3rd - 1st century B.C.

In the Hellenistic period the cityscape of Ephesos underwent a fundamental transformation. During the wars of the Diadochoi after the death of Alexander the Great the city was incorporated after 300 B.C. into the kingdom of Lysimachos (355-281). After the first new foundations of cities (Lysimachia) at Chersonnes and Altolla, at Ephesos, the new city of Arsinoea, named after Lysimachos' wife Arsinoė II, was also founded. The inhabitants of Arsinoea were recruited from neighbouring communities such as Teos, Lebedos and Kolophon.

Probably already in 294 B.C. construction began of a fortification wall over 9 km in length, enclosing the entire city including the northern slopes of Mount Būlbūl and parts of Mount Panayir. The 2.5 km large area within the city walls, of which only one-third was suitable for development, was divided into a Lower City at the harbour area and an Upper City situated on an elevated plateau. The Curetes Street, which follows the course of the old Processional Way, connects both areas of the city.

The Hellenistic Ephesos was a new foundation after a systematic Hippodamian model with orthogonal street grid. The mercantile and cultural centre, with the Commercial Market (Tetragonos Agora), the Theatre and the Stadium is located in the Lower City, whereas the political centre was



based in the Upper City with its Upper Agora ('Staatsmarkt'), the Prytaneum and the Bouleuterion. The residential areas developed on the slopes of the two city-mountains and especially on the convenient plateau of the Upper City to the south and east of the Upper Agora. Little is known regarding the areas actually built up in the 3rd century B.C.; however, after the death of Lysimachos in 281 B.C., at least some of the settlers might have departed again. After the 2nd century B.C. simple buildings with workshops were installed in the region of Terrace House 2, while at the same time leveling-off activities in the Upper City provide evidence of rebuilding efforts, or an extensive new settlement within the area.

Locally produced wares and their distribution in the Mediterranean region reveal the ever increasing significance and economic power of Ephesos in the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., which was to become the Metropolis of Asia (capital city of the Province of Asia) during Roman rule.

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The Early Ephesos
Roman Ephesos
Byzantine Ephesos
Research History of Ephesos
Ancient Ephesos
Baths at the 'State Agora'
Processional Way
The 'State Agora'
The Bouleuterion
Temple on the 'State Agora'

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