Table of Contents
Street Gems walks Ephesus and argues that Rome received the city rather than storming it. The port was already old and Greek. A river pushed the coast west, marshes killed the first harbor, and the town near Selcuk was left behind. In Hellenistic times a new city rose between two hills and a natural bay. That plan is the ruin seen today. Attalid kings at Pergamon allied with Rome. In 133 BC the last king died without an heir and willed the realm to Rome. Ephesus came with it, a taxable prize in the new province of Asia. Pergamon remained capital until Augustus, about a century on, moved the capital to Ephesus. The city then prospered in the Roman peace as a link of east and west. Curetes Street leads to the Library of Celsus, paid for by a governor buried beneath it. The channel ranks it third in antiquity, after Alexandria and Pergamon, with 12,000 scrolls. A dug canal joined the harbor basin to the sea. Antony and Cleopatra gathered ships there before Actium.
Key points
- Ephesus reached Rome by the Attalid will of 133 BC, not by a siege of the city.
- River silt forced the Greek town to move, and the Hellenistic site is the ruin seen today.
- Augustus later made Ephesus the capital of the province of Asia in place of Pergamon.
- The Library of Celsus is ranked third in the ancient world, with 12,000 scrolls.
- The harbor canal, the terrace houses, and the theater show a rich imperial port.
- Antony and Cleopatra sailed from this harbor before their defeat at Actium.
Short quotes
Today the Roman ruin lies 5 km from the coast, but back then it was right on the waterfront.
Street Gems, The city Rome received by will
Silting, not a later relocation of the ruins, is why the harbor city now stands inland. Watch at 1:01
A century later, in 27 BC, the emperor Augustus switched the capital of Asia from Pergamon, to Ephesus.
Street Gems, The city Rome received by will
This is the political step that made Ephesus the prize city of the new province. Watch at 3:15
It was the 3rd largest library in the ancient world, after Alexandria and Pergamon, and contained 12,000 scrolls.
Street Gems, The city Rome received by will
The Library of Celsus is the channel’s measure of how rich and connected the city had become. Watch at 8:44
Video by Street Gems. Watch on YouTube.