Roman theater-temple complexes and projections in Anatolia

The phenomenon of theater and theater building as an architectural construction element have always been related to concepts of religion, cult and ritual. Togetherness of theater and sanctuary which begins with cultic theaters seen in the Eastern religions where rituals related to abundance are prominent and later on in the Greek religion in which Eastern components have a dominant role, has transformed to an entire monumental construction designed with a systematic understanding from Roman Republican Period on. These complexes with Roman Imperial Period have found an appropriate environment to spread, have started to function as a component of religion politics dependent on Roman politics, without any loss of their `cultic building? roots. This complex, which is represented in Anatolia with only a few samples in opposition to other Roman provinces has had the same functions with many other examples and served to Emperor cult. In this study, it is focused on the period in which theater and temple buildings transformed to a systematic whole and on cultic functions which have changed in the course of time. While above-mentioned architectural formation was studied, for the purpose of constituting a basis, priority has been given to summarizing the concepts of temple and theater which have different characters in Aegean and Roman worlds. Following a specific chronological and geographical order, subject of study was tried to be detailed considering cult origins, the geography and cultures which might be influential and discussed examples of theater-temple complexes; and it is tried to form an architectural categorization. The theater-temple complexes appear in different periods and different architectural forms have been important public centers through which official religion politics and political propaganda can be observed.