Ephesus in the Roman East
After the last king of Pergamon, Attalus III, bequeathed his kingdom to Rome in 133 BCE, the territory became the Roman province of Asia, set up in the years after 130 BCE. The name referred to the western part of Anatolia, not the continent. Where exactly the governor sat could vary, since Roman governors travelled on circuits, but Ephesus was the usual point of arrival by sea and is often described as the leading city of the Roman Asia province. Pergamon, Smyrna and Sardis were also major cities, and they competed with Ephesus for titles and honours.
The comparison matters. Provincial cities did not rule themselves in the manner of independent states, but they kept councils, magistrates and traditions, and they spent a great deal of effort on status. Titles such as “first” or “metropolis” and the right to build temples of the imperial cult were prized. Ephesus held the title of temple warden (neokoros) for the imperial cult more than once, as well as for Artemis.
What the governor and the city did
A Roman proconsul governed Asia for a year at a time, supported by a small staff. Much practical administration was left to the cities themselves, which collected taxes, kept order and maintained buildings. This system relied on local elites, who were rewarded with honours and, for some, Roman citizenship and senatorial rank. Their gifts to the city are visible in the inscriptions that survive. The wider structure of Roman power is described in the account of Roman expansion, and the later change of regime is covered under the Augustan principate.
Harbour, roads and trade
Ephesus was a gateway between the Aegean and the interior. Roads ran up the Meander and Cayster valleys, and a main route led inland toward Syria and the east. Goods passing through the port included grain, wine, oil, timber, textiles and marble, though ancient evidence for exact volumes is thin. The city also drew pilgrims and visitors to the temple of Artemis, which supported inns, craftsmen and traders.
The harbour was Ephesus’s weakness. The Cayster carried silt, and the port basin slowly filled. Emperors and local benefactors paid for dredging and improvements, including work in the second century CE under Hadrian and Attalus II’s earlier harbour works. Even so, the waterline continued to move away from the city. Later channels and canals were attempts to keep ships reaching the quays. For more on how ancient ports operated, compare the article on ancient harbours.
How big was it?
Population estimates for Ephesus vary a great deal. Figures between around 100,000 and 200,000 at the peak are often repeated, but they depend on guesses about housing density, the extent of the built-up area and who counts as a resident. Some scholars prefer lower numbers. The honest summary is that Ephesus was among the largest cities of Asia Minor, probably a few tens of thousands at the least and plausibly much more, but any single figure should be treated as a rough estimate.
The population was mixed. Greek was the main language of public life, and Roman citizens, Jews, and people from across the region lived there. Inscriptions mention guilds of craftsmen, such as silversmiths, bakers and wool workers. Slavery was a normal part of the economy, as it was across the Roman world, and the article on Roman slavery explains how it worked in law.
Ephesus and early Christianity
Ephesus appears often in early Christian sources. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul stayed in the city for roughly two to three years in the 50s CE, preaching and teaching. Acts also reports a confrontation with the silversmiths who feared for their trade in shrines of Artemis. Several Pauline letters are traditionally associated with the city, including 1 Corinthians, which is usually thought to have been written from there, while the authorship and addressees of the Letter to the Ephesians are debated by scholars.
Ephesus is also among the seven churches addressed in the Book of Revelation. Later tradition associates the city with John, and with Mary, but such claims rest on traditions that are difficult to test. A tradition of a house of Mary on a hill near the city developed in the nineteenth century and is venerated by many pilgrims, though historians do not consider it established. In 431 CE the Council of Ephesus met in the city and addressed disputes about the nature of Christ and the title given to Mary.
From metropolis to ruin
Ephesus survived the third-century crisis, although it was affected by earthquakes and raids. In late antiquity it remained an important Christian centre, with large churches built, but the silting harbour and the decline of trade steadily reduced its role. In the Byzantine period the population moved to Ayasuluk Hill. The final stages came with the abandonment of the lower city, and the eventual move of the settlement a few kilometres to the area of modern Selcuk. The reasons are a mix of environmental change, local politics and wider upheaval, and scholars debate how much weight each deserves. The city’s whole sequence, from its Greek foundation to abandonment, is traced in the overview article.