abandoned; still others remained as skeletal administrative centers. The public
activities of marketplaces, theaters, and town squares yielded to the pious pursuits of
churchgoers or the private affairs of the family.
The story of Ephesus is unique only in its details. Ephesus had once been an
opulent commercial and industrial center. Turned to rubble by an earthquake near the
end of the third century, it rebuilt itself on a grand scale during the course of the
fourth and especially the fifth centuries. Imagine it in about 500. (See Figure 2.1,
concentrating on the labels in red.) It had two main centers, both fitting comfortably
within the old walls that had been constructed in the Hellenistic period. The most
important center was the Embolos, a grand avenue paved with marble. Extending the
length of more than two football fields, the Embolos began at its west end on a
Market Square and the Library of Celsus, while it opened out on its east end onto the
so-called State Agora, only bits of which were restored after the earthquake. All along
the Embolos’ length were statues, monumental fountains, and arcades. Along its
north side were the Baths of Varius and other public buildings. Flanking its south
were poor living quarters built over the rubble of once-elegant “terrace houses.”
There was no question about the religious affiliation of this sector of the city: the
Embolos was well Christianized by numerous crosses etched onto the marble slabs of
its fountains and paving stones. Small churches were scattered about the vicinity.
The second center of Ephesus around 500 was to the northwest, nearer the
harbor. Here numerous old temples and cultural centers were now being reused for
homes, baths, and churches. Richly furnished houses were erected in the Harbor
Baths, while a chapel was built in the Byzantine palace and a church was constructed
in the Stadium. Above all, there was the new Church of St. Mary, the seat of the
bishopric, which had been built into the southern flank of an old temple (the
Olympieion) next to the bishop’s palace and the baptistery.
In short, Ephesus around 500 suggests the comfortable integration of Christian
and old Roman institutions. Baths expressed the value of cleanliness; temples were
turned into churches; a chapel nestled in the shadow of the old Stadium. Grand
fountains and heroic statues continued to be built along the Embolos by proud city
benefactors.
