Roman Damascus

The expansion of Damascus proceeded 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. Al-Bāb aš-Šarqī, 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 Qaymarīyyā axis that connected the agora with the temple in the Hellenistic age. The Nabatean Quarter was located in the eastern part, whereas a military compound occupied the northwest part of the city where the Citadel currently stands. The Roman era is also credited with the construction of the Qanawāt aqueduct that provided the city with running water. 

Roman Damascus was endowed with a theater located to the south of Via Recta, modern sūq Madḥat Pāšā, between H̱ān Sulaymān Pāšā and Hišām Mosque. The edifice had a diameter of 93 meters, comparable to Palmyra's theater, which seated about 7,000-9,000 spectators. 

 Ross Burns. Damascus, a History. Routledge 2005.