The Bouleuterion, located on the so-called State Agora to the north of the Basilike Stoa was already excavated in the mid-19th century by J. T. Wood. The so-called Imperial Letters - letters from the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.) to the Ephesians -, which were attached to the stage wall, and a few sculptural fragments were sent by Wood to the British Museum. The main elements of the furnishings and decoration, however, are only known from Wood's report and correspondence, and through the existence of inscribed bases.
Research and subsequent excavations on the part of the OEAI took place in 1908 (R. Heberdey, W. Wilberg) and in the 1960's-1970's (W. Alzinger). In 1970 and 1990, extensive restoration work was carried out under the leadership of the Ephesos Museum Selçuk, above all in the cavea and at the staircases.

Although the building already had a place in the specialized literature, building survey and comprehensive presentation were, however, lacking. In recent years, a number of authors have concerned themselves with the benefactor of the stage building of the 2nd century A.D., P. Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus, and the statuary programme of this scaenae frons.
Between 1997-2003, L. Bier prepared the definitive publication of the Ephesian building as a pendant to his work on the Bouleuterion at Aphrodisias. Apart from documentary drawings and a structural analysis, he was also able to clarify the phases of construction and to complete the reconstructed statuary programme of the 2nd century A.D. phase. After L. Bier's death in 2004, his manuscript was edited, and contributions by the following authors were added: H. Thür (architecture), U. Quatember (ÖAI; architectural decoration), H. Taeuber (Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altertumskunde, Papyrologie und Epigraphik, University of Vienna; inscriptions) and M. Aurenhammer as well as Th. Opper (British Museum); sculptures). The Austrian Academy of Sciences accepted the manuscript as volume IX 4 of the FiE in 2008.

Picture Captions
Fig. 1: The Bouleuterion from the south-west; in the foreground, the Basilike Stoa (© OEAI, Photo F. Krinzinger)

Bibliography:
J. T. Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus (1877) 42 ff.
E. Fossel, Zum sog. Odeion in Ephesos, in: Festschrift für Fritz Eichler, 1. Beih. ÖJh (1967) 72 ff.
R. Meinel, Das Odeion (1982) 315 ff.
W. Alzinger, Die Lokalisierung des hellenistischen Rathauses von Ephesos, in: Bathron. Festschrift Heinrich Drerup (1988) 21 ff.
J. Balty, Curia Ordinis (1991) bes. 511 ff.
L. Bier, The Bouleuterion at Ephesos. Some Observations for a New Survey, in: P. Scherrer - H. Taeuber - H. Thür (eds.), Steine und Wege. Festschrift Dieter Knibbe, SoSchrÖAI 32 (1999) 7 ff.
K. Fittschen, Prinzenbildnisse antoninischer Zeit (1999) 130 Nr. 50.
A. Kalinowski - H. Taeuber, A New Antonine Inscription and a New Imperial Statue Group from Ephesos, JRA 14, 2001, 351 ff.
A. Kalinowski, The Vedii Antoninii: Aspects of Patronage and Benefaction in 2nd Century-Ephesos, Phoenix 56, 2002, 1 ff. 138 ff.