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In the year of 10 BC, Androclos, the
son of King of Athens-Kodros, was searching a location for
establishing a site. Androclos belonged to Akhas, was running from
the Dor invasion in Greece. He was leading one of the migration
convoys. It was predicted by an Apollon oracle that a fish and a
boar would show the location of the new settlement. Days later,
parallel to the oracle’s prediction, while frying, a fish fell
down from the pan, irritating a hiding boar behind the bushes. The
feared boar escaped immediately. Androclos followed the boar and
established the city of Ephesus, where he had killed the boar.
When Androclos died in the wars with Carians, a mausoleum was
built to the memory of the first king of Ephesus. The mausoleum is
considered to be placed around "The Gate of Magnesia".
Ephesus was ruled by the Lydian king, Kreisos, in the mid 6BC. The
city reached the "Golden Age" and became a good model to the Antic
World in culture and art, as well. As the detailed excavations
have not completed yet, apart from the Artemis, the remains of
that age haven’t been revealed.
Later,
Ephesus was dominated by Persians. As Ephesians did
not join the "Ionian Rebellion" against Persians, the city was
saved from destruction. The rebellion resulted in the loss of
Persian. Alexander the Great won Persians and the Ionian cities
got their independence in the year of 334. Ephesus was in great
prosperity during the times of Alexander the Great Until the
arrival of Alexander the Great, Ephesus was consisted of two
governing systems, democratic and oligarchic. But the oligarchic
system was violated with the coming of a new ruler, and a
rebellion existed in Ephesus.
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The Temple of Artemis was fired and
destroyed by the supporters of oligarchy in 356BC.But
it is believed that a madman known as Herostratus set fire to the
temple in order to make his name immortal on the same night in
Macedonia Alexander the Great was born. As the temple became
unusable, Alexander the Great proposed for repairing. But the
Ephesians delicately refused for the reason that "A God can not
built a temple for another God.".So Alexander who was very proud
of himself as a God, gave some special priviledges to the city. An
Ephesian architect, Dinocrates restored the Temple of Artemis.
After the
death of Alexander the Great, Ephesus was ruled by
the general of him,
Lysimakhos, in 287 BC.
Lysimakhos decided to change the prior location of Ephesus to
further west, due to the destruction of the port by the alluviums,
and the inhabitants were forced to settle in the new place named "Arsinoeina",
the name of Lysimakhos� wife. The city was surrounded by wide
stone walls in 10 meters height and 9 meters length. And, "Arsinoeina"
was changed into "Ephesus"
again, to be forgotten eternally.
Ephesus was
controlled by the Romans in 190 BC. The city was
given to the Bergamian kings for a time. With the death of King
Attalos 3 in 133BC, the city was re-ruled by the Romans. Ephesus
reached to its height and was notorious for its wealth and luxury
between 1-4 AD., especially during the reign of Augustus. During
the period, the population of Ephesus increased to 225 000, and
the city became the capital of the new
Asia. By cleaning the
river Caystros from the alluviums, the great trade port of Ephesus,
a gateway to foreign countries, enriched the prosperity of the
city and continued to thrive with commerce and culture. The city
was constructed, adding new models to the former magnificence of
Ephesus. "Celsus Library" clearly exemplifies the perfecta of the
era, with the delicate details of the construction.
Ephesus
has played significant roles during the date, in the early
Christianity, as well. The prestige of Ephesus increased with the
arrival of Saint Paul, for spreading the Christianity to the
Ephesians worshipping to Artemis. St. Paul and the disciplines of
Christianity were strictly refused by Ephesians, elderly. With the
long tiring struggles of St. Paul, Christianity was accepted by
the most of the population around Ephesus. St. Paul had also sent
one of his most famous letters to the church in Ephesus.
Additionally,
St Jean and Virgin
Mary visited Ephesus and Virgin Mary settled down the Mount Bulbul,
located close to Ephesus, around the years of 42 AD.
Ephesus became a state of Seljukian in the year of 1090, for a
time was held by
Byzantine. In 1307
Seljukians controlled the city again. However, years later, the
River Caystros was silted up, leaving the site far inland.
Therefore, the city of
Ephesus has lost its
significance, due to the development of the ports of Izmir and
Kusadasi in sea-trade.
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