μετὰ δὲ τὸν Σάμιον πορθμὸν τὸν πρὸς Μυκάλῃ πλέουσιν εἰς Ἔφεσον ἐν δεξιᾷ ἐστιν ἡ Ἐφεσίων παραλία· μέρος δέ τι ἔχουσιν αὐτῆς καὶ οἱ Σάμιοι. πρῶτον δʼ ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ παραλίᾳ τὸ Πανιώνιον τρισὶ σταδίοις ὑπερκείμενον τῆς θαλάττης, ὅπου τὰ Πανιώνια, κοινὴ πανήγυρις τῶν Ἰώνων, συντελεῖται τῷ Ἑλικωνίῳ Ποσειδῶνι καὶ θυσία· ἱερῶνται δὲ Πριηνεῖς· εἴρηται δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς Πελοποννησιακοῖς. εἶτα Νεάπολις, ἣ πρότερον μὲν ἦν Ἐφεσίων νῦν δὲ Σαμίων διαλλαξαμένων πρὸς τὸ Μαραθήσιον, τὸ ἐγγυτέρω πρὸς τὸ ἀπωτέρω· εἶτα Πύγελα πολίχνιον, ἱερὸν ἔχον Ἀρτέμιδος Μουνυχίας, ἵδρυμα Ἀγαμέμνονος, οἰκούμενον ὑπὸ μέρους τῶν ἐκείνου λαῶν· πυγαλγίας γάρ τινας καὶ γενέσθαι καὶ κληθῆναι, κάμνοντας δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους καταμεῖναι, καὶ τυχεῖν οἰκείου τοῦδε τοῦ ὀνόματος τὸν τόπον. εἶτα λιμὴν Πάνορμος καλούμενος ἔχων ἱερὸν τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος· εἶθʼ ἡ πόλις. ἐν δὲ τῇ αὐτῇ παραλίᾳ μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ὀρτυγία, διαπρεπὲς ἄλσος παντοδαπῆς ὕλης, κυπαρίττου δὲ τῆς πλείστης. διαρρεῖ δὲ ὁ Κέγχριος ποταμός, οὗ φασι νίψασθαι τὴν Λητὼ μετὰ τὰς ὠδῖνας. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ μυθεύουσι τὴν λοχείαν καὶ τὴν τροφὸν τὴν Ὀρτυγίαν καὶ τὸ ἄδυτον ἐν ᾧ ἡ λοχεία, καὶ τὴν πλησίον ἐλαίαν, ᾗ πρῶτον ἐπαναπαύσασθαί φασι τὴν θεὸν ἀπολυθεῖσαν τῶν ὠδίνων. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τοῦ ἄλσους ὄρος ὁ Σολμισσός, ὅπου στάντας φασὶ τοὺς Κουρῆτας τῷ ψόφῳ τῶν ὅπλων ἐκπλῆξαι τὴν Ἥραν ζηλοτύπως ἐφεδρεύουσαν, καὶ λαθεῖν συμπράξαντας τὴν λοχείαν τῇ Λητοῖ. ὄντων δʼ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ πλειόνων ναῶν, τῶν μὲν ἀρχαίων τῶν δʼ ὕστερον γενομένων, ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἀρχαῖά ἐστι ξόανα, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὕστερον Σκόπα ἔργα· ἡ μὲν Λητὼ σκῆπτρον ἔχουσα, ἡ δʼ Ὀρτυγία παρέστηκεν ἑκατέρᾳ τῇ χειρὶ παιδίον ἔχουσα. πανήγυρις δʼ ἐνταῦθα συντελεῖται κατʼ ἔτος, ἔθει δέ τινι οἱ νέοι φιλοκαλοῦσι μάλιστα περὶ τὰς ἐνταῦθα εὐωχίας λαμπρυνόμενοι· τότε δὲ καὶ τῶν Κουρήτων ἀρχεῖον συνάγει συμπόσια καί τινας μυστικὰς θυσίας ἐπιτελεῖ.
Next to the Samian strait at Mycale, on the right hand on the voyage to Ephesus, is the sea-coast of the Ephesians, a part of which even the Samians possess. First on the sea-coast is the Panionium, distant from the sea three stadia, where the Panionia, a common festival of the Ionians, is celebrated, and a sacrifice is performed in honour of the Heliconian Neptune. The priests are Prienians. We have spoken of them in the description of Peloponnesus.
