Day 5: Religiously Studying Ephesus! 

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The Morning came early with a very busy day ahead with a fairly gross Turkish Breakfast Buffet. They were done and out the door by 7:45 in order to be on the Cliffs when it opened at 8:00 AM.

 

Mike and Bone, about to Tackle the Calcium Cliffs

The Boys bought their tickets and were delighted to learn that they were also going to be able to check out the ancient Greco-Roman City of Hierapolis.

 

As they Boys started to head up the hills on the hot morning the site of Turkish Soldiers with machine guns was a little unnerving. The Soldiers were in fact just security for the cliffs and asked all tourist to simply take their shoes off before walking into the pool so to not dirty them. It was unfortunate because Mike and Bone nearly stained the pristine waters the color yellow with the machine guns!

 

The Warm Calcium-Rich Waters of the Cotton Castle!

The Boys learned that the amazing scene starts somewhere deep in the earth beneath Pamukkale and the ancient Roman city of Hierapolis lies a vast source of water heated by volcanic lava.

The water dissolves pure white calcium, becomes saturated with it, and carries it to the earth’s surface, where it bursts forth and runs down a steep hillside. Cooling in the open air, the calcium precipitates from the water, adheres to the soil, and forms white calcium “cascades” frozen in stone called travertines.

This calcium-rich water has been bursting forth at Hierapolis/Pamukkale for more than two thousand years!. The Romans built the spa city of Hierapolis so citizens could come and enjoy the health benefits of the hot mineral water. The beauty of the travertines was just a bonus.

As Mike and Bone slowly and increasingly tenderly climbed up the cliffs, they discovered that it was good that they started early! Walking barefoot was actually not fun, and sucked! The calcium tended to form into razor sharp ridges that were not soft but rock-hard. This tended to create queues along the path of least resistance. Apparently the best time of day to walk this was in the morning when the crowds are down.

 

"Yeoowwwch!!  Our aching feet!"

After an hour, Mike and Bone summited a hill that typically woulda taken them no more than 10 minutes. Fortunately they emerged bruised but not broken! (at least no cuts!)

They had read that Cleopatra had visited the waters for their healing power, apparently she musta been able to keep her sandals on!  As the Boys donned their shoes on their aching feet they noticed that there was a complete ancient Greco-Roman city around them!

 

Here's Hierapolis!

Mike and Bone learned that despite its fame, there are only a few historical facts known about the origin of the city. No traces of the presence of Hittites or Persians have been found. The Phrygians built a temple, probably in the first half of the 7th century BC. This temple, originally used by the citizens of the nearby town of Laodicea, would later form the center of Hierapolis. This support the story (not fact) that Hierapolis was founded by the Attalid kings of Pergamum at the end of the 2nd century B.C., at the site of an ancient cult.

What is known is that Hierapolis was founded as a thermal spa early in the 2nd century BC within the sphere of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus the Great sent 2,000 Jewish families to Lydia and Phrygia from Babylon and Mesopotamia, later joined by more from Judea. The Jewish congregation grew in Hierapolis and has been estimated as high as 50,000 in 62 BC, as the Romans forced the Jews out of Roman Judea.

The city was expanded with the booty from the 190 BC Battle of Magnesia where Antiochus the Great was defeated by the Roman ally Eumenes II. Following the Treaty of Apamea ending the Syrian War, Eumenes annexed much of Asia Minor, including Hierapolis.

 

The Hierapolis City Limits

Hierapolis became a healing center where doctors used the thermal springs as a treatment for their many famous patients, such as Cleopatra. The city began minting bronze coins in the 2nd century BC. These coins give the name Hierapolis. It remains unclear whether this name referred to the original temple or honored Hiera, the wife of Telephus, son of Heracles and the Mysian princess Auge, the supposed founder of Pergamum's Attalid dynasty. This name eventually changed into Hierapolis ("holy city"), according to the Byzantine geographer Stephanus on account of its large number of temples.

In 133 BC, when Attalus III died, he bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Hierapolis thus became part of the Roman province of Asia. In AD 17, during the rule of the emperor Tiberius, a major earthquake destroyed the city.

