Aphrodisias is an ancient city in Caria, south-western Turkey. It was founded in the Hellenistic period and rose to prominence in the Julio-Claudian period, in part due to its connections with Aphrodite/Venus, the supposed progenitor of Augustus and his descendants. The city is exceptionally well-preserved since it was largely abandoned in the 6th and 7th centuries and remained a small village thereafter. Most of the civic centre of the city is now exposed and the city is famous for the remarkable number of high-quality statues and sarcophagi that have been found during excavations at it. Aphrodisian sculptors were certainly famous in the Roman period and good quality marble was quarried in the immediate territory of the city.
