It is unnecessary to describe in detail the remains of the numerous other stadia which have been found in Greek lands; but a few peculiarities which they present may be noted as illustrating the development of the stadium and the way in which the Greeks adapted themselves to the character of the ground. At Messene advantage was taken as elsewhere of a shallow valley.[450] The stadium consists of two parts—an old embanked part, forming the actual racecourse, and an unusually elaborate sphendone. In the former the sides of the valley were carefully banked up into terraces, but no stone seats were provided and no attempt was made to render the two sides parallel. The sphendone was considerably narrower than the actual course and of unusual depth, the sides of the semicircle being continued for some distance in straight parallel lines. It is seated with stone, and the height above is enclosed in an elaborate square court surrounded on three sides by colonnades, which are continued along both sides of the course. A similar narrowing of the entrance of the sphendone occurs at Ephesus,[451] where the curve of the sphendone is produced on either side so as to project into the course. This elaboration of the sphendone is clearly connected with its use for musical and dramatic performances, and marks the declining importance of athletic competitions. At Aezani one end of the stadium was rounded; the other was straight, and formed the stage of an elaborate stone theatre. Finally, the last stage in the evolution of the stadium is reached at Aphrodisias in Caria.[452] Here the course is symmetrical with a sphendone at either end, and the whole is surrounded by a colonnade and wall, through which fifteen openings along one side afford entrance to the spectators’ seats, and various underground passages give access through the side of the hill to the arena. It is only in its proportions, its narrowness as compared with its length, that such a stadium differs from the Roman amphitheatre. Indeed, we learn that the large stadium at Laodicea was actually converted into an amphitheatre.[453]