From Hellenistic neighbourhood to bath-gymnasium and beyond: The archaeology east of the Upper Agora of Sagalassos

Abstract

Thirty years of excavations and research have turned the Upper Agora area of Sagalassos into one of the best-studied public spaces and political civic centers of Roman poleis in Asia Minor. The area to its east was the last remaining piece of the puzzle to be studied. Between 2015-2021, a series of large-scale excavations obtained a wealth of archaeological evidence, ranging from a Hellenistic neighbourhood to the main gymnasium of the Roman polis, and its rearrangement in Late Antiquity. As a result, these excavations provided information about a wide range of aspects of life in Hellenistic, Roman Imperial, and Early Byzantine Pisidia. This paper presents the relevant evidence and discusses its possible interpretations, so that it can be used to contribute to larger debates and themes within Classical and Anatolian Archaeology.