The Gymnasium
The gymnasium that we currently have is a reconstruction of its predecessor and which was completed some time in the early second century BCE according to the epigraphic evidence that accompanied the building project (Bernard, “The Greek Colony at Aï Khanum,” 126). The gymnasium and the theater are two of the most traditional Greek monuments in the city, though the gymnasium’s structure did undergo some alterations due to local needs (Lecuyot, 160; Bernard, “The Greek Colony,” 89-90). Although the gymnasium that we have is not original to the site in form, it is one of the monuments that is used to construct the adamantly “Greek” nature of the city (Bernard, “Aï Khanum on the Oxus,” 77, 90-91; Mairs, “The ‘Temple With Indented Niches’ at Ai Khanoum,” 90).