Through the influence of the Christian apostle Paul, a church was founded here while he was at Ephesus which the Boys were going to visit in that afternoon. The Christian apostle Philip spent the last years of his life here. The town's Martyrium was alleged to have been built upon the spot where Philip was crucified in AD 80. His daughters were also said to have acted as prophetesses in the region.

In the year 60, during the rule of Nero, an even more severe earthquake left the city completely in ruins. Afterwards, the city was rebuilt in the Roman style with imperial financial support. It was during this period that the city attained its present form. The theatre was built in 129 for a visit by the emperor Hadrian. It was renovated under Septimius Severus (193–211). When Caracalla visited the town in 215, he bestowed the much-coveted title of neocoros upon it, according the city certain privileges and the right of sanctuary. This was the golden age of Hierapolis. Thousands of people came to benefit from the medicinal properties of the hot springs. New building projects were started: two Roman baths, a gymnasium, several temples, a main street with a colonnade, and a fountain at the hot spring. Hierapolis became one of the most prominent cities in the Roman Empire in the fields of the arts, philosophy, and trade. The town grew to 100,000 inhabitants and became wealthy. During his campaign against the Sassanid Shapur II in 370, the emperor Valens made the last-ever imperial visit to the city.

During the 4th century, the Christians filled Pluto's Gate (a ploutonion) with stones, suggesting that Christianity had become the dominant religion and begun displacing other faiths in the area. Originally a see of Phrygia Pacatiana, the Byzantine emperor Justinian raised the bishop of Hierapolis to the rank of metropolitan in 531. The Roman baths were transformed to a Christian basilica. During the Byzantine period, the city continued to flourish and also remained an important center for Christianity.

 

Mike and Bone in Zombie Land or the Necropolis!

The Walking Tour Mike and Bone took starts beyond the city walls and meadow, follows the main colonnaded road and passes the outer baths, where there is an extensive necropolis extends for over a mile on both sides of the old road to Phrygian Tripolis and Sardis.

The other goes south from Laodikya to Closae. The necropolis extends from the northern to the eastern and southern sections of the old city. Most of the tombs have been excavated. This necropolis is one of the best preserved in Turkey. Most of about the 1,200 tombs were constructed with local varieties of limestone, though marble has been used, as well.

Most tombs date from the late Hellenic period, but there are also a considerable number from the Roman and early Christian periods. People who came for medical treatment to Hierapolis in ancient times and the native people of the city buried their dead in tombs of several types according to their traditions and socio-economic status. The tombs and funeral monuments can be divided into four types:

A good deal of these graves were destroyed in the big earthquake of 66 AD. After a good half mile walk they were finally about to enter the City Gates!

 

Downtown Hierapolis!

 

Mike and Bone in Front of the Frontius Gates

Returning to the land of the Living., Mike and Bone came to the Frontius Gates, this is the monumental entrance to the Roman city and leads onto the large plateau, which crosses the whole settlement, exiting a gate at the opposite side, to connect with the road that goes to Laodicea on the Lykos and then Colossae. It is worth admiring the well preserved structure with three openings, in carefully squared travertine blocks, with elegant arches decorated with a simple cornice molding, flanked by two round towers that recall Hellenistic city gates similar to those in the city of Perge, near Antalya (where Mike and Bone weren't going!)

 

Musing the Martyrium

Being a Greco-Roman Town, Mike and Bone knew from their stay in Constantinople (only two days before!) that the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its State Religion. Between that and the fact the many of the original Christians were Jewish, who also fled from the Jewish exile from Jerusalem into Anatolia that there is a lot of Christian lore in Hierapolis a certainly in Ephesus. So there is no surprise that apparently the St. Philip Martyrium stands on top of the hill outside the northeastern section of the city walls. It dates from the 5th century. It was said that Philip was buried in the center of the building and, though his tomb has recently been unearthed, the exact location has not yet been verified. The Martyrium burned down at the end of the 5th or early 6th century, as attested by fire marks on the columns. Philip is said to have been martyred in Hierapolis by being crucified upside-down or by being hung upside down by his ankles from a tree.

