Aydın, Yenihisar, near the Village of Balat

Built in 300 BC, the theatre was enlarged as the city developed, and underwent fundamental renovation by the Romans in around 100 BC. In the early Roman period it was large enough to seat 114,500 people. The four-pillared administration building was added in 164 BC to mark the visit of Faustina. The theatre of Miletus faces southwest. The stepped way proceeds from the supporting walls to the right and the left through magnificent entrances, reaching the circular walkway by means of the vaulted passage eight feet in width running under the second level.

In the first level of the theatre there are 19 rows of seats plus a 20th row with a backboard running along the edge of the circular walkway, eight feet and four inches in breadth, which separates the first level of the theatre from the second. A section of this row of benches with backrests placed at the front edge of the circular walkway is still in situ. The purpose of these seats is to ensure that the wall at the edge of the circular walkway does not interfere with the sound distribution in the theatre. The edges of the radial walkways are worked with lions’ claws. There are a total of 19 rows in the second level including the row with the backrest. There must have been about 16 rows in the third tier. This level is elevated with 30-degree semi-conical arches. The orchestra pit is accessed via two flights of steps. There are seven niches in the perimeter wall of the orchestra pit. The niches are five feet high, two feet and eight inches deep and two feet wide. These marble clad niches resemble the mihrabs of the upper theatre of Magnesia. The altar stone inscribed with a three-legged cauldron has survived. The orchestra has a radius of 46 feet and two inches and the auditorium is set at an incline of 30 degrees. The stage building must have been 61 feet high.

The theatre faces southwest and has a seating capacity of approximately 14,500 people.