On Turkey’s Aegean coast lies one of the ancient world’s greatest cities: Ephesus. What started as a Greek colony grew into a city that held one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Ephesus was founded as a Greek colony in Turkey sometime around the 10th century BCE about 2 mi (3k) from the center of the current town. The story goes that the founder was a prince from Athens named Androklos who had to leave home after his father died. He chose the spot for Ephesus based on a prophecy from the oracle at Delphi, who told him “A fish and a boar will show you the way.”
Map of the main sights of Ephesus.
The main drag, Curetes Street, connecting the State Agora to the Lower Agora.
In post-boar days, Ephesus made its namesake for its temple to the Greek goddess Artemis. The local version was a combination of Artemis and the Anatolian goddess of Kybele, who were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. The many-breasted goddess was worshiped at the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest building in the ancient world according to the Greek geographer Pausanias. He claimed it was built before the Ionians showed up, but that is highly unlikely. Only a trace remains of the great Temple of Artemis. A final sacking by a mob in 401 CE destroyed all that remained up to that time. Today only a base and a final column grace a waterlogged area where the temple once stood.
The many-breasted Artemis of Ephesus, but they also may be eggs, grapes, acorns or even bull testes. No one is quite sure.
The lone column of the Temple of Artemis found on the edge of modern-day Selcuk. Very sad indeed.
Ephesus was one of the Ionian cities that was conquered by the evil Persian overlord Cyrus the Great. The city continued to prosper but the taxes became too much to handle, and they rebelled under Darius during the Ionian Revolt in the Battle of Ephesus in 498 BCE, an event that stated the Greco-Persian wars (300 anyone?). In 479 BCE, the Ionians, with help from the glorious Athenians, were able to oust the vile Persians from the shores of Asia Minor.
Alexander the Great liberated the Ephesians from the Persian threat after the Battle of Granicus in 334 BCE, but after his death, Ephesus came under the control of his general Lysimachus. Ephesus was having some issues with the river Cayster silting up its harbor, creating malaria ridden swamps. The people of Ephesus were forced to move to a new settlement 1.2 mi (2k) away. Lysimachus made sure people left by flooding the city by blocking the sewers. There was to be no stragglers.
The odeum (smaller Greek-style theater) with an agora in front.
Ephesus became Roman by default, not by conquest, but by a will. After Lysimachus, Ephesus traded hands between empires, but eventually came under the rule of the Attalid king of Pergamon Eumenes II. When his grandson Attalus II died without male children of his own, he left his kingdom to the Roman Republic.
The Memmius Monument, constructed by Memmius in the 1st century CE.
Ephesus was made the capital of proconsular Asia in 27 BCE by Augustus, after which Ephesus entered an era of prosperity. Population estimates have been upwards of 33,000-56,000 people called Ephesus home during its peak in the Roman Empire, making it one of the largest cities in Roman Asia Minor.
The city was famous for its Temple of Artemis, but Ephesus has other amazing monuments. The Great Theater was first constructed during the Hellenistic Period in the 3rd century BCE and enlarged in the Roman period. It is the largest in Anatolia and could have seated 25,000 spectators.
The 25,000 seat Great Theater.
The Library of Celsus is the most famous building in Ephesus. It was built in honor of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus in 135 CE by his son, Gaius Julius Aquila. Celsus had been consul in 92 CE, governor of Asia in 115 CE, and a wealthy and popular local citizen.
The front facade was rebuilt in the 1960s and 1970s. Got to say, they did a fabulous job.
The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and Celsus himself. Yep, the building was supposed to also serve as his tomb. Celsus is buried in a sarcophagus beneath the library. It was very unusual in the Roman world to be buried within the city limit, let alone under a library. Celsus must have been a very special guy.
The Temple of Hadrian is one of the best-preserved buildings in Ephesus. Dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian, the temple has friezes depicting the story of the foundation of Ephesus, Dionysus in ceremonial procession and the Amazons. The friezes on display today are copies. The originals are kept in the Ephesus Museum in Selcuk. The pedestals in front once held statues of emperors that ruled between 293-305 CE, based on the inscriptions.
The Temple of Hadrian with all its fancy friezes.
One of the newest areas that can be explored at Ephesus is the Terrace Houses. Located on a hill across the street from the Temple of Hadrian are six residential units on three terraces. The oldest building dates back in the 1st century BCE and continued into use as a residence until the 7th century CE.
The Terrace Houses have been recently restored and two houses are even open to the public. When I visited in 2011, work was still going on. However, I knew someone that knew someone, so we got to go in. I’m sure it looks a lot less messy in there now.
The houses were in the usual Roman style with an interior courtyard in the center, with an open ceiling. They were mostly two storied, which have collapsed over time. On the ground floor there were living and dining rooms opening on to a hall and upstairs there were bedrooms and guest rooms. The ground floor had heating systems in the floors. Hot air was piped through clay pipes under the tiles.
The splendid era of the city however did not last forever. Like Rome, Ephesus was sacked by the Goths in 263 CE. The Emperor Constantine the Great rebuilt much of the city but it still lacked the lust it once had. Ephesus still remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. A basilica dedicated to St. John, who is supposedly buried there, was built in the 6th century. Then again disaster struck. This time in the form of an earthquake in 614. Ephesus’ harbor eventually completely silted up. Today it is 3 mi (5k) inland). Ephesus slowly shrank into a little town, its ruins used for building material.
Ephesus is truly a place that deserves its touristy feel. It can be hell when the cruise ships hit, but it is worth the hassle to visit. Just the sight of the Library of Celsus will be worth it. Of course, so are the genuine fake watches right outside the city gates. Can’t miss those.
At least he is being honest about the watches being fake.
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Genuine fake watches hahahahaha