City Council and Mosaic Building

The Smyrna City Council was where all the administrative decisions about the city’s future were made. It sits along the northern parcel of a building block between the West Portico and Bouleuterion Avenue. Evidence shows us that it was re-built three times in the exact same spot – the first during the Hellenistic Period, and the other two during the Roman Empire. Its final form is that of a small theatre, and features 11 spaces, plus a semi-vaulted gallery below the benches.

Nearly all decisions made by assembly were chiselled on stones that would later be erected in the Agora for the public to read. Decisions requiring wet signatures were recorded down on papyrus and parchment scrolls, and kept on the shelves of a scriptorium beneath the assembly.

The Mosaic Building is located south of the City Council. Scholars believe that it was most likely used for social and cultural events as well as political meetings. Now almost completely unearthed, it derived its name from its massive – and very well preserved – mosaic floor, adorned with floral and geometric elements.