Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered a 2,050-year-old Roman council building once located in the heart of the Roman city of Laodicea, Ancient Origins reported.
The building, which dates back to the late first century B.C., was built with pentagonal outer walls and hexagonal inner walls. It’s an elaborate archaeological flourish which researchers say is especially rare in ancient Anatolia and sheds light on regional traditions of the Roman people during that period. Archaeologists determined that the building served as a council center known as a “bouleuterion,” which was a specially built structure which housed the city-state’s council authority.
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It was built in a theater-style structure which contained 17 seating tiers built to hold each of the council’s 600 to 800 members, which included elders, youth representatives, and citizens of the city. The evidence suggests the building was used both as a venue for political debate and a judicial center. Some of the seats were still engraved with the names of council members, which offered researchers unprecedented insight into the ancient government’s structure.
The building was positioned in the center of Laodicea’s city center, flanked by a political agora, archive halls, a large bath complex, and the largest stadium in the region. Researchers say this planning is evidence of the Roman people’s sophisticated city planning procedures. The newly uncovered information reveals Laodicea to be a major hub of political and judicial significance to the Roman people. The city’s location allowed it to become a major administrative and commercial destination during the Roman era, when it served as a regional center for both secular governance and early Christian communities.