The martyrium is usually taken to have been named after the Christian apostle Philip but from early times there has been some dispute as to the actual identity of "Philip of Hierapolis". This confusion started with a report by Polycrates of Ephesus in his Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History and in his controversial letter written to Victor of Rome towards the end of the 2nd century. In the letter, he reports that the graves of Philip "of the twelve apostles", and of his two aged virgin daughters were in Hierapolis; a third daughter, "who had lived in the Holy Ghost", was buried at Ephesus. With this may be compared the testimony of Clement of Alexandria, who incidentally speaks of "Philip the Apostle" as having begotten children and as having given daughters in marriage.

On the other hand, Proclus, one of the interlocutors in the "Dialogue of Caius", a writing of somewhat later date than the letter of Polycrates, mentions "four prophetesses, the daughters of Philip at Hierapolis in Asia, whose tomb and that of their father are to be seen there", where the mention of the daughters prophesying identifies the person meant with the Philip of Acts. Early traditions say this Philip was martyred by hanging in Hierapolis and was also known as "Philip the Apostle". The reasons for setting aside the evangelist identification, and for holding that the Philip who lived at Hierapolis was the Apostle are stated by Lightfoot, Colossians. Fresh confirmation of his view was afforded by the discovery of an inscription at Hierapolis, showing that the church there was dedicated to the memory "of the holy and glorious apostle and theologian Philip." Early traditions say this Philip was martyred by hanging in Hierapolis and was also known as "Philip the Apostle".

The martyrium had a special design, probably executed by an architect of a Byzantine emperor. It has a central octagonal structure with a diameter of 66 feet under a wooden dome which is covered with lead tiles. This is surrounded with eight rectangular rooms, each accessible via three arches. Four were used as entrances to the church, the other four as chapels. The space between the eight rooms was filled with heptagonal chapels with a triangular apse. The dome above the apse was decorated with mosaics. The whole structure was surrounded by an arcade with marble columns and wall panels.

 

The martyrium is usually taken to have been named after the Christian apostle Philip but from early times there has been some dispute as to the actual identity of "Philip of Hierapolis". This confusion started with a report by Polycrates of Ephesus in his Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History and in his controversial letter written to Victor of Rome towards the end of the 2nd century. In the letter, he reports that the graves of Philip "of the twelve apostles", and of his two aged virgin daughters were in Hierapolis; a third daughter, "who had lived in the Holy Ghost", was buried at Ephesus. With this may be compared the testimony of Clement of Alexandria, who incidentally speaks of "Philip the Apostle" as having begotten children and as having given daughters in marriage.

 

The Tomb of St Phillip

On the other hand, Proclus, one of the interlocutors in the "Dialogue of Caius", a writing of somewhat later date than the letter of Polycrates, mentions "four prophetesses, the daughters of Philip at Hierapolis in Asia, whose tomb and that of their father are to be seen there", where the mention of the daughters prophesying identifies the person meant with the Philip of Acts. Early traditions say this Philip was martyred by hanging in Hierapolis and was also known as "Philip the Apostle". The reasons for setting aside the evangelist identification, and for holding that the Philip who lived at Hierapolis was the Apostle are stated by Lightfoot, Colossians. Fresh confirmation of his view was afforded by the discovery of an inscription at Hierapolis, showing that the church there was dedicated to the memory "of the holy and glorious apostle and theologian Philip." Early traditions say this Philip was martyred by hanging in Hierapolis and was also known as "Philip the Apostle".

As Mike and Bone walked through the site they read that in 2011, it was announced that Philip's gravesite may have been discovered about 130 feet from the Martyrium.

 

Rocketing Around the Apollo!

Next, Mike and Bone checked out the Temple of Apollo.

A temple was raised to Apollo Lairbenos, the town's principal god during the late Hellenistic period. This Apollo was linked to the ancient Anatolian sun god Lairbenos and the god of oracles Kareios. The site also included temples or shrines to Cybele, Artemis, Pluto, and Poseidon. Now only the foundations of the Hellenistic temple remain.

A sign described to the Boys how the temple, which has a marble staircase, lies within a sacred area, about 230 ft long. It was surrounded by an enclosure wall. The back of the temple was built against the hill, the peribolos was surrounded on the remaining southern, western and northern sides, by a marble portico which has been partially excavated.

The new temple was reconstructed in the 3rd century in Roman fashion, recycling the stone blocks from the older temple. The reconstruction had a smaller area and now only its marble floor remains.

