In the middle of the 6th century B.C., Anatolia was faced
with the attacks of the Persians from the east. Before attacking Western
Anatolia, the persians sent ambassadors to the cities in Aeolis and Ionia to
persuade them to join in revolt against Croesus, but they failed. Following the
defeat of Croesus by the Persians King Cyrus, Aeolis and Inoia declared their
accetance of Persian rule instead of Lydian rule, under the same conditions.
According to Herodotus, King Cyrus responded by telling them
the following story:
One day, a flautist started playing his flute in order to
attract fish to the shore, but he was ignored. Then, he found a fisherman’s net
and caught a lot of fish. He looked at the fish jumping in the net and said
éWhile I was playing the flute, none of you came to the shore and danced, so
don’t dance now either’.
Upon hearing the response of King Cyrus, all the twelve
cities in Ionia, expect Miletus, retreated to their states and started
preparing to defend themselves. They also asked for help from Sparta. The
Milesians did not feel the need to prepare themselves, because they had already
signed a treaty with the Persians. The help requested from Sparta never
arrived, and in 547 B.C., Harpagos, one of the famous commanders of Cyrus,
starting with Phokaia, captured the whole of Western Anatolia. Thus, Ephesus
for the second time in its history, came under the rule of another foreign
state.
The Persians, as they did with every state they ruled, let
the Ephesians rule themselves and practise their own religion. They did not
harm the Temple of Artemis either. Ephesus maintained its economic power and
contunied its trade and culturel relations. The Persians United Caria, Lycia,
Pamphyla and Ionia to form the Ionian Satrapy and began to rulet he area under
satrap. During the Persian rule, Ephesus prospered and became an important
centre for arts and culture.
Persians forced Ephesus and other cities to pay tribute and
provided ships and soldiers when needed. This attitude of the Persians created
such friction that the people of the Ionian cities almost wished for a tyrant.
After Cyrus, during the reigns of Cambyses and Darius, the
tribute they had to pay was increased so much, that finally the Ionian cities
united and started the historic “Ionian Revolt” in 500 B.C.. aristogoras, the
tyrant of Miletus, led the revolt in which Ephesus played a key role. The
rebels first came to Ephesus and under the guidance of the Ephesians, by
following the banks of Kaystros, they reached Sardes (the capital of the Persian
Satrapy) in three days. They captured the capital without a fight and red the
rule of all the areas under the satrapy of Spithridates to Asandros, son of
Philotas. He stayed in Sardes for a while and then went to Ephesus after a four
day journey.
When the Greek merceniaries heard the news of the defeat of
the Persians and the death of the satrap, they captured two Persian warships
anchored in Ephesus harbour and escaped. This is why in 334 B.C., Alexander
entered Ephesus without encountering any resistance. First he brought back
those who were forced out of the city because of him, and announced an end to
oligarchy by declaring the establishment of a people’s democracy. He also
ordered that the tribute and duties which were being paid to the Persians, instead
be given to the Temple of Artemis. He sacrificed animals at the temple,
organised his army and ordered a proccesion.
The architect Kheirocrates (according to Vitruvius, the
architect Deinocrates), was restoring the Temple of Artemis which had been burt
to night Alexander was born, by a mentally unstable man named Herostratos, who
wanted his name etched in history. According to what Strabo wrote based on
Artemidoros, Alexander announced to the Ephesians that he wanted to pay for all
the previous and the subsequent expenses fort he restoration of the Temple of
Artemis. Yet, upon hearing an Ephesian, whose name we do not know and whom
Artemidoros praised highly, say, “It is not appropriate for a god to present
gifts to another god” Alexander changed his mind. Since he was very pleased
with the work of the architect, he entrusted the establishment of the city of
Alexandria on the Nile delta to the same architect after he completed his work
at the Temple of Artemis. Following the death of Alexander, Ephesus lived
through dark days. After changing hands a few times among the generals, finally
in 287 B.C. it began to be ruled by Lysimachos.
In 299 B.C, Lysimachos married Arsinoe, daughter of the
Egyptian king Ptolemaios I, his old friend, for selfish reasons. He rebuilt the
city located between Mt. Pion and Mt. Koressos and surrounded it by a
fortification wall. Lysimachos also renamed the city Arsinoe but the name did
not gain acceptance. When the people living in the vicinity of the Artemision
refused to settle in this new city, the canals of the city were stopped up to
cause flooding and thus, the Ephesians were forced the migrate.
Arsinoe, who was an ambitious woman, feared that Agathocles,
Lysimachos’ son by his first wife, would become the king instead of her son.
So, she convinced Lysimachos that his first son was planning to kill him.
Consequently, Lysimachos had his first son Agathocles killed. Fearing for their
lives, Agathocles’ widow and a few commanders, sought the protection of
Seleukos and prokoved him aganist Lysimachos. Seleukos, taking advantage of the
recent developments, attacked the land of Lysimachos and the two armies clashed
in the Korou Pedion plain, east of Manisa. Lysimachos who was an old man, died
during the flight and his land was captured by Selekos (281 B.C.).
Antiochos II, one of the Seleucid kings fought the Ptolemies
in Egypt for years. The egyptian king Plotemly Philadelphos told Antiochos II
that, if he divorced his wife Laodike and married his daughter Benerike, he
would present him with valuable gifts and sign peace treaty with him. Antiochos
II accepted his offer. He divorced his wife and exiled her to Ephesus. Thus,
peace was achieved. Yet, after death of Ptolemy Philadelphos in 246 B.C.,
Antiochos II followed his wife to Ephesus. He stayed in Ephesus for a while,
but one day he was poisoned by his wife Laodike and died. His son Seleukos II
succeeded him. It is thought that Antiochos II was buried in the Belevi
Mausoleum.
Ephesus, during the time of Antiochos Theos, came under the
rule of the Ptolemies in Egypt. In 196 B.C. during the rule of Antiochos III,
the Seleucids recaptured Ephesus, and later, in 188 B.C. as a result of the
Apemaia Peace Treaty, they lost it to the Pergamese Kingdom. In 133 B.C. when
the Pergamese Kingdom was bequeathed to Rome, Ephesus came under the rule of
Rome.
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