DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.46296#0154
1.10 Summary
153
LIO SUMMARY
1.10.1 The Roman Imperial Period
1.10.1.1 Topography and History of Research
The so-called Temple of Hadrian is located in the city center of Hellenistic and Roman Ephesos,
alongside Curetes Street, probably called Embolos in antiquity (pl. I)1078. The main footprint
of the insula was covered by a bath complex dating to the Roman Imperial period, the Baths of
Varius1079. Curetes Street itself runs at an angle through the otherwise rectangular city grid. On
the one hand, its location is determined by a natural valley between two mountains, Panayirdag
and Bülbüldag, On the other hand, the Street represents an old processional way leading from
the Sanctuary of Artemis around Panayirdag and back to the temple. Archaic tombs unearthed
in the area prove this long tradition that remained unaltered when the Hellenistic and Roman
city was built1080.
In the 1950s Curetes Street was one of the main research areas of Austrian research in Ephe-
sos1081. The then-director Franz Miltner excavated with up to 120 local workmen, who were
supported by tractors, horse-drawn vehicles, and a light railway. One of the explicit goals of
his undertaking was to make the ancient ruins more attractive to modern visitors. This goal also
included the re-erection of monuments. One of these was the so-called Temple of Hadrian: The
building was excavated quite speedily and the most important results published in preliminary
reports. Subsequently the structure was rebuilt in the years from 1956 to 19581082. Because of
Miltner’s sudden death in 1959 the temple never received a full publication.
Literary sources imply that Ephesos once possessed an imperial temple for the worship of the
emperor Hadrian in the entire Roman province of Asia, a so-called neocorate temple. The erection
of such a building had to be granted by the reigning emperor, and thus the temple stood as a big
honor for a city, which then carried the official title »Neokoros«. In the province of Asia Minor
Smyrna and Pergamon traditionally competed with Ephesos for this special privilege. Ephesos
received the title for the first time at the latest during the Flavian period. The second neocorate
was granted to the city by Hadrian1083.
At the beginning of the preserved text, the building inscription of the temple on Curetes Street
(pl. 28) mentions Hadrian as the recipient of the dedication1084. Therefore Miltner concluded that
the building was the neocorate temple of the city that had previously not been identified. He
consequently called it »Hadrianstempel« or the »Temple of Hadrian«.
Yet already in the 1960s and 1970s Miltner’s interpretation was questioned by several
researchers1085. His reading of the inscription was especially discussed, until finally the scholarly
community reached a consensus. Today, the majority agree that the small building on Curetes
Street is not the neocorate temple of the city. It seems more likely that the latter can be identified
with the scarce remains on the Ephesian harbor plain north of the Harbor Baths1086. Due to its
size, the large structure also seems a lot more suited for an imperial cult temple than the small
building on Curetes Street.
1078 Keil 1935, 87-91; Alzinger 1970, 1597 f.
1079 See chap. 1.7.1.
1080 See chap. I.7.2.2.
1081 On the excavation of the Street see Quatember 2005, 271-278. For research on the temple see chap. 1.1.1.
1082 See chap. 1.1.3 and chap. 1.4. Cf. also chap. II.2.
1083 Generally see Burrell 2004; on the Hadrianic neocorate see esp. Burrell 2004, 66-70 with fiirther references.
1084 In the first position of the dedication most likely Artemis of Ephesos should be reconstructed, see chap. 1.2.1. The
original architrave was destroyed during a collapse of the building and replaced with a new item, see chap. 1.4.2.3
and 1.4.5.1.
1085 See chap. 1.1.2.
1086 Karwiese 1995; Scherrer 1999.
153
LIO SUMMARY
1.10.1 The Roman Imperial Period
1.10.1.1 Topography and History of Research
The so-called Temple of Hadrian is located in the city center of Hellenistic and Roman Ephesos,
alongside Curetes Street, probably called Embolos in antiquity (pl. I)1078. The main footprint
of the insula was covered by a bath complex dating to the Roman Imperial period, the Baths of
Varius1079. Curetes Street itself runs at an angle through the otherwise rectangular city grid. On
the one hand, its location is determined by a natural valley between two mountains, Panayirdag
and Bülbüldag, On the other hand, the Street represents an old processional way leading from
the Sanctuary of Artemis around Panayirdag and back to the temple. Archaic tombs unearthed
in the area prove this long tradition that remained unaltered when the Hellenistic and Roman
city was built1080.
In the 1950s Curetes Street was one of the main research areas of Austrian research in Ephe-
sos1081. The then-director Franz Miltner excavated with up to 120 local workmen, who were
supported by tractors, horse-drawn vehicles, and a light railway. One of the explicit goals of
his undertaking was to make the ancient ruins more attractive to modern visitors. This goal also
included the re-erection of monuments. One of these was the so-called Temple of Hadrian: The
building was excavated quite speedily and the most important results published in preliminary
reports. Subsequently the structure was rebuilt in the years from 1956 to 19581082. Because of
Miltner’s sudden death in 1959 the temple never received a full publication.
Literary sources imply that Ephesos once possessed an imperial temple for the worship of the
emperor Hadrian in the entire Roman province of Asia, a so-called neocorate temple. The erection
of such a building had to be granted by the reigning emperor, and thus the temple stood as a big
honor for a city, which then carried the official title »Neokoros«. In the province of Asia Minor
Smyrna and Pergamon traditionally competed with Ephesos for this special privilege. Ephesos
received the title for the first time at the latest during the Flavian period. The second neocorate
was granted to the city by Hadrian1083.
At the beginning of the preserved text, the building inscription of the temple on Curetes Street
(pl. 28) mentions Hadrian as the recipient of the dedication1084. Therefore Miltner concluded that
the building was the neocorate temple of the city that had previously not been identified. He
consequently called it »Hadrianstempel« or the »Temple of Hadrian«.
Yet already in the 1960s and 1970s Miltner’s interpretation was questioned by several
researchers1085. His reading of the inscription was especially discussed, until finally the scholarly
community reached a consensus. Today, the majority agree that the small building on Curetes
Street is not the neocorate temple of the city. It seems more likely that the latter can be identified
with the scarce remains on the Ephesian harbor plain north of the Harbor Baths1086. Due to its
size, the large structure also seems a lot more suited for an imperial cult temple than the small
building on Curetes Street.
1078 Keil 1935, 87-91; Alzinger 1970, 1597 f.
1079 See chap. 1.7.1.
1080 See chap. I.7.2.2.
1081 On the excavation of the Street see Quatember 2005, 271-278. For research on the temple see chap. 1.1.1.
1082 See chap. 1.1.3 and chap. 1.4. Cf. also chap. II.2.
1083 Generally see Burrell 2004; on the Hadrianic neocorate see esp. Burrell 2004, 66-70 with fiirther references.
1084 In the first position of the dedication most likely Artemis of Ephesos should be reconstructed, see chap. 1.2.1. The
original architrave was destroyed during a collapse of the building and replaced with a new item, see chap. 1.4.2.3
and 1.4.5.1.
1085 See chap. 1.1.2.
1086 Karwiese 1995; Scherrer 1999.