Then follows Neapolis, which formerly belonged to the Ephesians, but now belongs to the Samians, having exchanged Marathesium for it, the more distant for the nearer place. Next is Pygela, a small town, containing a temple of Diana Munychia. It was founded by Agamemnon, and colonized by some of his soldiers, who had a disease in the buttocks, and were called Pygalgeis; as they laboured under this complaint, they settled there, and the town had the appropriate name of Pygela.
Next is a harbour called Panormus, with a temple of the Ephesian Diana; then the city.
On the same coast, at a little distance from the sea, is Ortygia, a fine wood with trees of all kinds, but the cypress in the greatest abundance. Through this wood flows the river Cenchrius, in which Latona is said to have bathed after the birth of her child. For here is laid the scene of the birth of the child, the cares of the nurse Ortygia, the cave in which the birth took place, the neighbouring olive tree under which the goddess first reposed when the pains of child-birth had ceased.
Above the wood is the mountain Solmissus, where, it is said, the Curetes stationed themselves, and with the noise of their arms perplexed and terrified Juno, who was enviously watching in secret the delivery of Latona, who was thus assisted in concealing the birth of the child.
There are many temples in the place, some of which are ancient, others of later times; in the former are ancient statues; in the latter are works of Scopas, Latona holding a sceptre, and Ortygia standing by her with a child in each arm.
A convention and festival are celebrated there every year. It is the custom for young men to vie with each other, particularly in the splendour of their convivial entertainments. The body of Curetes celebrate their Symposia at the same time, and perform certain mystic sacrifices.
τὴν δὲ πόλιν ᾤκουν μὲν Κᾶρές τε καὶ Λέλεγες, ἐκβαλὼν δʼ ὁ Ἄνδροκλος τοὺς πλείστους ᾤκισεν ἐκ τῶν συνελθόντων αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ Ἀθήναιον καὶ τὴν Ὑπέλαιον, προσπεριλαβὼν καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν Κορησσὸν παρωρείας. μέχρι μὲν δὴ τῶν κατὰ Κροῖσον οὕτως ᾠκεῖτο, ὕστερον δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Παρωρείου καταβάντες περὶ τὸ νῦν ἱερὸν ᾤκησαν μέχρι Ἀλεξάνδρου. Λυσίμαχος δὲ τὴν νῦν πόλιν τειχίσας, ἀηδῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων μεθισταμένων, τηρήσας καταρράκτην ὄμβρον συνήργησε καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ τοὺς ῥινούχους ἐνέφραξεν ὥστε κατακλύσαι τὴν πόλιν· οἱ δὲ μετέστησαν ἄσμενοι. ἐκάλεσε δʼ Ἀρσινόην ἀπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς τὴν πόλιν, ἐπεκράτησε μέντοι τὸ ἀρχαῖον ὄνομα. ἦν δὲ γερουσία καταγραφομένη, τούτοις δὲ συνῄεσαν οἱ ἐπίκλητοι καλούμενοι καὶ διῴκουν πάντα.
The city of Ephesus was inhabited both by Carians and Leleges. After Androclus had expelled the greatest part of the inhabitants, he settled his companions about the Athenaeum, and the Hypelaeum, and in the mountainous tract at the foot of the Coressus. It was thus inhabited till the time of Croesus. Afterwards, the inhabitants descended from the mountainous district, and settled about the present temple, and continued there to the time of Alexander. Then Lysimachus built a wall round the present temple, and, perceiving the inhabitants unwilling to remove thither, took advantage of a heavy storm of rain which he saw approaching, and obstructed the drains so as to inundate the city, and the inhabitants were glad to leave it for another place.
He called the city Arsinoë, after the name of his wife, but the old name prevailed. A body of elders was enrolled, with whom were associated persons called Epicleti, who administered all the affairs of the city.