What the Boys found interesting is that the temple of Apollo was deliberately built over an active fault! This fault was called the Plutonion. It was the oldest religious centre of the native community, the place where Apollo met with Cibele. It was said that only the priest of the Great Mother could enter the cave without being overpowered by the noxious underground fumes. Temples dedicated to Apollo were often built over geologically active sites, including his most famous, the temple at Delphi. This does explain what the site has collapsed twice due to earthquake!

When the Christian faith was granted official primacy in the 4th century, this temple underwent a number of desecrations as is shown throughout the Roman Empire (hence, the reason the Winged Nike has no head or arms)   



 

Mike and Bone at the Theatre!!!

The Mike and Bone next checked out the very cool Hierapolis Theatre, which was probably constructed under the reign of Hadrian after the earthquake of 60 AD.

During the reign of Severus at the beginning of the 3rd century, the old scaenae frons was replaced by a new, more monumental one, organized on three stories and flanked by two imposing side entry buildings. Sculptural reliefs, displaying mythological subjects, were placed on the different stories, while dedicatory inscriptions ran along the entablatures. The transformation was outstanding due to the size of the structures, the high quality of workmanship and materials employed.

The auditorium was rebuilt as well, substituting the ancient limestone seats with others in marble, and realizing a high podium on the orchestra in order to adapt the building to the organization of venationes and gladiator schools.

An earthquake in Hierapolis in the 7th century caused the collapse of the entire building as well as the ultimate abandonment of the city. Since the 18th century, the monument's striking ruins have become a recurrent theme in European travelers' descriptions and engravings.

Septimius Severus is portrayed in a relief together with his wife Julia Domna, his two sons Caracalla and Geta, and the god Jupiter. In AD 352, the orchestra was probably transformed into an arena for aquatic shows, which had become fashionable. The stage, which is 12 ft high, had 5 doors and 6 niches. In front of these there were 10 marble columns, decorated with alternate rectilinear and curved segments. The wall behind the scene was decorated with three rows of columns one behind another.

The auditorium itself consists of stacked seating with a capacity of 15,000 and was bisected by the main aisle. It featured an imperial box. The lower part originally had twenty rows and the upper part twenty five, but only thirty rows altogether have survived. The auditorium is segmented into nine aisles by means of eight vertical passageways with steps. The proscenium consisted of two stories with ornately decorated niches to the sides. Several statues, reliefs (including depictions of Apollo, Dionysus, and Diana), and decorative elements have been excavated by the Italian archaeological team and can be seen in the local museum.

The reason it is in such good shape is that the Boys read that the theatre has been the object of important restoration efforts between 2004 and 2014.  The Boys then wrapped the visit with a quick tour of the museum

The Hierapolis Archeology Museum in the Roman Baths

Mike and Bone took a very quick tour of the Roman Baths, which is one of the biggest buildings of Hierapolis antique city, has been used as the site of the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum since 1984.

In this museum, alongside the historical artifacts which were found in Hierapolis, there are some artifacts from Laodiceia, Colossae, Tripolis, Attuda and other towns of the Lycos (Çürüksu) valley. In addition to these, the museum has a large section devoted to artifacts found at Beycesultan Hüyük and which includes some of the most beautiful examples of Bronze Age craft. Artifacts which have come from the Caria, Pisidia and Lydia regions are also on display in this museum. The museum's exhibition space consists of three closed areas of the Hierapolis Bath and open areas in the eastern side, which are known to have been used as the library and the gymnasium. The artifacts in the open exhibition space are very cool and mostly marble and stone, however the heat and the time started to wear on the Boys and it was time to head out!

 

"We ain't walking back down the way we came up!


Heading back into the Sun as it was getting close to noon and it was freakin hot! The thought of taking their shoes off and walking back down in now a huge group was a non-starter. Mike and Bone decided to walk the long way around and out of the Site.

Fortunately, the came to a taxi stand as soon as they left the side entrance, and were able save an hour walking down the hill in a 10 minute (blessedly air conditioned) ride to their car.

The Boys dickered on what to do, head back to Istanbul now, go to Ephesus and stay there. They decided to take the 2 hour drive, avoid the heat of the day and check out Ephesus !!

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC.

The city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Among many other monumental buildings are the Library of Celsus, and a theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators.

