Falkener, Edward: Ephesus and the temple of Diana (London, 1862)

IV.

OF THE DIFFERENT BUILDINGS OF THE CITY.

" The magnificent and spacious city."

Vitr. x. Praef.

WE are not to expect that the ruins of Bphesus
should partake of a Grecian character. The
city continued to too late a period to preserve any
portions of its pristine architecture. When we
reflect on the rapid changes which take place in
our own city in a single lifetime, we shall feel no
surprise that all traces of earlier buildings have
disappeared under the never satisfied love of
novelty. The ruins of Bphesus all bespeak a late
period of Roman art, and many of them exhibit
the style of the Byzantine empire. If Bphesus,
like Smyrna, had continued to be inhabited to the
present time, these in their turn would have given
way to the Turkish dome and minaret. But though
the architectural details are thus debased, we may
yet discover traces of its early character. The
plan of the city we may conceive to be pretty
similar to what it was in ancient times; the area
of the forum was probably the same, as are also
the sites of the several gymnasia : the theatres