By the Hellenistic period, monumental stone theaters were being built throughout the Greek world in such great number that Pausanias later suggested that a polis without a theater (and from his context it is likely that he means a stone-built theater rather than a place in or near a sanctuary where wooden seats could be erected) was hardly worthy. Western Greek cities took part in this urban development, in some cases as early as the fourth century. Archaeological remains of eighteen stone theaters have been identified in Sicily and South Italy and at least ten others are suggested by literary sources (Map 6.1).