Miletus

Miletus, or Miletos (Greek) (pron. my-lee-tus), was one of the most important port cities in the ancient Greek world, and was central to trade and shipping. Situated near the mouth of the Büyükmenderes (Menderes) River (1) its strategic location gave the city immense wealth, and trade links to the entire Mediterranean area meant the city prospered greatly. But trade and commerce were not the only thriving elements of Miletus – the city gave birth to some of the best scientific minds of the day, including “Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Hecataeus”. (1) Thales of Miletus was one of the Seven Sages of Greece and has been called “The Father of Science”, with contributions to both geometry and astronomy (5). St. Paul also stopped in Miletus. It is here that he met with the “elders of the Church of Ephesus before his final journey to Rome” (5).

There is evidence of habitation from the Neolithic period and this could take the history of the area at least back to 7000 BC (2).

The history of Miletus as a city can be taken back to around 1500 BC when the area was settled by the Minoans, from Crete, and many artefacts have been discovered from the Bronze Age (1). There is evidence, however, of the beginnings of a city going back to 2000 BC. The Minoans were then followed by the Mycenaeans who built stronger defences, but in around 1000 BC the Ionians captured the city.

In the 7th Century BC Miletus was in conflict with its neighbour Lydia, and it seems the latter eventually controlled Miletus by the mid-6th Century (1). Later in the same century the city was ruled by the Persians. In 499 BC it was Miletus that started the Ionian revolt against Persian rule, beginning the Greco-Persian Wars (1), and this in turn created the very infamous battles at Marathon (490 BC) and Thermopylae (480 BC) on the Greek mainland. Miletus was sacked by the Persians in 494 BC, but when the Persians were finally defeated by the Greeks in 479 BC Miletus joined the Delian League (1). It was from this point that Miletus saw the beginnings of its downfall, but the city would rise again.

During the mid-5th Century the city was “weakened and impoverished by internal divisions” (1), and it was then defeated in nearby Samos during a war in 442 BC, but by 412 BC Miletus was back in the ascendency. The Milesians rebuilt their city, and the famous architect  Hippodamus of Miletus (1) set upon a new way of city architecture – parallel streets. This was the first time in history such building methods were used and they still exist today all over the World. The Romans copied the street plans of both Miletus and nearby Priene.

In 412 BC Miletus supported Sparta in the wars against Athens. In 334 BC the city fell to Alexander the Great. (1) After this time Miletus thrived once again, with shipping and commerce booming, and later the city received “special attention from the Roman emperors Augustus and Trajan” (1) after the city became part of the Roman empire in 133 BC under rule of Pergamon (4). Also in the second century Trajan built the Via Tecta (Sacred Way) from Didyma to Miletus, a distance of 12 miles (4). The city was attacked by Goths in the 3rd Century (3).

During the 6th Century disaster struck – like many ancient cities the harbour silted up, despite the attempts of its inhabitants to combat the looming and long term disaster, which may have been ongoing for several hundred years prior to the 6th Century. The silting is so extensive that today the coast is five miles distant (4), and that is why it took archaeologists many years to identify the city as Miletus. While our ancestors were masters at building temples and massive structures with little more than hand tools, no one could ever find a way to stop silting. It is perhaps the one big problem from history that did require mechanised machinery, and this would explain how places like Miletus and Troy were eventually abandoned, at least as shipping and trade cities.

The theatre at Miletus is one of the largest in the ancient world. The original theatre dated to the 4th Century BC, but Emperor Trajan renovated and enlarged the theatre to seat 25,000 spectators. The theatre’s length is 460 feet (140m) with a height of 100 feet (30m) (4).

The main temple at Miletus is the Delphinian, and is dedicated to Apollo. There is a shrine to Apollo Delphinios (Apollo of the Dolphins) and this is to protect ships and the harbour (4). At the temple is the Via Tecta that leads to Didyma. There are many other buildings – the usual suspects – an agora, baths and, of course, the main suburbs.

By the time I reached Miletus the site was closed. The site is so large, however, that it is not fenced in and this meant I was able to walk around among the theatre. I did not, however, see much of the rest of the city as I made a valiant attempt to reach Priene by sundown. The sun was already dipping at Miletus and unfortunately when I reached Priene it was already closed and locked up, and therefore its hilly location meant access was not possible. So what is left are only a few images of Miletus. I hope to return one day for a fuller exploration of the city, but for now this completes the travelogues of Turkey! I am relieved to have done so, it has taken more than twelve months to complete, mainly because I had two three-month intensive courses with the University of Oxford – Archaeology in Practise and The Fall of Rome. I sincerely hope you all enjoy these wonderful visits to ancient Turkey as much as I did!

 

References:

http://www.britannica.com/place/Miletus (1)

http://www.ime.gr/choros/miletus/en/index.php (2)

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/mapsgreeceparts/p/Miletus.htm (3)

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/miletus (4)

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Aegean/Ephesus/prien_milet_didim/miletus.html (5)

http://www.turizm.net/cities/miletus/

http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/kusadasi-tr-iz-epk.htm  (map)