7. THEATRE
Hammond was the first to discuss the ancient theatre of Gitana, mentioning it in his seminal work on Epirus, while S. Dakaris provided a precise map of the remains of the city in which he noted the position of the theatre, in his monograph on Thesprotia.
Erected in the same period (3rd c. B.C.) in which the other Hellenistic theatres of Epirus and Aetolia-Acarnania were erected or renovated, the theatre at Gitana exhibits many of the same structural elements.
It was positioned beyond the city walls, at the north-western edge of the ancient city next to the -navigable in antiquity and known back then as the Thyamis- river Kalamas. Proximity to the river provided easy access to the theatre for visitors.
Built into a rocky slope of the city’s lowest-lying hill, it faced west and towards the river. Its koilon was divided by the diazoma, a horizontal pathway, into two sections, while seven or eight klimakes radiated from the centre, dividing it into seven kerkides. The theatre has been estimated to have been able to accommodate an audience of 4,000. It encompasses 29 rows of stone benches, 15 of which are located in the section of the koilon below the diazoma and 14 above. Given the lack of a proedria, separate seating for prominent individuals in the first row of the koilon, it has been suggested that the first row of benches above the diazoma in the central section of the koilon served a similar purpose.
A unique and exceptionally fascinating find at the Gitana theatre is the names that have been inscribed into the majority of the benches in the koilon. Over 150 names have been discovered, such as Alexandros, Nikanor, Menedamos, Kephalos, Phalakrion, the female names Damoxena, Materina, Philista, Damonoa, Satyra and many others; each of them signifies the liberation of a slave by their master. The names of the masters are written in the nominative, their slaves’ names in the accusative.
Beyond the fact that the inscriptions reveal much about the names of the ancient Thesprotians, especially striking is the fact that women (Materina, Damoxena, Philista) appear to have been allowed to own slaves. In a number of inscriptions, the female names are not accompanied by their father’s or husband’s name. This indicates that Thesprotian women were rather more emancipated than the norm, able to both own property and decide how to allocate it.
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