The Sebasteion was a religious sanctuary dedicated to the worship of the Roman emperors as gods – a widespread practice in the Greek-speaking parts of the Roman empire. The main components of the sanctuary were a temple and a long courtyard. The courtyard was flanked by triple-storied portico-like buildings. The spaces between te columns of the second and third stories of these buildings were willed with life-size relief sculptures. During excavation in the late 1970s more than 70 of the original 190 of these reliefs were found lying where they had fallen when the buildings collapsed.