Hello dear blog readers,
After exploring the port city of Famagusta we continued to the ruins of the ancient city of Salamis.
Salamis is an Iron Age city kingdom located on a wide bay about 6 km north of today's Famagusta in the east of Cyprus. Salamis had been known as the leading role of the Cypriot city kings since the 11th century BC. and was initially a relatively small town, which has been expanded more and more around since the 8th century BC.. Salamis was even the first city in Cyprus, which minted coins from about 515 BC.
In the history of Cyprus Salamis occurs again and again and the leading role in the time of the Egyptian supremacy was also occupied by the coins of King Euelthon (560-525 BC), on which he describes himself as ruler of the island. The city of Salamis also played a role, in the conflicts with the Persian Empire, in the Ionian uprising and in the disputes over the succession of Alexander the Great for example. New finds are still being made during excavations and it is estimated that just a third of the ancient artifacts and structures have been excavated. Some of the finds, which archaeologists have uncovered in more than 20 years of work, hint at the great prosperity of Salamis, the former trading capital. One example is the monumental theater.
In this article I would like to show you some pictures of the Roman theater in the ruins of Salamis and give some information about it.
In terms of philosophy, the Roman Theater is a place of fun where, gladiatorial fights took place for example, in contrast to the Greek theater, which was considered a religious place.
Here Dionysus was honored, the god of protection of the theater and also known as the wine god. In every theater there were reliefs that told about Dionysus, and often there were also statues.
The Roman Theater in Salamis was excavated from 1952 to 1974, was built in the time of Emperor Augustus (around the turn of the century) and could hold up to 15,000 spectators. Originally the auditorium was 20 meters high and had 50 terraced rows of seats. Today only 19 rows of seats can be seen here. The first three rows were withheld from the priests, then the senate and then it went on to the other ranks. Women had to sit at the top in the past.
The Roman Theater in Salamis was destroyed after an earthquake in the years 76/77 AD., then it was restored under Emperor Haidran and it dates back to Augustan times. In 332 there was another strong earthquake, which caused great destruction of the buildings in Salamis again. The theater was not rebuilt afterwards, but many parts were used for the construction of the baths and the gymnasium. Nowadays the theater is rebuilt partially.
So that this article will not be too long, I make a stop here again and tell you more about the ancient ruins in Salamis tomorrow. Stay tuned!
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