Dionysus Temple Banister

Dionysus Temple Banister

View of one of the two "banisters" that flank the 25 steps that lead up to the porch of the Temple of Dionyus from the south.  Note how the marble sheathing covers an andesite core (the gray/black stones under it).  Evidently the Hellenistic Temple was made of andesite while the Caracalla Temple refurbished it in marble—see below.

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."