τὸν δὲ νεὼν τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος πρῶτος μὲν Χερσίφρων ἠρχιτεκτόνησεν, εἶτʼ ἄλλος ἐποίησε μείζω· ὡς δὲ τοῦτον Ἡρόστρατός τις ἐνέπρησεν, ἄλλον ἀμείνω κατεσκεύασαν συνενέγκαντες τὸν τῶν γυναικῶν κόσμον καὶ τὰς ἰδίας οὐσίας, διαθέμενοι δὲ καὶ τοὺς προτέρους κίονας· τούτων δὲ μαρτύριά ἐστι τὰ γενηθέντα τότε ψηφίσματα, ἅπερ ἀγνοοῦντά φησιν ὁ Ἀρτεμίδωρος τὸν Ταυρομενίτην Τίμαιον καὶ ἄλλως βάσκανον ὄντα καὶ συκοφάντην (διὸ καὶ Ἐπιτίμαιον κληθῆναι) λέγειν ὡς ἐκ τῶν Περσικῶν παρακαταθηκῶν ἐποιήσαντο τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὴν ἐπισκευήν· οὔτε δὲ ὑπάρξαι παρακαταθήκας τότε, εἴ τε ὑπῆρξαν, συνεμπεπρῆσθαι τῷ ναῷ· μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἔμπρησιν τῆς ὀροφῆς ἠφανισμένης, ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τῷ σηκῷ τίνα ἂν ἐθελῆσαι παρακαταθήκην κειμένην ἔχειν; Ἀλέξανδρον δὴ τοῖς Ἐφεσίοις ὑποσχέσθαι τὰ γεγονότα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἀναλώματα, ἐφʼ ᾧ τε τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν αὐτὸν ἔχειν, τοὺς δὲ μὴ ἐθελῆσαι, πολὺ μᾶλλον οὐκ ἂν ἐθελήσαντας ἐξ ἱεροσυλίας καὶ ἀποστερήσεως φιλοδοξεῖν· ἐπαινεῖ τε τὸν εἰπόντα τῶν Ἐφεσίων πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, ὡς οὐ πρέποι θεῷ θεοῖς ἀναθήματα κατασκευάζειν.
Chersiphron was the first architect of the temple of Diana; another afterwards enlarged it, but when Herostratus set fire to it, the citizens constructed one more magnificent. They collected for this purpose the ornaments of the women, contributions from private property, and the money arising from the sale of pillars of the former temple. Evidence of these things is to be found in the decrees of that time. Artemidorus says, that Timaeus of Tauromenium, in consequence of his ignorance of these decrees, and being otherwise a calumniator and detractor, (whence he had the name of Epitimaeus, or Reviler,) avers that the Ephesians restored the temple by means of the treasure deposited there by the Persians. But at that time no treasure was deposited, and if any had been deposited there, it must have been consumed together with the temple: after the conflagration, when the roof was destroyed, who would wish to have a deposit lying there, with the sacred enclosure exposed to the air?
Besides, Artemidorus says, that Alexander promised to defray the expense of its restoration, both what had been and what would be incurred, on condition that the work should be attributed to him in the inscription, but the Ephesians refused to accede to this ; much less, then, would they be disposed to acquire fame by sacrilege and spoliation. He praises also the reply of an Ephesian to the king, that it was not fit that a god should provide temples in honour of gods.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ νεὼ συντέλειαν, ὅν φησιν εἶναι Δεινοκράτους ἔργον (τοῦ δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν Ἀλεξανδρείας κτίσιν· τὸν δʼ αὐτὸν ὑποσχέσθαι Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τὸν Ἄθω διασκευάσειν εἰς αὐτόν, ὡσανεὶ ἐκ πρόχου τινὸς εἰς φιάλην καταχέοντα σπονδήν, ποιήσοντα πόλεις δύο, τὴν μὲν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ ὄρους τὴν δʼ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν ῥέοντα ποταμόν), μετὰ δʼ οὖν τὸν νεὼν τὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἀναθημάτων πλῆθος εὑρέσθαι τῇ ἐκτιμήσει τῶν δημιουργῶν, τὸν δὲ δὴ βωμὸν εἶναι τῶν Πραξιτέλους ἔργων ἅπαντα σχεδόν τι πλήρη. ἡμῖν δʼ ἐδείκνυτο καὶ τῶν Θράσωνός τινα, οὗπερ καὶ τὸ Ἑκατήσιόν ἐστι καὶ ἡ κηρίνη Πηνελόπη καὶ ἡ πρεσβῦτις ἡ Εὐρύκλεια. ἱερέας δʼ εὐνούχους εἶχον οὓς ἐκάλουν Μεγαβύζους, καὶ ἀλλαχόθεν μετιόντες ἀεί τινας ἀξίους τῆς τοιαύτης προστασίας, καὶ ἦγον ἐν τιμῇ μεγάλῃ· συνιερᾶσθαι δὲ τούτοις ἐχρῆν παρθένους. νυνὶ δὲ τὰ μὲν φυλάττεται τῶν νομίμων τὰ δʼ ἧττον, ἄσυλον δὲ μένει τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ νῦν καὶ πρότερον· τῆς δʼ ἀσυλίας τοὺς ὅρους ἀλλαγῆναι συνέβη πολλάκις, Ἀλεξάνδρου μὲν ἐπὶ στάδιον ἐκτείναντος, Μιθριδάτου δὲ τόξευμα ἀφέντος ἀπὸ τῆς γωνίας τοῦ κεράμου καὶ δόξαντος ὑπερβαλέσθαι μικρὰ τὸ στάδιον, Ἀντωνίου δὲ διπλασιάσαντος τοῦτο καὶ συμπεριλαβόντος τῇ ἀσυλίᾳ μέρος τι τῆς πόλεως· ἐφάνη δὲ τοῦτο βλαβερὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς κακούργοις ποιοῦν τὴν πόλιν, ὥστʼ ἠκύρωσεν ὁ Σεβαστὸς Καῖσαρ.
