On a flat hill above the theatre lies the acropolis, with an agora and basilica. Seen from a distance these look attractive, but coming up close there is little that tells the stories of a grand past.
Theatres were never built without a city to surround them, and Aspendos thrived as one especially in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Its history goes beyond that of the Roman era, beginning sometime during the Hittite Empire.