A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

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