History of Ephesus: Introduction

I. HISTORY OF EPHESUS
Introduction

Prior to the partial unification brought by the Roman Empire, most of Asia Minor was a conglomerate of small states. These independent small states flourished or languished at different times depending on the success of their individual rulers, so that it is difficult to generalize about the history of the region.

An analysis of Anatolian history is made still more difficult by the large number of civilizations that have passed through the region, including the Hittites, Urartians, Phrygians, Lydians, Lycians, Ionians, Persians, Hellenes, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks and Ottomans.

This simplified list is by no means complete and does not take into account the many invaders such as the Cimmerians, Gauls, Avars, Sassanians, Arabs, Crusaders, Mongols and Timurids to name some of the more important.

The purpose of this outline of the History of Ephesus is to inform and, perhaps more importantly, to stimulate further interest, and is not intended to be a work of scholarly research. Many excellent in-depth works have been written on this subject (see Bibliography).