Ephesos was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th-century Christian Councils (see Council of Ephesus).

The city was destroyed by the Goths in 263, and although rebuilt, the city's importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in AD 614.  The ruins of Ephesus has been and remains a favorite international and local tourist attraction, especially for the history-lovin' types like Mike and Bone!

 

The Google ain't always Right!!

The ride from Pamukkale to Ephesus was fast and uneventful, however finding the damned place was darn near a religious event!  Mike and Bone used The Google to direct them to the Town of Ephesus, which was perfect. Then the Google attempting to take the Boys to the Archeological Site, took them up a hill and through a number of crumbling houses with a donkey, which really did not look like the ancient town of Ephesus.

Twenty minutes later, pushing 2:30 the Boys were about to give up and head to Istanbul when they saw signs for the Historic Ephesus and parked in a very, very busy parking lot.

 

Horsing Around in Ephesus!

The Boys we at the very end of a big parking lot and a number of people tried to convince them to take a carriage ride. Which initially did not make sense. Once they realized that their was another entrance on the opposite end of the path and that it made a ton of sense! Take the scenic route, and save an hour by not having to turn around and walk back. Plus, they would be walking down hill not up, which sounded good in the extreme heat of the day!

 

Ephesus under Glass: A Layout of the Ancient Greco-Roman City!

The horsey ride was weird but uneventful, and did save a bunch of time. They bought their tickets and then had a stroke of luck, A beet-faced (due to the heat) gentleman in a big ole floppy hat, named Faisal and offered his tour guide services to the Boys. Turns out it was a steal ! Faisal was awesome!! He knew the history of the region, history of the city, and even how geology and climate change affected what happened to the city!   

 

Stepping into History!


One of the first thing Faisal and the Boys talked about was the original city was started by the Greeks on the hill (shown below) about 6,0000 years ago, when the hill was an island !!  What interesting about that is their is abundant evidence that when the Ice Age ended it flooded the Atlantic, where it cut the English Channel separating France from England, caused the Mediterranean to rise, break through a narrow fresh water stream, created the Bosporus Straights, and flooded salt water into a body of fresh water, creating the Black Sea, which flooded the surrounding area.

Which probably is the basis of the Flood story that is in the Bible with Noah, and many other local religions !

It absolutely explains why the water receded in Troy and Ephesus!!

   

Mike and Bone, at the City Gates!

Faisal told the story of Ephesus by the different ages of the site.

During the Neolithic age, the area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited (about 6000 BC), as was revealed by excavations at the nearby höyük (artificial mounds known as tells) of Arvalya and Cukurici at the top of the hill that was at the time, an island.

Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at Ayasuluk Hill. According to Hittite sources, the capital of the Kingdom of Arzawa . Some scholars suggest that this is the later Greek Ephesus. Faisal told Mike and Bone that in 1954, a burial ground from the Mycenaean era with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the Achaioi (as they were called by Homer) settled in Asia Minor during the 14th and 13th centuries BC.

Greek Ephesus was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on aforementioned hill (now known as the Ayasuluk Hill), just off of the center of ancient Ephesus. The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Androklos, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, King Kodros. According to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality ("A fish and a boar will show you the way"). Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and united his people with the remainder. He was a successful warrior, and as a king he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper. He died in a battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of Priene, another city of the Ionian League. Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, dating from the 2nd century. Later, Greek historians such as Pausanias, Strabo and Herodotos and the poet Kallinos reassigned the city's mythological foundation to Ephos, queen of the Amazons.

About 560 BC, Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians under king Croesus, who, though a harsh ruler, treated the inhabitants with respect and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis. His signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple (now on display in the British Museum). Croesus made the populations of the different settlements around Ephesus regroup (synoikismos) in the vicinity of the Temple of Artemis, enlarging the city.

Later in the same century, the Lydians under Croesus invaded Persia. The Ionians refused a peace offer from Cyrus the Great, siding with the Lydians instead. After the Persians defeated Croesus, the Ionians offered to make peace, but Cyrus insisted that they surrender and become part of the empire. They were defeated by the Persian army commander Harpagos in 547 BC. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into the Achaemenid Empire. Those cities were then ruled by satraps. Ephesus has intrigued archaeologists because for the Archaic Period there is no definite location for the settlement. There are numerous sites to suggest the movement of a settlement between the Bronze Age and the Roman period, but the silting up of the natural harbors as well as the movement of the Kayster River meant that the location never remained the same.

