Roman Damascus

The expansion of the City of Damascus continued unabated under the Romans until it reached approximately the same area currently occupied by the intramural town (apart from relatively minor adjustments in the Middle Ages under the Arabs that transformed its shape from classical and rectangular to oval). The Roman city possessed seven doors named after heavenly bodies. Bab Sharqi, or the Eastern Gate is one of the oldest and best preserved Roman monuments in Damascus. The Street Called Straight was also constructed under the Romans to become, with its width of 26 meters, the main artery of the city running from east to west parallel to the old Qaymara axis that connected the agora with the temple in the Hellenistic Era. The Nabatean Quarter was located in the eastern part whereas a military compound occupied the northwest part of the city where the citadel is currently located. The Roman era is also credited with the construction of the Qanawat Canal that provided the city with running water. 

Roman Damascus was endowed with a theater located to the south of Via Recta, the modern Madhat Pasha Suq, between Khan Sulayman Pasha and Hisham Mosque. The edifice had a diameter of 93 meters comparable to Palmyra's Theater that seated about 7,000-9,000 spectators. 

Damascus: A History
Ross Burns
ISBN: 9780415413176