EPHESUS, the chief city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, on the south side, and near the mouth of the river Cayster (now called Kutchuc Mendeι⅞, or Lesser Maeander), was 320 stadia, or forty miles, to the south of Smyrna, and 540, or three days’ journey, from Sardis, the capital of Lydia. It was situated at the extremity of a rich and beautiful plain, called Campus Cilbianus, through which the river flowed, and which still retains its former character, after centuries of Turkish oppression. Ephesus was originally founded by the Leleges and Carians, who were compelled to make way for an Ionian colony led by Androclus, son of Codrus. The inhabitants continued to be distributed over the neighbouring district until the reign of Croesus (560 to 546 B. c.), when, being attacked by that prince, they are said to have dedicated their city to Diana, by fastening a rope from their walls to the temple of the goddess. They gradually deserted the ancient site, and approached the position of the sacred temple, where they are said to have continued until the time of Alexander the Great (330 b. c.). Lysimachus having obtained possession of the city (302 b. c.), compelled the inhabitants, by inundating the ancient site, to remove higher up to a spot which he surrounded with walls. We find that it was delivered over to the kings of Pergamus by the Romans, after the defeat of Antiochus (190 b. c.); and, amidst all the changes of government which subsequently took place, Ephesus continued to increase in riches and prosperity, being in the time of Strabo (24 b. c.) the emporium of Asia. It was considered by the Romans as the first of the three chief cities of Asia, the two others being Smyrna and Pergamus; and in the later divisions of the country under the Christian emperors, we are told by Hierocles that it was the capital of the important provinces of Asia. Ephesus was lost to the empire at an earlier period than the other parts of Western Asia. Some time before the commencement of the Crusades (1096 a. d.), a chief of the Saracens made himself master of Ephesus; but the crusaders restored it to its ancient master. In the fourteenth century it fell into the hands of a prince of Caramania named Sasan; and from this time it ceased to belong to the Greek empire. It still, however, continued to exist down even to the time of Timur or Tamerlane (1370 a. d.), who for a considerable period had a camp under its walls, and who is supposed to have destroyed it, as he did many other cities.

Ephesus was more particularly celebrated on account of the temple of Diana, which, according to Pausanias, ex∙ ĩsted even before the arrival of the Ionians. Its architect was Cbersiphron of Cnossus, in Crete, assisted by his son Metagenes; and as the ground on which the temple Was erected was marshy, it is said that he obtained a firm foundation by means of heaps of charcoal and wool, packed closely together in sacks. It was the only temple in Asia which escaped the doom pronounced against them by Xerxes on his return from Greece (480 b. c.); but it was burnt to the ground 356 b. c. by a madman named Eratostratus, who is said to have taken this method of immortalizing his name. This event took place the very night on which Alexander the Great was born; and the temple seems to have remained in ruins till that monarch offered to restore it, on condition that he should be declared the founder. This proposal, however, the Ephesians declined to accept, cunningly soothing the wounded vanity of the hero by saying, “that it was beneath the dignity of one god to erect a temple to another.” Having collected sufficient funds amongst themselves and their neighbours, they entrusted its restoration to the architect Dinocrates, who is reported to have conceived the extravagant project of forming a statue of Alexander out of Mount Athos. The new edifice was much larger, and constructed with more magnificence, than the original temple. It was 425 feet in length and 220 in breadth, with 227 pillars, each 60 feet in height. It is said to have been of the Ionic order of architecture. The interior was adorned with numerous pieces of sculpture by the celebrated Praxiteles. Thraso and Scopas were also e±- ployed in its decoration; and there was a picture in it by the celebrated Apelles. The statue of the goddess was more particularly the object of veneration, having been preserved in safety amidst all the vicissitudes to which the temple and city had been exposed. It was of wood, and, according to Pliny, was covered with some unctuous substance, to guard it from decay. The service of the temple was performed by priests called Megabyzae, who were eunuchs, and to whom were added a number of priestesses. The temple was an asylum for criminals of every description. Alexander extended the privilege to a stadium round the edifice; Mithridates fixed it at a bow-shot; and Antony doubled the distance, so that it included part of the town. It may easily be conceived that such a privilege must have been liable to great abuses; and in fact it became at last so dangerous to the peace of the city, that Augustus caused it to be abolished. It was seven stadia, or about an English mile, from the walls of the city; but no modern traveller seems yet to have discovered its remains. Pococke has indeed given a ground plan of what he considered as the temple; but his description by no means agrees with w hat is related of the seventh wonder of the world.

The ruins of Ephesus are seen half a mile from the Turkish village of Aiasluk, which seems to have risen about the middle of the fourteenth century. Chandler thus speaks of its present appearance: “Ephesus was situated by the mountains which are the southern boundary of the plain, and comprehended within its walls a portion of Mount Prion and of Corissus. Mount Prion is a circular hill; Corissus a single lofty ridge, extending northward from near Mount Pactyas, and approaching Prion, then making an elbow, and running westerly ţ°‘ wards the sea. We entered Ephesus from Aiasluk i ¶ 1 *· Mount Prion, and the exterior lateral wall of a stadium which fronted the sea, on our left hand. We measured the area, and found it 687 feet long. The vestiges of the theatre alluded to in the Acts of the Apostle⅛ which was very capacious, are farther on in the side [7:9:305]the same mountain. Going on from the theatre, you come ,to a narrow valley which divides Mount Prion from Co-irissus. Within the valley you find broken columns and pieces of marble, with vestiges of an odeum in the slope jf Prion. Beyond the odeum the valley opens gradually into the plain of Aiasluh. Keeping round by Prion, you meet with vestiges of buildings, and come to the remains of a large edifice. This was the gymnasium. The street at the entrance of the city from Aiasluk was nearly of the τ ength of the stadium. The opposite side was composed of edifices equally ample and noble. The way was between a double colonnade, as ŵe conjectured, from the many pedestals and bases of columns scattered there. This street was covered by one leading from the plain to the valley. It had on the left the front of the stadium, and the theatre with the porticoadjoining. On the right are ample substructures, with pieces of massive wall. These remains reach as far as the portico and have behind them a morass, once the city port. The extent of the city towards the plain, on which side it was washed by the Cayster, cannot now be ascertained; but the mountainous region has preserved its boundary, the wall erected by Lysimachus, which is of excellent masonry. Near the entrance of Ephesus from Aiasluk are the vaults of several sepulchres, and others along the slope of Corissus show that the Ephesians buried likewise within the city.” Travels in Asia Minor, chap. 35.)