Ephesus continued to prosper, but when taxes were raised under Cambyses II and Darius, the Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against Persian rule in the Battle of Ephesus (498 BC), an event which instigated the Greco-Persian wars. In 479 BC, the Ionians, together with Athens, were able to oust the Persians from the shores of Asia Minor. In 478 BC, the Ionian cities with Athens entered into the Delian League against the Persians. Ephesus did not contribute ships but gave financial support.

During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was first allied to Athens but in a later phase, called the Decelean War, or the Ionian War, sided with Sparta, which also had received the support of the Persians. As a result, rule over the cities of Ionia was ceded again to Persia.

When Alexander the Great defeated the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the Greek cities of Asia Minor were liberated. The pro-Persian tyrant Syrpax and his family were stoned to death, and Alexander was greeted warmly when he entered Ephesus in triumph. When Alexander saw that the temple of Artemis was not yet finished, he proposed to finance it and have his name inscribed on the front. But the inhabitants of Ephesus demurred, claiming that it was not fitting for one god to build a temple to another. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, Ephesus in 290 BC came under the rule of one of Alexander's generals, Lysimachus. As the river Cayster silted up the old harbor, the resulting marshes caused malaria and many deaths among the inhabitants. Lysimachus forced the people to move from the ancient settlement around the temple of Artemis, when as a last resort the king flooded the old city by blocking the sewers.

The new settlement was officially called Arsinoea, after the King's second wife. After Lysimachus had destroyed the nearby cities of Lebedos and Colophon in 292 BC, he relocated their inhabitants to the new city. Ephesus revolted after the treacherous death of Agathocles, giving the Hellenistic king of Syria and Mesopotamia Seleucus I Nicator an opportunity for removing and killing Lysimachus, his last rival, at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. After the death of Lysimachus the town again was named Ephesus. Thus Ephesus became part of the Seleucid Empire. After the murder of king Antiochus II Theos and his Egyptian wife, pharaoh Ptolemy III invaded the Seleucid Empire and the Egyptian fleet swept the coast of Asia Minor. Ephesus came under Egyptian rule between 263 and 197 BC. The Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great tried to regain the Greek cities of Asia Minor and recaptured Ephesus in 196 BC but he then came into conflict with Rome. After a series of battles, he was defeated by Scipio Asiaticus at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. As a result of the subsequent Treaty of Apamea, Ephesus came under the rule of Eumenes II, the Attalid king of Pergamon, (ruled 197–159 BC). When his grandson Attalus III died in 133 BC without male children of his own, he left his kingdom to the Roman Republic, on condition that the city of Pergamon is kept free and autonomous.

 

A Roman Column with a "face" to the Crowd!


Per Faisal, Roman period Ephesus started when as part of the kingdom of Pergamon, the City became a subject of the Roman Republic in 129 BC after the revolt of Eumenes III was suppressed.

The city felt Roman influence at once; taxes rose considerably, and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered. Hence in 88 BC Ephesus welcomed Archelaus, a general of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, when he conquered Asia (the Roman name for western Asia Minor). From Ephesus, Mithridates ordered every Roman citizen in the province to be killed which led to the Asiatic Vespers, the slaughter of 80,000 Roman citizens in Asia, or any person who spoke with a Latin accent. Many had lived in Ephesus, and statues and monument of Roman citizens in Ephesus were also destroyed. But when they saw how badly the people of Chios had been treated by Zenobius, a general of Mithridates, they refused entry to his army. Zenobius was invited into the city to visit Philopoemen, the father of Monime, the favorite wife of Mithridates, and the overseer of Ephesus. As the people expected nothing good of him, they threw him into prison and murdered him. Mithridates took revenge and inflicted terrible punishments. However, the Greek cities were given freedom and several substantial rights. Ephesus became, for a short time, self-governing. When Mithridates was defeated in the First Mithridatic War by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Ephesus came back under Roman rule in 86 BC. Sulla imposed a huge indemnity, along with five years of back taxes, which left Asian cities heavily in debt for a long time to come.

