AIZANOIE 
          
     Sacred city of the Roman Empire
                                     Roma İmparatorluğu'nun kutsal kenti

                                         

                                    aizanoi4.jpg (20601 bytes)

The architect of the Temple of Zeus probably   went  to  the  gymnasium  at   the  end of a tiring day’s work, to participate in the sports himself or watch the young athletes training. Then he may have relaxed at the baths, before going  to  watch an oil wrestling contest at the palaestra. On his way to the meat market, notorious for its quarrels, on the other side of the river, he would have passed the combined theatre and stadium ofAizanoi, a unique structure found in no other ancient city, and cast yet another appreciative glance at it with an archited’s professional eye.On the walls of the round building thought to be the meat market is engraved a copy of Diocletian’s edict laying down maximum wages and prices in an endeavour to combat inflation. 
The edict lists the prices of a myriad of products,   from  the   sponges  used  to make eye lotions, diverse foodstuffs and   minerals, to shipping  costs and slaves. The 2nd and 3rd centuries were the high point of Aizanoi’s prosperity.
The emperor had favoured the city by dedaring it the official centre of the cult of Zeus, and on this sacral authority it was here that the highest  ranking  priest
of Asia Minor was appointed. Subsequently the temple  was  used  for   Christian worship, and in the 13th century the çavdar Tartars  decorated   the  walls  with hunting and battle scenes.

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