| Roman Sites In Turkey |
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| Going far back in time, Roman Emperors, such as Trajan above, left their mark on Turkey in a huge number of sites all over the country. |
| Emperor Trajan would not be satisfied with the condition of his temple on the Acropolis of Pergamum. |
| Still, something is left of Trajan's Temple in the Pergamum Acropolis. The same cannot be said for the Alter of Zeus, where all that remains in Pergamum is a pile of bricks, part of the foundation. I have denounced this grand theft of the Alter of Zeus in my videos of both Turkey and Germany. |
| The Alter of Zeus can now be found in Berlin's Pergamum Museum, 19th century looting on a grand scale. The Germans were hardly alone in such thievery, which a visit to the British Museum in London will confirm. Hard to find anything British in their display of thefts from the old world. |
| Roman theaters have fared much better. This is the Greco/Roman Theater of Aspendos in Turkey, fully restored, and back in service presenting elaborate productions. |
| The Aspendos Theater was offering Aida. I appreciated these huge Egyptian sets, part of an Italian opera, staged in an ancient Roman theater, for modern Turkish opera lovers. My kind of globalization without any doubt. |
| If you have a high speed internet connection, watch the Intrepid Berkeley Explorer's free streaming video of this trip, "What the Sultan Saw", by clicking on AdventurePics.com . |