Dionysus Temple Entrance

View of the entrance to the Dionysus Temple.  The men in the picture are standing on the 25 steps that lead up to the porch of the temple from the south.  Note how the marble steps cover an andesite core (the gray/black stones under it).

The bases of three of the original six columns are clearly visible.  This "prostyle" temple of the Ionic order.  "Prostyle" indicates that there were columns just in the front of the temple and none surrounding it—as is typical Greek style temples (compare the Parthenon in Athens which is peristyle in nature [columns all around the temple]).  It seems that the Romans adopted this temple style—maybe from the Pergamenes?

This temple was first built in the Hellenistic Period (ca. early second century B.C.).  It was later rebuilt and also dedicated to the Roman Emperor Caracalla (r. A.D. 211–217) under the name the "New Dionysus."

The central portion of the temple, the cella, is the room where the two columns are resting on their sides.