King Ptolemy XII Auletes of Egypt retired to Ephesus in 57 BC, passing his time in the sanctuary of the temple of Artemis when the Roman Senate failed to restore him to his throne.

Mark Antony was welcomed by Ephesus for periods when he was proconsul and in 33 BC with Cleopatra when he gathered his fleet of 800 ships before the battle of Actium with Octavius.

When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, the most important change was when he made Ephesus the capital of proconsular Asia (which covered western Asia Minor) instead of Pergamum. Ephesus then entered an era of prosperity, becoming both the seat of the governor and a major center of commerce. According to Strabo, it was second in importance and size only to Rome.

The city and temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263 AD. This marked the decline of the city's splendor. However, emperor Constantine the Great rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths.

Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. Emperor Flavius Arcadius raised the level of the street between the theatre and the harbor. The basilica of St. John was built during the reign of emperor Justinian I in the 6th century.

The city was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The importance of the city as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the river (today, Küçük Menderes) despite repeated dredging during the city's history. (today, the harbor is 4 miles inland. The loss of its harbor caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. People started leaving the lowland of the city for the surrounding hills. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. Marble sculptures were ground to powder to make lime for plaster.   With an awesome background on the history Faisal then walked the Boys through the City Gates!

   

The Island Hill of Ephesus!

Faisal point out to the Boys that under the Romans Ephesus was the capital of the Roman Empire for Anatoli and one of the three most important cities in the Empire (e.g. Rome and Alexandria), hence it was a very rich city!.

   

Mike and Bone at the Gates of Ephesus!


Faisal point out to the Boys that under the Romans Ephesus was the capital of the Roman Empire for Anatolia and was one of the three most important cities in the Empire (e.g. Rome and Alexandria), hence it was a very rich city!. One of the first things Faisal showed the Boys is on the main Road, everything was marble, even the road was made in marble!

   

A Wealthy Shopkeeper's Store!

Faisal point out to the Boys that under the Romans Ephesus was the capital of the Roman Empire for Anatolia and was one of the three most important cities in the Empire (e.g. Rome and Alexandria), hence it was a very rich city!. One of the first things Faisal showed the Boys is on the main Road, everything was marble, even the road was made in marble!

   

The Iconic Library of Celsus!

Towards the bottom of the Hill on the Main Street, is the iconic Library of Celsus!

The Library of Celsus is one of the two most famous places in Ephesus. The building was commissioned in the 110s C.E. by a Roam Consul, Gaius Julius Aquila, as a funerary monument for his father, former proconsul of Asia Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, and completed during the reign of Hadrian, sometime after Aquila's death. The library is considered an architectural marvel, and is one of the only remaining examples of a library from the Roman Empire. The Library of Celsus was the third-largest library in the Roman world behind only Alexandria and Pergamum, believed to have held around twelve thousand scrolls. Celsus is buried in a crypt beneath the library in a decorated marble sarcophagus.

It current sad state is due to the fact that interior of the library and its contents were destroyed in a fire that resulted either from an earthquake or a Gothic invasion in 262 C.E., and the façade by an earthquake in the tenth or eleventh century. It lay in ruins for centuries until the façade was re-erected by archaeologists between 1970 and 1978. Faisal shared that the Library did have a spicy side. The side door to the library (shown above) is where in the evenings the "tainted doves" would "howl" their availability and men would duck their wives to enjoy "female refreshment".

It gives a whole new perspective of "goin' to the library!"   As it pushed near 6:00 PM, Faisal and the Boys started walking to the last cool thing to check out, he relayed the religious background of Ephesus.

 

A Religious Experience!

Ephesus and early Christianity certainly are incestuously intertwined. Since there was a large Jewish community due to the Romans driving the Jews out of Judea. Hence, many of the early Christians (who WERE Jewish!) spent time in Ephesus which became an important center for Early Christianity. From AD 52–54, the apostle Paul lived in Ephesus, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands, hence his book Ephesians. Initially, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul attended the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus, but after three months he became frustrated with the stubbornness or hardness of heart of some of the Jews, and moved his base to the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9). The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary reminds readers that the unbelief of "some" implies that "others, probably a large number, believed" and therefore there must have been a community of Jewish Christians in Ephesus. Paul introduced about twelve men to the 'baptism with the Holy Spirit' who had previously only experienced the baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1–7), and later became embroiled in a dispute with some artisans whose livelihood depended on selling statuettes of Artemis (Latin: Diana) in the Temple of Artemis (Acts 19:23–41). Between 53 and 57 AD Paul wrote the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the 'Paul tower' near the harbor, where he was imprisoned for a short time). Later, Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 AD).

