The testimony of Dionysius of Halicarnassus confirms its existence. He mentioned the existence of a sanctuary dedicated to Aphrodite near the Small Theater. The period of its construction is placed at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The orchestra, a large portion of the koilon, the area in which the audience sits, and the proscenium were discovered in 1976. Among other things, says Dionysios of Halicarnassus Pyrrhus built two theaters, one large, impressive like that of Dodona, and a smaller one, near the temple of Apollo.
«ἐν δέ Ἀμβρακία ἱερόν τε τῆς Θεοῡ ἡρὧον Αἰνείου πλησίον τοῦ μικροῦ θεάτρου, ἐν ᾢ καί ξόανον μικρόν ἀρχαϊκόν Αινείου λεγόμενον»
Διονυσίου Αλικαρνασσέως, Ρωμαϊκή Αρχαιολογία: 1.50.4
«in Ambracia, a temple of Aphroditê Aeneias and a hero-shrine of Aeneas near the little theatre»
The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus: 1.50.4
The orchestra is in the shape of a complete circle, 6,70 m. in diameter, although its floor is not preserved. The cavea is divided into three blocks of seats by two stairways and it has five rows of seats. The whole structure is flanked by two sturdy retaining walls, made of large limestone and sandstone blocks. The proedria, the honorary seats of the priesthood of Dionysus in the front row are absent. The mainstay of the proskenion has been revealed at a length of 7,5m and its facade was embellished probably with six ionic semi-columns, one of which is preserved intact and two more were found in fragmentary condition.
The most important find of the first excavation was a golden stater of Philip II, the first ancient gold coin that was discovered in Epirus. The movable finding came to light during the initial excavation of the site in 1976. It is noted that the number of bronze coins collected from the entire excavation of the Small Theater (until today) is impressive, as they exceed 250.
The small theater was not built on a natural hill, as is the case with other theaters, but was founded on older facilities with mosaic floors, which belong to the foundations of baths of the 4th c. B.C., as well as the foundations of buildings of the classical city.
During the first research in the ‘70s, an ancient bath was revealed underneath the koilon of the theatre. These remains belong to a relatively small infrastructure that had two rooms, which were connected with each other through openings. They retained mosaic and pebble floors made of small white and black river pebbles, depicting winged Eros Figures, swans, and dolphins, all related to water. Some of these mosaics have been detached and transferred to the Archaeological Museum of Arta.
North of the Theatre is located the pebbled floor that came to light during the recent excavation in August 2018. It was part of the bath; it is circular and in the center is decorated with various depictions. The decoration includes a spiral that includes the representation, which depicts scenes of Eros Figures playing various games with swans, an Eros Figure which is riding a dolphin, a flying swan, fishes, waterfowl, and an octopus. The illustration similarity of this pebbled floor with the corresponding one that was found during the excavation of 1976 in the theater is more than obvious.
