After Lysimachus was defeated and killed by Seleucus I in 281 BC, the wars between the Diadochi continued. Although the Selucids now nominally ruled many of the territories formerly ruled by Lysimachus, one of his officers, Philetaerus (343-263 BC), became the de facto ruler of Pergamon and founded the Attalid dynasty which gained control of much of western Anatolia, eventually including Ephesus.

The Attalids allied themselves with the Romans who had become involved in the wars in Greece and Anatolia and were gaining increasing power and influence in the eastern Mediterranean. Pergamon effectively became a Roman client state. The last Attalid king Attalus III (170–133 BC) had no heir and bequeathed Pergamon and its territories to the Roman Republic.

However wars against the pretender Aristonicus, who claimed to be the illegitimate son of Eumenes II, and later Mithridates VI (the Great) of Pontus, meant that it took many years before Rome had the area under its control. Amidst the ensuing mayhem, the Ephesians, encouraged by the successes of Mithridates, revolted against Roman rule in 88 BC, and for a short time became self-governing.

Finally, in 86-85 BC the Romans prevailed, and the new Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla imposed heavy financial punishments and tax burdens on the Asian cities for their revolt and for having taken the wrong side in the conflicts, forcing them into debt and poverty.

Emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC - 14 AD) was more generous to Ephesus. He reformed the administration of the province of Asia (western Asia Minor) by initiating the rule by proconsul and moving the capital from Pergamon to Ephesus, thus beginning the city's greatest period of prosperity. It was to become the third largest city of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria in terms of wealth, influence and population, estimated to have reached 200,000 during the second century AD.

The Romans brought their own gods, and even deified their emperors, but Artemis was still worshipped into Byzantine times. The Romans also enlarged the city's Great Theatre, though its main use switched from drama to brutal games with wild beasts versus prisoners, and gladiatorial duels, which explains the nearby site of a large gladiators' graveyard. Other architectural gems of the Roman era include the Bouleuterion (2nd century AD), the Temple of Hadrian (117-118 AD), the Library of Celsus (135 AD) and a number of enormous baths and gymnasium complexes.

From the beginning of the Christian era Ephesus became an important spiritual centre from where the new religion was spread, and later a place of pilgrimage. The Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist are said to have lived here, and Saint John is thought to have written the Gospel of John and finally died here (see further information and photos of the Basilica of Saint John in the Selçuk photo gallery). Saint Paul the Apostle also lived and may have been imprisoned here. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the Book of Revelation, written by Saint John of Patmos (see our pages on Patmos, Greece).

Hit by several earthquakes during the Roman period, the city was badly damged by a massive quake in 262 AD, and before it had time to recover, it was sacked by the Goths shortly after (262-2363 AD), during their massive invasion of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean as far as Cyprus. It is thought that they destroyed much of Ephesus, including the Temple of Artemis. Rebuilding work was undertaken from the period of the Tetrarchy (284-312 AD), but the catastrophe marked the end of the city's days of wealth or splendour.

During the 4th century AD Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city, including new public baths. A large 2nd century Roman basilica on the north side of the city was converted into the Aghia Maria church (Church of the Virgin Mary), where the Third Ecumenical Council, also known as the Council of Ephesus, was held in 431 AD during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II. Saint John's Basilica was built in the 6th century AD around the purported grave of Saint John the Theologian, in the area where Selçuk now stands, 3km northeast of the ancient city. The city was again partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD.

Ephesus's importance declined as the harbour was gradually silted up by the River Cayster, until it was finally abandoned. Today the coastline is 5km from the site of Ephesus.

Other cities of the Greek world shared a similar fate (e.g. Miletus and Pella in Macedonia, Greece). It is partly because they were abandonded and forgotten (and also preserved in silt), that some of their buildings have survived the centuries, despite being plundered continually, especially for building material.

The few people who remained in the area lived around the Saint John's Basilica, and the settlement became known as Agios Theologos (Άγιος Θεολόγος, Holy Theologian).

The Seljuk Turks also settled there from the 12th century, and in 1304 the area was conquered by the Aydinid Turks, who built the impressive Isa Bey Mosque in 1374-1375. Later the Ottoman Turks conquered the whole of Anatolia and what had been the Byzantine Empire. Agios Theologos was known to the Turks as Ayasluğ (or Ayasluk). In 1914 the small town was was renamed Selçuk, in commemoration of the Seljuk Turks.

For over a century archaeologists have continued to unearth ever more of Ephesus' history and treasures, and reconstruct many of its buildings. It has been estimated that so far a mere 15-20% has been excavated, which means that the ancient city could still be hiding many surprises.

Many of the artifacts from Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis discovered by British and Austrian archaeologists in the 19th and early 20th centuries are now in the British Museum, London and the Ephesos Museum, Vienna. Other artefacts from Ephesus are also to be found in other museums around the world, including Berlin, Istanbul and Izmir. A fine selection of archaeological finds, especially more recently discovered objects, can be seen in the Ephesus Museum in the nearby town of Selçuk.

The character of the city as it now appears is predominantly Roman, with most of the buildings and monuments dating from the time of Emperor Augustus and his successors. There are few vestiges of the Greek city of the Hellenistic period. This is particularly evident in the case of the city's temples and shrines which, apart from the obvious example of the Temple of Artemis, are mostly dedicated to deified emperors and the Imperial cult, heroized Romans (for example the Memmius Monument) and imported deities such as Serapis and Isis who gained popularity during Roman times. There are still, however, signs that the more ancient gods of the Greeks, such as Apollo, Asklepius, Hermes, Dionysus, Herakles, Hestia, Demeter and Aphrodite, continued to be revered here (see, for example, reliefs of Hermes and Apollo's tripod on gallery page 12, and of Herakles on gallery page 16).

Greeks lived in the area of Ephesus for almost 3000 years, but most of the Greek population here were forced to leave during the population exchanges between Turkey and Greece following the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923. Some of the Greek refugees settled in Stoupi (Στουπί), a small village near Dion, Macedonia. The village was renamed Nea Ephesus (Νέα Έφεσος, New Ephesus) in 1953. Many Turkish refugees, migrating in the opposite direction, settled in Selçuk and surrounding area.


Detailed information about Ephesus' sights can be found with the photos in our Ephesus photo gallery.


For further local information about the Ephesus and Selçuk area, see: travel guide to Selçuk.


Further information for Turkey, including visa details,
can be found in our introduction to Turkey.