Ephesus
Ephesus was a colossal city during both the Greek times and Roman Empire. According to Herodotus its original inhabitants were the Karians and Lelegians. Then during the Ioanian migration the son of King of Athens, Androklos arrived in Anatolia and founded Ephesus - his statue with his dog can be seen in Ephesus museum in Selcuk, Turkey.
The Greek goddess of Artemis was holy for Ephesus, as we read in Herodotus; Histories and here she is combined with the Anatolian goddess of Kybele and identified as Artemis of Ephesus. Temple of Artemis which lies in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the World in ancient times. Around 560BC Ephesus was conquered by King Croesus of Lydia and he made major contributions to the Temple of Artemis as well. A lot of these artefacts are in the British Museum and King Croesus' signature can be seen in one of the columns.
"On Alyattes's death he was succeeded as King by his son, Croesus, who was then thirty-five years old. The first Greeks whom the new king attacked were the people of Ephesus. It was during the course of his siege that the Ephesians ran a rope from the temple of Artemis to the city wall, thereby succeeded in dedicating their city to the goddess."
- Herodotus' The Histories - Book 1.26
- Herodotus' The Histories - Book 1.26
Although Ephesus has a long history as I explained, today it is known as an ancient Roman city because Ephesus became even more important under the control of the Romans after 129 BC. It was the capital city of Roman Empire in Asia Minor. Ephesus was at its peak between 1-4th century AD and its population rose to around 225,000 people. It was the second greatest city in the East after Alexandria. I want to talk more about Ephesus in Roman times.
Ephesus population was split into two, like most the 5,500 regions of the Roman Empire. 5% of the population were the rich people:, the aristocrats that lived in villas with marble walls and mosaic covered floors. These aristocrats did not differ at all throughout the Roman Empire, which stretches from modern day Scotland to Bagdad (capital of Iraq). Aristocrats, throughout the length of the Empire, were the same; they wore the same clothes, spoke only Latin and Greek, shared the same trends and their cultures didn’t differ. However, the other 95% of the population were the peasants and the average people. These people differed hugely throughout the Empire, they are unique to their region. they differed it clothes, food, jokes and languages. Thousands of languages were spoken in the Roman Empire: Coptic, Punic and Syriac, just to name a few. Focusing back to Ephesus, I’ll talk about how the aristocrats run the city. Rich people built huge marble structures or other expensive monuments to raise the city's wealth, as they like to live in such a community and some even give so much additional value that their statues are built in the city centres to thank them. Aristocrats raised their personal status by doing this and look ‘cool’ to others. These aristocrats also run the income of the city (for more detail watch video on the left) they split the income in to two 1) To fund the Ephesus’ needs 2) To give to the Empire for bigger needs such as the army. To look and learn about more specific sites within Ephesus watch the video below.
Ephesus population was split into two, like most the 5,500 regions of the Roman Empire. 5% of the population were the rich people:, the aristocrats that lived in villas with marble walls and mosaic covered floors. These aristocrats did not differ at all throughout the Roman Empire, which stretches from modern day Scotland to Bagdad (capital of Iraq). Aristocrats, throughout the length of the Empire, were the same; they wore the same clothes, spoke only Latin and Greek, shared the same trends and their cultures didn’t differ. However, the other 95% of the population were the peasants and the average people. These people differed hugely throughout the Empire, they are unique to their region. they differed it clothes, food, jokes and languages. Thousands of languages were spoken in the Roman Empire: Coptic, Punic and Syriac, just to name a few. Focusing back to Ephesus, I’ll talk about how the aristocrats run the city. Rich people built huge marble structures or other expensive monuments to raise the city's wealth, as they like to live in such a community and some even give so much additional value that their statues are built in the city centres to thank them. Aristocrats raised their personal status by doing this and look ‘cool’ to others. These aristocrats also run the income of the city (for more detail watch video on the left) they split the income in to two 1) To fund the Ephesus’ needs 2) To give to the Empire for bigger needs such as the army. To look and learn about more specific sites within Ephesus watch the video below.
