Editing Ephesus (section)

=== Classical Roman period (129 BC–395 AD) ===
[[File:The Temple of Hadrian (16127691050).jpg|thumb|left|The Temple of Hadrian]]
Ephesus, as part of the kingdom of Pergamon, became a subject of the [[Roman Republic]] in 129 BC after the revolt of [[Eumenes III]] was suppressed.
[[File:Ephesos amphitheatre.jpg|thumb|The Theatre of Ephesus with harbour street. Due to ancient and subsequent [[deforestation]], [[overgrazing]] (mostly by goat herds), [[erosion]] and [[soil degradation]], the Mediterranean coast is now {{convert|3|-|4|km|0|abbr=on}} away from the site, [[sediment]] having filled the plain and the coast. In the background can be seen the muddy remains of the former harbour, barren hill ridges and [[maquis shrubland]].]]

[[File:Turcja, Efez, Nike (Aw58).JPG|thumb|left|Stone carving of the goddess Nike]]
The city felt Roman influence at once; taxes rose considerably, and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered. Hence in 88&nbsp;BC Ephesus welcomed [[Archelaus (Pontic army officer)|Archelaus]], a general of [[Mithradates VI of Pontus|Mithridates]], king of [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]], when he conquered Asia (the Roman name for western [[Anatolia]]). From Ephesus, Mithridates ordered every Roman citizen in the province to be killed which led to the [[Asiatic Vespers]], the slaughter of 80,000&nbsp;Roman citizens in Asia, or any person who spoke with a Latin accent. Many had lived in Ephesus, and statues and monument of Roman citizens in Ephesus were also destroyed. But when they saw how badly the people of [[Chios]] had been treated by Zenobius, a general of Mithridates, they refused entry to his army. Zenobius was invited into the city to visit [[Philopoemen]], the father of [[Monime]], the favourite wife of Mithridates, and the overseer of Ephesus. As the people expected nothing good of him, they threw him into prison and murdered him. Mithridates took revenge and inflicted terrible punishments. However, the Greek cities were given freedom and several substantial rights. Ephesus became, for a short time, self-governing. When Mithridates was defeated in the [[First Mithridatic War]] by the Roman consul [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]], Ephesus came back under Roman rule in 86&nbsp;BC. Sulla imposed a huge indemnity, along with five years of back taxes, which left Asian cities heavily in debt for a long time to come.<ref name="Mithridatic War">{{cite book |author=[[Appian of Alexandria]] (c.95&nbsp;AD-c.165&nbsp;AD) |title=History of Rome |section=The Mithridatic wars |at=§§46–50 |section-url=https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_mithridatic_10.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2007-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808180836/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_mithridatic_10.html |archive-date=2007-08-08}}</ref>

King [[Ptolemy XII Auletes]] of Egypt retired to Ephesus in 57&nbsp;BC, passing his time in the sanctuary of the temple of Artemis when the Roman Senate failed to restore him to his throne.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Dio Cassius]] |title=Historia Romana |at=39.16.3}}</ref>

[[Mark Antony]] was welcomed by Ephesus for periods when he was proconsul<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Plutarch]] |title=Ant |at=23'1-24'12}}</ref> and in 33 BC with [[Cleopatra]] when he gathered his fleet of 800&nbsp;ships before the [[battle of Actium]] with [[Augustus|Octavius]].<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Plutarch]] |title=Ant |at=56.1–10}}</ref>

When [[Augustus]] became emperor in 27&nbsp;BC, the most important change was when he made Ephesus the capital of [[Asia (Roman province)|proconsular Asia]] (which covered western Asia Minor) instead of [[Pergamum]]. Ephesus then entered an era of prosperity, becoming both the seat of the governor and a major centre of commerce. According to [[Strabo]], it was second in importance and size only to Rome.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Strabo]] |title=Geography |volume=1–7 |at=14.1.24 |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Loeb Classical Library / Harvard University Press}}</ref>

The city and temple were destroyed by the [[Goths]] in 263&nbsp;AD. This marked the decline of the city's splendour. However, emperor [[Constantine the Great]] rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths.

====The Roman population====
[[File:Ephesus Terrace Houses.jpg|left|thumb|The 'terrace houses' at Ephesus, showing how the wealthy lived during the Roman period. Eventually the harbour became silted up, and the city lost its natural resources.]]
Until recently, the population of Ephesus in Roman times was estimated to number up to 225,000&nbsp;people by Broughton.<ref name=pric18/><ref name=hans253/> More recent scholarship regards these estimates as unrealistic. Such a large estimate would require population densities seen in only a few ancient cities, or extensive settlement outside the city walls. This would have been impossible at Ephesus because of the mountain ranges, coastline and quarries which surrounded the city.<ref name=hans258/>

The wall of Lysimachus has been estimated to enclose an area of {{convert|415|ha}}. Not all of this area was inhabited due to public buildings and spaces in the city center and the steep slope of the Bülbül Dağı mountain, which was enclosed by the wall. Ludwig Burchner estimated this area with the walls at 1000&nbsp;acres. [[Jerome Murphy-O'Connor]] uses an estimate of 345&nbsp;hectares for the inhabited land or 835&nbsp;acres (Murphey cites Ludwig Burchner). He cites Josiah Russell using 832&nbsp;acres and Old Jerusalem in 1918 as the yardstick estimated the population at 51,068 at 148.5&nbsp;persons per hectare. Using 510&nbsp;persons per hectare, he arrives at a population between 138,000 and 172,500&nbsp;.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jerome Murphy |last=O'Conner |title=St.&nbsp;Paul's Ephesus |year=2008 |page=130 |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=978-0-8146-5259-6}}</ref> J.W. Hanson estimated the inhabited space to be smaller, at {{convert|224|ha}}. He argues that population densities of 150~250&nbsp;people per hectare are more realistic, which gives a range of 33,600–56,000&nbsp;inhabitants. Even with these much lower population estimates, Ephesus was one of the largest cities of Roman Asia Minor, ranking it as the largest city after [[Sardis]] and [[Alexandria Troas]].<ref name=hans252to257/> Hanson and Ortman (2017)<ref name=Hanson-Ortman-2017>{{cite journal |first1=J.W. |last1=Hanson |first2=S.G. |last2=Ortman |title=A systematic method for estimating populations of Greek and Roman settlements |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |date=November 2017|volume=30 |pages=301–324 |doi=10.1017/S1047759400074134 |s2cid=165770409 }}</ref> estimate an inhabited area to be 263&nbsp;hectares and their demographic model yields an estimate of 71,587&nbsp;inhabitants, with a population density of 276&nbsp;inhabitants per hectare. By contrast, Rome within the walls encompassed 1,500&nbsp;hectares and as over 400 built-up hectares were left outside the Aurelian Wall, whose construction was begun in 274&nbsp;AD and finished in 279&nbsp;AD, the total inhabited area plus public spaces inside the walls consisted of ca. 1,900 hectares. Imperial Rome had a population estimated to be between 750,000 and one million (Hanson and Ortman's (2017)<ref name=Hanson-Ortman-2017/> model yields an estimate of 923,406&nbsp;inhabitants), which imply in a population density of 395 to 526&nbsp;inhabitants per hectare, including public spaces.