After the completion of the temple, which, he says, was the work of Cheirocrates (the same person who built Alexandria, and also promised Alexander that he would form Mount Athos into a statue of him, which should represent him as pouring a libation into a dish out of an ewer; that he would build two cities, one on the right hand of the mountain, and another on the left, and a river should flow out of the dish from one to the other,)—after the completion of the temple, he says that the multitude of other sacred offerings were purchased by the Ephesians, at the value set on them by artificers, and that the altar was almost entirely full of the works of Praxiteles. They showed us also some of the performances of Thraso, namely, the Hecatesium, a Penelope, and the old woman Eurycleia.
The priests were eunuchs, who were called Megabyzi. It was the practice to send to various places for persons worthy of this office, and they were held in high honour. They were obliged to appoint virgins as their colleagues in their priesthood. At present some of their rites and customs are observed, and some are neglected.
The temple was formerly, and is at present, a place of refuge, but the limits of the sanctity of this asylum have been frequently altered; Alexander extended them to the distance of a stadium. Mithridates discharged an arrow from the angle of the roof, and supposed that it fell a little beyond the distance of a stadium. Antonius doubled this distance, and included within the range of the sanctuary a certain portion of the city. This was attended with much evil, as it placed the city in the power of criminals and malefactors. On this account Augustus Cesar abolished the privilege.
ἔχει δʼ ἡ πόλις καὶ νεώρια καὶ λιμένα· βραχύστομον δʼ ἐποίησαν οἱ ἀρχιτέκτονες, συνεξαπατηθέντες τῷ κελεύσαντι βασιλεῖ. οὗτος δʼ ἦν Ἄτταλος ὁ φιλάδελφος· οἰηθεὶς γὰρ οὗτος βαθὺν τὸν εἴσπλουν ὁλκάσι μεγάλαις ἔσεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν λιμένα τεναγώδη ὄντα πρότερον διὰ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ Καΰστρου προχώσεις, ἐὰν παραβληθῇ χῶμα τῷ στόματι πλατεῖ τελέως ὄντι, ἐκέλευσε γενέσθαι τὸ χῶμα. συνέβη δὲ τοὐναντίον· ἐντὸς γὰρ ἡ χοῦς εἰργομένη τεναγίζειν μᾶλλον ἐποίησε τὸν λιμένα σύμπαντα μέχρι τοῦ στόματος· πρότερον δʼ ἱκανῶς αἱ πλημμυρίδες καὶ ἡ παλίρροια τοῦ πελάγους ἀφῄρει τὴν χοῦν καὶ ἀνέσπα πρὸς τὸ ἐκτός. ὁ μὲν οὖν λιμὴν τοιοῦτος· ἡ δὲ πόλις τῇ πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα εὐκαιρίᾳ τῶν τόπων αὔξεται καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, ἐμπόριον οὖσα μέγιστον τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν τὴν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου.
The city has an arsenal and a harbour. The entrance of the harbour was made narrow, by order of the king Attalus Philadelphus, who, together with the persons that constructed it, was disappointed at the result. The harbour was formerly shallow, on account of the embankment of earth accumulated by the Caÿster; but the king, supposing that there would be deep water for the entrance of large vessels of burden, if a mole were thrown up before the mouth of the river, which was very wide, gave orders for the construction of a mole ; but the contrary effect took place, for the mud, being confined within the harbour, made the whole of it shallow to the mouth. Before the construction of the mole, the flow and ebb of the sea cleared the mud away entirely, by forcing it outwards.
