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Miletos |
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 Miletos Situated at the
mouth of the Meander in the south of the province of Ionia
in Western Anatolia, the ancient city of Miletos was the
oldest and the most powerful of the twelve Ionian cities in
Asia Minor. It also founded over ten colonies on the shores
of the Marmara and the Black Sea, while its commercial
activities extended as far as Egypt. Its schools made a very
great contribution to the intellectual and scholarly
development of the Mediterranean world and one cannot talk
of Miletos without mention of the great contributions to
geometry and science made by Thales, one of the greatest
scholars produced by the city.
Miletos is also renowned as the first city to which the
principles of modern town-planning were applied. The
gridplan introduced by Hippodamos was later to form the
basis of town-planning in all Roman cities. As a result of
the silting caused by the alluvium washed down by the
Meander the city now lies at a distance of several
kilometres from the sea. The fact that Miletos formerly
possessed four separate harbours well indicates the
important role played by the Meander in the history of the
city.
The Miletos alphabet was accepted as the normal script
employed in writing ancient Greek. The following are a few
of the philosophical views put forward by Milesian
philosophers:
"The healthy and well-educated man is a happy man."
Beauty arises not from a beautiful body but from beautiful
actions."
"Expect the same behaviour from your children as you showed
your own parents."
Thales of Miletos
"The skilful man is superior to the strong man."
"Don't come to a conclusion before listening to both sides."
"A small spark is enough to burn down a whole forest."
"Lend the fallen a helping hand." Phocylides of Miletos
HISTORY OF MILETUS:
The origins and earliest history of Miletos are still a
subject of controversy. The name "Milawanda" that occurs in
Hittite texts may well refer to Miletos. The excavations
undertaken so far have reached as far as the Bronze Age. The
first excavations were conducted by the German archaeologist
Theodor Wiegand but these were several times interrupted by
wars and various other events. Excavations were resumed by
Gerhard Kleiner and continued by Werner MüllerWiener.
The history of Miletııs can be traced back to the 2nd
millennium B.C. Settlers from Crete arrived here in 1500
B.C., to be followed by the Mycenaeans froin mainland Greece,
who fortified the city. According to ancient Greek aııthors,
the first inhabitants were the Carians and Lelegians. After
the capture of the city by the Ionians under their leader
Neileus in 1000 B.C., the conquerors killed the Milesian men
and married their wives thus forming the new population of
the city. Legend has it that the women of Miletos expressed
their resentment and punished their new husbands by refusing
to sit at table with them. The city was ruled for a time by
kings descended from Neileus, but after 800 B.C.
administration passed into the hands of the aristocracy.
After 687 B.C. it was ruled by dictators known as "tyrants",
and it was during this period that the city began to found
colonies overseas.
By the first half of the 6th century, Miletos, thanks to
these colonies, possessed a large maritime empire. The
distinguished scholars produced by the city at that time
included natural philosophers such as Thales, Anaximenes,
Anaximander and Hecataeus. Thales, the first to forecast an
eclipse of the sun, produced new theories in geometry and
astronomy, Anaximander carved on stone universal laws
independent of the gods and Hecataeus excelled in geography.
Miletos had a special agreement with Croesus, but after the
collapse of Lydia in 547-546 B.C. the city came under
Persian hegemony. After the Greek victory over the Persians
in the naval battle at Mycale in 479 B.C., Miletos was
rebuilt on a grid plan with the help of the famous Milesian
architect and town-planner Hippodamos. After 402 B.C. the
city came entirely under Persian rule and in the 4th century
was ruled by Carian satraps subject to the Persians. In 334
B.C. Miletos was captured by Alexander the Great. Following
his death it was subjected by Antigonus in 313 B.C. and the
Seleucides in 301 B.C. The city regained its independence in
188 B.C. In 133 B.C., when the Kingdom of Pergamon was
incorporated in the Roman Empire, Miletos became part of the
province of Asia Minor. The city declined in size under
Byzantine rule, shrinking to the area occupied by the castle
known as Palatia to the rear of the theatre. In 1328 it came
under Seljuk rule, after which it continued to exist as the
small village of Balat.
The first monument one encounters on entering Miletos from
the south is the Temple of Athena. Built in the first half
of the 5th century B.C., it has six Ionic columns on each of
the shorter sides and ten on the longer sides Immediately to
the north of the temple lies an agora from the Hellenistic
period, while to the east of the agora is located a Roman
stadium built in 150 A.D. A little further to the north is a
theatre dating originally from the 4th century B.C. Although
it underwent extensive modifications on three occasions, it
is one of the best preserved theatres in Anatolia. The
remains of the building, with its entrances and vaulted
corridors, display all the distinguishing f~atures of the
Roman period. To the east of the stadium are the baths of
Faustina and, adjacent to the baths, city defence walls
dating from the reign of the Emperor Justinian. There is
also a Serapeum, or temple of Serapis, from the 3rd century
A. D . From here one arrives at the southern agora built in
the Hellenistic period with shops in the southern and
eastern wings. The monumental gate in the north-eastern
corner of the agora leads into the city centre. The richly
decorated nymphaeum that stood in the vicinity of this gate
is now preserved in the Pergamon Museum in East Berlin. To
the west of the nymphaeum there is a bouleuterion dating
from the 2nd century B.C. capable of accommodating 1, 500. |
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