Figure 2.1: Late Antique Ephesus
But the events of the sixth and seventh centuries transformed the city. The
Persian wars disrupted Ephesus’ trade and threatened its prosperity. Repeated
visitations of the Plague of Justinian took their grim demographic toll. The residences
along the length of the Embolos were destroyed in 614, perhaps as the result of an
earthquake or of Persian invasions. Arab attacks on Ephesus began in 654–655.
In the face of these disasters, the face of Ephesus changed. (Consider Figure 2.1
again, now focusing on the elements in green.) As if tightening its belt, the city put up