Such then is the nature of the harbour.
The city, by the advantages which it affords, daily improves, and is the largest mart in Asia within the Taurus.
ἄνδρες δʼ ἀξιόλογοι γεγόνασιν ἐν αὐτῇ τῶν μὲν παλαιῶν Ἡράκλειτός τε ὁ σκοτεινὸς καλούμενος καὶ Ἑρμόδωρος, περὶ οὗ ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτός φησιν ἄξιον Ἐφεσίοις ἡβηδὸν ἀπάγξασθαι, οἵτινες Ἑρμόδωρον ἄνδρα ἑωυτῶν ὀνήιστον ἐξέβαλον, φάντες ἡμέων μηδὲ εἷς ὀνήιστος ἔστω, εἰ δὲ μή, ἄλλῃ τε καὶ μετʼ ἄλλων. δοκεῖ δʼ οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ νόμους τινὰς Ῥωμαίοις συγγράψαι. καὶ Ἱππῶναξ δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ ποιητὴς ἐξ Ἐφέσου καὶ Παρράσιος ὁ ζωγράφος καὶ Ἀπελλῆς, τῶν δὲ νεωτέρων Ἀλέξανδρος ῥήτωρ ὁ Λύχνος προσαγορευθείς, ὃς καὶ ἐπολιτεύσατο καὶ συνέγραψεν ἱστορίαν καὶ ἔπη κατέλιπεν, ἐν οἷς τά τε οὐράνια διατίθεται καὶ τὰς ἠπείρους γεωγραφεῖ, καθʼ ἑκάστην ἐκδοὺς ποίημα.
Among illustrious persons in ancient times natives of Ephesus were Heracleitus, surnamed Scoteinus, or the Obscure, and Hermodorus, of whom Heracleitus himself says: The Ephesians, youths and all, deserve hanging, for expelling Hermodorus, an honest citizen, a citizen distinguished for his virtues, and saying, let there be no such amongst us; if there be, let it be in another place and among other people. Hermodorus seems to have compiled laws for the Romans. Hipponax the poet was an Ephesian, and the painters Parrhasius and Apelles.
In more recent times was Alexander the orator, surnamed Lychnus, or the Lamp; he was an administrator of state affairs, a writer of history, and left behind him poems which contain a description of the heavenly phenomena and a geographical account of the continents, each of which forms the subject of a distinct poem.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ Καΰστρου λίμνη ἐστὶν ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους ἀναχεομένη (καλεῖται δὲ Σελινουσία) καὶ ἐφεξῆς ἄλλη σύρρους αὐτῇ μεγάλας ἔχουσαι προσόδους, ἃς οἱ βασιλεῖς μὲν ἱερὰς οὔσας ἀφείλοντο τὴν θεόν, Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ἀπέδοσαν· πάλιν δʼ οἱ δημοσιῶναι βιασάμενοι περιέστησαν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς τὰ τέλη, πρεσβεύσας δὲ ὁ Ἀρτεμίδωρος, ὥς φησι, τάς τε λίμνας ἀπέλαβε τῇ θεῷ καὶ τὴν Ἡρακλεῶτιν ἀφισταμένην ἐξενίκησε κριθεὶς ἐν Ῥώμῃ· ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων εἰκόνα χρυσῆν ἀνέστησεν ἡ πόλις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ. τῆς δὲ λίμνης ἐν τῷ κοιλοτάτῳ βασιλέως ἐστὶν ἱερόν· φασὶ δʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἵδρυμα.
Next to the mouth of the Caÿster is a lake called Selinusia, formed by the overflowing of the sea. It is succeeded by another, which communicates with this. They afford a large revenue, of which the kings, although it was sacred, deprived the goddess, but the Romans restored it; then the tax-gatherers seized upon the tribute by force, and converted it to their own use. Artemidorus, who was sent on an embassy to Rome, as he says, recovered possession of the lakes for the goddess, and also of the territory of Heracleotis, which was on the point of separating from Ephesus, by proceeding in a suit at Rome. In return for these services, the city erected in the temple to his honour a statue of gold.
In the most retired part of the lake is a temple of a king, built, it is said, by Agamemnon.
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