Video for Ephesus
Miletus
Miletus was a Greek city under control of the Roman Empire on the western coast of Anatolia. The city was also considered as one of the greatest and richest Greek cities, before the Persians invaded in 6th Century. Despite that, the Greek city is known for its sudden and brilliant flash of philosophy. Miletus is where the Golden Age (of philosophy) started. It all began with the Pre-Socratic philosopher called Thales. Thales' ideas are based around certainty. He demands natural laws to prove things. For example, Pythagoras' law for right-angled triangles may always turn out to work but which natural law defines it. So for the first time these people disregard the rules passed to through generations. These people started to turn 'mythos' (mythology or unproven laws) to 'logos' (rules proven through natural laws), they (and us now) depended on those rules for many things: astronomy, metaphysics and zoology, just to name a few. These people took all the rules which their fathers and elders taught them and threw them away, they started to build new and more stable laws from the start.
Around 600 BC Miletus, like the other Ionian cities, were under constant attack from Lydians. Lydian King Alyattes had a different strategy than his father in attacking Lydia. He would have the city under siege but would not demolish any of the houses and just destroyed all the crops just when they were at their ripest. Herodutus explains the interesting events that led to Miletus and Lydia to sign a treaty. During one of the Lydian attacks the temple of Athena burns down and Lydian King Alyattes fell ill. Oracles asks Alyattes to build the temple and Alyattes sends a messenger to Miletus to ask for truce during the time it is restored. When travelling to see the Miletus tyrant Thrasybulus, the messenger saw that everyone in Miletus was feasting on stock piles of food and wine. The messenger after delivering Alyattes’ message comes back to Lydia and explains all he has seen to the Lydian King. As a result Alyattes built two temples to Athena rather than just one, his health fully recovered and Lydia and Miletus sign a treaty and agree to be ally of each other which even continued during the Persian times when Cyrus took over Ionian cities after he conquered Lydia.
Around 600 BC Miletus, like the other Ionian cities, were under constant attack from Lydians. Lydian King Alyattes had a different strategy than his father in attacking Lydia. He would have the city under siege but would not demolish any of the houses and just destroyed all the crops just when they were at their ripest. Herodutus explains the interesting events that led to Miletus and Lydia to sign a treaty. During one of the Lydian attacks the temple of Athena burns down and Lydian King Alyattes fell ill. Oracles asks Alyattes to build the temple and Alyattes sends a messenger to Miletus to ask for truce during the time it is restored. When travelling to see the Miletus tyrant Thrasybulus, the messenger saw that everyone in Miletus was feasting on stock piles of food and wine. The messenger after delivering Alyattes’ message comes back to Lydia and explains all he has seen to the Lydian King. As a result Alyattes built two temples to Athena rather than just one, his health fully recovered and Lydia and Miletus sign a treaty and agree to be ally of each other which even continued during the Persian times when Cyrus took over Ionian cities after he conquered Lydia.
“Twelve years into the war and it so happened that a cornfield was put was being out the torch by the invaders. As the crops blazed, sparks were borne on a violent gust of wind towards a temple of Athena. The temple... caught fire and burned down. At the time, no one thought much of this - but in due course, when back in Sardis with the army, Alyattes fell ill...he sent messengers to the oracle at Delphi, to ask Apollo for his diagnosis. When the messengers arrived at Delphi...the priests warned that they would only be granted a consultation once the temple to Athena had been rebuilt. “ Book One, 19.
Video for Miletus
Priene
Priene was one of the oldest Ioanic cities and in ancient days it was in a peninsula with two harbours. It participated in the famous Battle of Lade with 12 ships, according to Herodotus.
“So it was, in due course, that a fully crewed Ionian fleet came to be at Lade, together with one contingent Aeolians from Lesbos. Their order of battle was as follows. On its easternmost wing were eightys ships furnished by Milesians themselves, next to these the Prieneans with twelve ships...” Book 6, 8
Priene was later founded on its present site with the help of the Athens. In those days it was much more closer to the sea than it is now. It was surrounded by a strong city wall. It was rebuilt using the Hippodamian system, which I mention in the video below. In short terms the Hippodamian system is a grid system.
Priene was a small, wealthy city and did not play much role in politics. After Greek influence, then Lydians, Persians, Pergamon and finally Rome started to govern Priene around 2nd century BC. It had all the needs of a typical city and did not change much over the years.
Priene was a small, wealthy city and did not play much role in politics. After Greek influence, then Lydians, Persians, Pergamon and finally Rome started to govern Priene around 2nd century BC. It had all the needs of a typical city and did not change much over the years.
Video for Priene
Map
Miletus , Priene and Ephesus are all located in the map below.
