This paper discusses the restoration project of the Odeion of Perikles at Athens, carried
by the Cappadocian king Ariobarzanes II sometime between 63 and 52 BC, after its
partial destruction during the Sullan sack of 86 BC. This sack occurred as a punishment
for the alliance between Athens and the Pontic king Mithridates VI in his war against
Rome. In that context, the restoration project of this fifth century B.C. covered-theatre
was meaningful for the formation of diplomatic links and networks between Athens,
Rome and Cappadocia, in particular considering the complexity of the antibarbarian
narratives involved. From the viewpoint of the Athenian urban history, the restoration
project is an eloquent example of a new attitude towards the urban space which would
become a central feature in the social production of Athenian space throughout the first
century B.C.: the antiquarian urbanism.
