The ancient Miletus is located beyond the Meander Valley, about forty kilometers from Söke,at the town of Balat. Not far from Miletus are the sites of Didyma and Priene. The deposits of şilt from the Meander, the Büyük Menderes of today, has led to a gradual but steady extension of the coastline away from these ancient sites. Miletus was önce situated on the shore. The Turkish town of Balat takes its name from the Balatin or Palatin Castle that is perched above the Miletus theater.
HISTORY OF MİLETUS
The first settlers of Miletus ore thought to have been Lelejes and Carians, follovved by colonists from Crete and Greece. The city’s name was taken from the Cretan leader, Miletus. Later, in the sixth century. B.C., the lonian city of Miletus, under control of the Greeks, had become one of the most important and formidable powers in the whole of lonia. As did many early settlements Miletus gained stability through agriculture. Through time a fleet was developed, enabling the powers at Miletus to spread out and colonize other territories in the surrounding area. These colonies have been noticed as far away as Egypt, and are thought to have numbered around eighty. Lydians and Cimmerians gained footholds in Miletus during the 5th and 4th centuries. Then, in 494 B.C., the city was vrtually destroyed as a result of its solidarity with Athens during the Persian wars. Persian control lasted until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 334. During this short period Miletus lay in waste, unable to regain its former strength or status. But with Alexander’s rule of the area Miletus was again restored to prosperity. Power in lonia went to the Romans at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C., but Miletus was declared a free city, able to continue self-administration. The religious çenter at Didyma was alloted to Miletus during this period, and a great reconstruction period followed.
According to Herodotus, the Cretans were ali slaughtered by the lonian captors of Miletus. The lonians then married the Cretan wives since they had brought no women of their own along. But this action very likely proved less than satisfactory. İn fact, the women swore an oath not to cali their husbands by name or to eat at their tables. Famous Miletians who have come down through history include the philosopher Thales, with his theory that ali things are made of water. Thales is credited with having predicted a solar edipse in the 6th century. And among other lesser achievements, such as onticipating a good olive crop early enough to buy a monopoly in the olive presses and also calculating the height of the Egyptian pyramids, he purportedly turned the flow of the Halys River, allowing the army of Croesus to pass safely. He was also the first man to use the phrase «Know Thyself», and was apparently one of the few who lived this philosophy along with ali its implications. Thales has been considered since antiquity one of the greatest thinkers of the ancient world. Miletus was famous for other important thinkers and naturalists besides Thales. These included Anaximander and Anaximenes who formulated theories concerned with the vvorld’s material substances. Hecataeus, considered one of the fathers of geography, was also a Milesian.
The capture of Miletus by the Persians in 494 B.C. is referred to as the Fail of Miletus. This was the first time in the city’s history that it had been taken by force. But after the Persians were defeated in Greece, the city was revived to such a degree that its yearly tribute to the Delian Confederacy was assessed at the huge sum of flve îaients. This was only slightly less than that of Ephesus. Miletus, in spite of this revival, did not achieve the position of greatness she had önce known. This was primarily because of the maritime supremacy Athens had achieved. Miletus could no longer compete.
RUINS OF MİLETUS
The first settlement of Miletus is thought to have been located on Kalabaktepe Hill. This is a few miles to the southwest of the rulns where thick walls, house foundations, as well as a small temple were uncovered. The City was later moved to its present positlon. The following list includes most of the majör monuments and ruins that may be seen at Miletus.
The Theater: The theater is the most imposing of the clty’s remains. İt is considered one of the best examples of the Greco – Roman Type theater in existence, and dates to the second century A.D. Much of the 25,000 seat structure is in excellent condition. The front royvs of seats are well-preserved as are the vaulted passages underneath them. Inscriptions on the seats record their ownership. The 34 – meter – long stage was amply decorated with friezes and statuary in the Roman fashion, and the orchestra plt is tiled with lovely, piebald marble. The theater is situated some thirty meters above the level of the plain.
Delphinion: On the plain, to the east of the theater, are the remains of the Delphinion or Sanctuary to Apollo Delphinius. This structure was first erected in Archaic times, then reconstructed along Hellenistic lines during the Roman period. A great number of ınscriptions were found during the Delphinion’s excavation that record various laws of the sanctuary as well as names of important visitors and statesmen. A sacrificial altar is nearby. Legend holds that Apollo turned himself into a dolphin in order to lure a Cretan ship to Miletus. These sailors served as priests for the temple. The sanctuary’s name is derived from Delphinius, the Greek word for dolphin.
Baths of Faustina: The remarkarbly well – preserved bathing complex was orginally constructed during the Age of Hellenism to serve as a gymnasium. The Romans, in turn, made the conversion to a bath in honor of Oueen Faustina, wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The öpen gymnasium is stili recognizable, as is the whole five-part complex for bathing. The exercise field or Palaestra was situated to the west of the bath’s long entrance hail. The first of the rooms in this hail was used as a museum and class room. Most of the small rooms near the entrance also served educational pur- poses, while those closer to the Central bath were likely used as changing-rooms. The large room at the south end of the hail was the Tepidarium, followed by the largest room of the complex, the Caldarium or hot-room. This and another hot-room are located to the east of the Tepidarium and are entered through the thick connecting wall. From the second hot-room, the bathers entered the Sudatorium or sweating-room. This was the hottest of the rooms
and was heated by means of hot water running through the wall- pipes. Then the bathers passed again into the Tepidarium to cool off, finally finishing in the cold waters of the Frigidarium. The bath complex is dated around A.D. 150 and was lavishly adorned and decorated with mosaics and statuary. Statues of Apollo and the Muses were discovered in the museum section of the hail, while others, the river god Meander and a lion statue, are stili in their original positions within the Frigidarium.
Council Chamber: The Council Chamber or Bouleuterion was constructed along the lines of a theater with its semi-circular assembly hail. Seating capacity of the hail is estimated to have been around 500. This structure is one of the city’s earliest remaining buildings, dating to the second century B.C. The rectangular const-
Plan of the Council Chamber at Miletus.
ruction in the poorly-preserved court is thought to have served either as an altar or a tomb. A wooden roof presumably covered the whole building.
Nympheum: The Nympheum, across from the Council Chamber, served as the city’s main water distribution çenter. Little is left of this ornate fountain-building except the three vaulted niches and some of the rubble from the aqueducts. A large pool stood forward of the niches and was surrounded by a three-storied façade. Reliefs of nymphs decorated the elaborate structure. The fountain, built during the reign of Titus in A.D. 79 channeled water throughout the City.
Other Ruins of Miletus: The North Agora was the majör marketing çenter of the City and consisted of an öpen court surrounded by two storied halis dating to the Roman period. To the east of the Agora is a Gymnasium that is entered by way of four steps, through the wide agora gate. This second century B.C. structure is surrounded by Doric and lonic colonnades, with classrooms along the north boundary. Remains of several other baths, a stadium and other building foundations may be seen at the site along with the city cemetary. The latter is located below the Byzantine Castle on Kalabaktepe Hill, on the south side.