View through the vaulted entrance of the Xanthos theatre into the Orchestra pit, Xanthos, Turkey...

The deep orchestra pit of Xanthos theatre is a typical example of a structure for gladiator fights in the late Roman era. The decorations on the front of the high stage building and the detailed structure of the first floor have survived to date. The first level of the two-level theatre of Xanthos has 16 rows for spectators and 12 radial stairways. Although only four rows of the second level have survived, the subsequent building of a late Roman wall onto the second level shows that a number of seating rows were demolished in this section. Earthenware water pipes forming part of the drinking water system that run through the exterior supporting wall of the cavea are visible at the points where they emerge on the exterior. The arched entrance of the theatre opening onto the orchestra and the vaulted section positioned on the left right opposite it for the sake of symmetry are fairly intact, as are the vaulted rooms on the lower floor of the stage building. The depth of the orchestra pit is approximately nine feet. The orchestra has a radius of 43 feet. The seats with backboards arranged along the edge of the nine-foot wide central walkway at the top of the first level are to prevent the sound from being impaired by the seven-foot wall in front of the second level. The height of the stage building of the theatre must have been approximately 57 feet. Although it is difficult to estimate the actual seating capacity of the theatre due to the missing rows in the second level, in its present state it can seat approximately 3,000 people. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, Xanthos was the capital city of the Lycian Federation. The Xanthosians famously twice chose to commit mass suicide rather than submit to invading forces. In 540 BC the Xanthosian men set fire to their women, children, slaves and treasure upon the acropolis before making their final doomed attack upon the invading Persians. Xanthos was later repopulated but the same gruesome story repeated itself in 42 BC when Brutus attacked the city during the Roman civil wars in order to recruit troops and raise money.