Editing Miletus (section)

====Ties with Megara====

Miletus is known to have early ties with [[Megara]] in Greece. According to some scholars, these two cities had built up a "colonisation alliance". In the 7th/6th century BC they acted in accordance with each other.<ref name="Alexander Herda research">Alexander Herda (2015), [https://www.academia.edu/12530869 Megara and Miletos: Colonising with Apollo. A Structural Comparison of Religious and Political Institutions in Two Archaic Greek Polis States]; see Abstract at [https://hu-berlin.academia.edu/AlexanderHerda Alexander Herda research]</ref>

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 | image1 = Didymaion_front_AvL.JPG
 | caption1 = Temple of Apollo in [[Didyma]]

 | image2 = Arch-Museum-Istanbul-66.jpg
 | caption2 = Apollo statue found in Miletus
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Both cities acted under the leadership and sanction of an [[Apollo]] oracle. Megara cooperated with that of [[Delphi]]. Miletus had her own oracle of Apollo ''Didymeus Milesios'' in [[Didyma]]. Also, there are many parallels in the political organisation of both cities.<ref name="Alexander Herda research"/>

According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], the Megarians said that their town owed its origin to [[Car (Greek mythology)|Car]], the son of [[Phoroneus]], who built the city citadel called 'Caria'.<ref>Paus. i. 39. § 5, i. 40. § 6</ref> This 'Car of Megara' may or may not be one and the same as the 'Car of the Carians', also known as [[Car (King of Caria)]].

In the late 7th century BC, the tyrant [[Thrasybulus (tyrant)|Thrasybulus]] preserved the independence of Miletus during a 12-year war fought against the [[Lydian Empire]].<ref>''Miletos, the ornament of Ionia: history of the city to 400 B.C.E'' by Vanessa B. Gorman (University of Michigan Press) 2001 – pg 123</ref> Thrasybulus was an ally of the famous [[Corinth]]ian tyrant [[Periander]].

Miletus was an important center of philosophy and science, producing such men as [[Thales]], [[Anaximander]] and [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]]. Referring to this period, [[religious studies]] professor [[F. E. Peters]] described ''[[pan-deism]]'' as "the legacy of the Milesians".<ref>{{cite book
|title= Greek Philosophical Terms: A Historical Lexicon
|url= https://archive.org/details/greekphilosophic0000pete
|url-access= registration
|author = Francis Edward Peters
|author-link = Francis Edward Peters
|year = 1967
|isbn = 0814765521
|publisher = NYU Press
|page = [https://archive.org/details/greekphilosophic0000pete/page/169 169]
}}</ref> As well as being a philosopher, [[Thales of Miletus|Thales]] was also suggested to have initiated the famous grid plan of the city.<ref name=":0" /> An archaic orthogonal street system at Miletus has been confirmed by archaeological survey, but this system would not cover the entire urban center of Miletus until the classical period.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Weber |first=B |title=Frühes Ionien. Eine Bestandsaufnahme |year=2007 |editor-last=Cobet |editor-first=J |location=Mainz am Rhein |pages=327–362 |chapter=Der Stadtplan von Milet |editor-last2=von Graeve |editor-first2=V |editor-last3=Niemeier |editor-first3=W.D. |editor-last4=Zimmermann |editor-first4=A}}</ref> 

By the 6th century BC, Miletus had earned a maritime empire with many colonies, mainly scattered around the [[Black Sea]]. Miletus and its numerous colonies were culturally tied by, for example, the cult of [[Aphrodite]], a deity associated with seafaring in the cultural context of Miletus. However, its maritime hegemony declined as a result of the Persian occupation in the early fourth century BC, and the vacuum of power was later filled by [[Ancient Athenian Empire|Athens]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Miletos: a history |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-99393-4 |editor-last=Greaves |editor-first=Alan M. |location=London New York}}</ref>