Editing Sardis (section)

=== Hellenistic and Byzantine Sardis ===
[[File:The Temple of Artemis, originally built in 300 BC, renovated by the Romans in the 2nd century AD, Sardis, Lydia (32015884502).jpg|thumb|Remains of the Temple of Artemis with the acropolis visible in the background]]

In 334 BC, Sardis was conquered by [[Alexander the Great]]. The city was surrendered without a fight, the local satrap having been killed during the [[Battle of the Granicus|Persian defeat at Granikos]]. After taking power, Alexander restored earlier Lydian customs and laws. For the next two centuries, the city passed between Hellenistic rulers including [[Antigonus Monophthalmos]], [[Lysimachus]], the [[Seleucid]]s, and the [[Attalid]]s. It was besieged by [[Seleucus I]] in 281 BC and by [[Antiochus III]] in 215–213 BC, but neither succeeded at breaching the acropolis, regarded as the strongest fortified place in the world. The city sometimes served as a royal residence, but was itself governed by an assembly.<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|p=1123}}<ref name = "Introduction" />

In this era, the city took on a strong Greek character. The [[Greek language]] replaces the Lydian language in most inscriptions, and major buildings were constructed in Greek architectural styles to meet the needs of Greek cultural institutions. These new buildings included a [[prytaneion]], [[gymnasion]], [[Greek theater|theater]], [[hippodrome]], as well as the massive Temple of Artemis still visible to modern visitors. [[Jews]] were settled at Sardis by the Hellenistic king [[Antiochos III]], where they built the [[Sardis Synagogue]] and formed a community which continued for much of [[late antiquity]].<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|p=1123}}<ref name = "Introduction" />

In 129 BC, Sardis passed to the [[Ancient Romans|Romans]], under whom it continued its prosperity and political importance as part of the [[Asia (Roman province)|province of Asia]]. The city received three [[neocorate]] honors and was granted ten&nbsp;million [[Sestertius|sesterces]] as well as a temporary tax exemption to help it recover after a [[AD 17 Lydia earthquake|devastating earthquake]] in 17 AD.<ref name="Greenewalt-2011-Steadman-McMahon" />{{rp|style=ama|p=1123}}<ref>Tacitus, The Annals [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#47|2.47]]</ref><ref name = "Introduction" />

Sardis had an [[Early Christianity|early Christian community]] and is referred to in the [[New Testament]] as one of the [[seven churches of Asia]]. In the [[Book of Revelation]], Jesus refers to the Sardians as not finishing what they started, being about image rather than substance.<ref name=":0">{{bibleverse||Revelation|3:1-6|NLJV}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2023}} 
[[File:View of the Byzantine Shops and the Bath-Gymnasium Complex, Sardis (Lydia), Turkey (31358519643).jpg|thumb|Remains of [[Byzantine]] shops and the Gymnasium]]
[[File:The Bath-Gymnasium complex at Sardis, late 2nd - early 3rd century AD, Sardis, Turkey (16477799584).jpg|thumb|left|The gymnasium complex of Sardis]]

Later, trade and the organization of commerce continued to be sources of great wealth. After [[Constantinople]] became the capital of the East, a new road system grew up connecting the provinces with the capital. Sardis then lay rather apart from the great lines of communication and lost some of its importance.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

During the cataclysmic 7th-century [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|Byzantine–Sasanian War]], Sardis was in 615 one of the cities sacked in [[Shahin's invasion of Asia Minor (615)|the invasion of Asia Minor by the Persian Shahin]]. Though the Byzantines eventually won the war, the damage to Sardis was never fully repaired.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Sardis retained its titular supremacy and continued to be the seat of the [[See of Sardis|metropolitan bishop]] of the province of Lydia, formed in 295&nbsp;AD. It was enumerated as third, after [[Ephesus]] and [[Smyrna]], in the list of cities of the Thracesion [[Theme (Byzantine district)|thema]] given by [[Constantine Porphyrogenitus]] in the 10th&nbsp;century. However, over the next four centuries it was in the shadow of the provinces of [[Magnesia ad Sipylum|Magnesia-upon-Sipylum]] and [[Philadelphia (Lydia)|Philadelphia]], which retained their importance in the region.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}