 


According to Faisal, Ephesus was also a stay for John, one of the chief apostles, and the Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus, circa 90–100. Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in the Book of Revelation, indicating that the church at Ephesus was strong and most likely John tripped on magic mushrooms!  The ruins of his Tomb are in town.

The final “Bible Story” of Ephesus from Faisal was the legend first mentioned by Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century AD, which stated that Mary, mother of Jesus may have spent the last years of her life in Ephesus. The Ephesians derived the argument from John's presence in the city, and Jesus’ instructions to John to take care of Mary after his death. Epiphanius, however, was keen to point out that, while the Bible says John was leaving for Asia, it does not say specifically that Mary went with him. Faisal then took the Boys to the last stop on their awesome Tour,    

 

The Iconic Stadium

The final tour stop was the Stadium of Ephesus, which has also been referred to as the Great Theatre is believed to have been built during the Greek Time period and has been attributed to Lysimachus, the marshal of Alexander the Great, although there is no archaeological evidence for its existence before 100 BC. However, Lysimachus may have chosen the building site. It would have required 60 years of digging in the mountainside to prepare for the construction and eventual expansion of the building. The stadium was greatly damaged by earthquakes in the 4th century AD and only partially repaired/ By the 8th century AD it had become part of the city’s defense system.

The theatre rises over 100 feet, dug into the mountainside. It can hold up to 25,000, and has hosted Phil Collins, Sting, and many modern “roamans”! It was constructed so the audience would face the stage and have the harbor in the background. The first two floors of the stage were built by Roman Emperor Neron, and a third floor was added during the 2nd century. The stadium is often included in lists of local sacred destinations because of its biblical significance. It is the place where St. Paul preached against the pagans.

With that, The Boys were directly in front of the entrance where they got their horsey ride, bid Faisal an affectionate adieu with a hefty tip and contemplated next steps.

 

"On the Road Again" Willie Nelson

The Boys were dripping hot in the early evening heat. They thought the best thing to do was to head to Istanbul in a cool, air-conditioned car, and when they got tired, pull over a get a Hotel, So, off they went heading back to the European side of the Bosporus!

 

Lord of the Flies in the Home of the Fries!!

The Boys were dripping hot in the early evening heat. They thought the best thing to do was to head to Istanbul in a cool, air-conditioned car, and when they got tired, pull over a get a Hotel, So, off they went heading back to the European side of the Bosporus!

As the Boys started to recount the whole day; from Hierapolis to Ephesus, the Boys realized that they skipped lunch!  Pulling over in a Service Center the Boys chose (through a lack of options) a Burger King.

 

Not just any Burger King,

The grossest Burger King EVER

There were flys,,,,, everywhere! This is was an indoor restaurant with flies buzzing everybody, on the trays, in the garbage in the Kitchen, on the food being prepared.

As the grossed out Boys continued on the road, they questioned the crunchy fries, or where they crunchy flies!

After the disgusting dinner, Mike and Bone drove into the darkness of a hot summers night tooling through Anatolia. The hours ticked away without notice as the Boys took turns driving till surprise surprise! They were almost to Istanbul, so rather than just grabbing a room outside of town they went into town back to the Hilton they stayed the first couple of nights.

Unfortunately, they were booked, fortunately since Boney is a Platinum Hilton Member so they gave the Boys a room at the much more swanky Conrad Hotel for a Hilton Rate!

 

No Bull! They made it to Istanbul!


The Boy checked at Midnight, dropped their gear in their room, then went to the Rooftop Outdoor bar with a great view of the Bosporus Bridge (shown above.)

 

After a few cocktails each and tasty appetizers the road wearied Boys had completed a VERY busy and awesome day trapsieing through Turkey!

As the Moon started to set, so did the Boys around 1:30 AM.