconic naval battles, something common in the Roman period. The total width of the stage is 42.66 m., while the exact depth of it is not yet known, due to the pending completion of excavation work on the site. Four angular stones found in their original position within the structure of the stage seem to have been used as supports of the keraunoskopeio and other ‘‘theatrical mechanisms’’, which is known from other examples of Hellenistic theatres, such as those of Dion and Philippi. From the preserved architectural remains, it appears that the stage was a two-storey structure. The lower floor was of Doric style, while the upper floor and the smaller proscenium were of Ionic style. On the lower floor of the stage, there were four pi-shaped projections in the form of a temple, with four Doric columns at the corners, which framed the three doors of the stage, while the upper floor had three Ionic projections with triangular gabled finials. The proscenium was probably similar to that of the theatre of Priene and had an Ionic colonnade and pillars or a combination of pillars at the corners and columns in the central part.
The structural characteristics and the decorative details of both the retaining walls and the finials, as well as the stone seats, show obvious similarities with the corresponding elements of other theatres and monuments, such as the theatres of Messene, Sparta, Maronia, Delphi, Dionysus Eleuthereus in Athens, Halicarnassus and the monuments of Lysicrates and the Eponymous Heroes in Athens, which date from the second half of the 4th c. BC to the first half of the 3rd c. BC. In the same period -and perhaps closer to 350-340 BC- the earliest (initial) phase of the theatre of Mytilene should be placed chronologically, when the monumental configuration of the city begins. However, the changes that were made to the stage and its transformation into a two-storey monumental structure, date back to the later Hellenistic years that followed and more specifically, to the second half of the 2nd c. BC. This is supported by the simple architecture, the lack of architectural and sculptural decorations, the absence of statues of emperors, members of their families, gods or other important figures of the period, which are usually found in later phases of the Imperial period. During the Roman period, the theatre suffered considerable damage from natural disasters (earthquakes), while in the second half of the 2nd c. AD, it was converted into an arena, as mentioned above.
In later years, architectural parts of the theatre were dismantled and reused as secondary building material in the Castles of Mytilene and other medieval and Ottoman monuments. However, there was also extensive stone looting that followed after the Asia Minor Catastrophe, as the use of the finished building material of the theatre was offered for the immediate construction of the houses of the Asia Minor refugee settlement of Mytilene, during this difficult period in the history of the island and of Greece in general.
To date, the interdisciplinary cooperation between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lesbos and the School of Architecture of the Technical University of Bari, Italy, continues, aiming at the archaeological-architectural documentation and restoration of the monument, as far as possible. Today, the ancient theatre of Mytilene is not only open to the public, but also hosts selected cultural events, always respecting the history and importance of the monument.