The ancient home of
the Ephesians is one of the world's
greatest classical sites. The west coast of
what we now call Turkey was once a
cultural heartland of ancient Greece. Ephesus blossomed
as a Greek city in about the 4th
century BC. It was later consumed by
the expanding Roman empire and eventually became
a major Roman city. While the site is vast, only about 15% of this
Greco-Roman metropolis has been excavated. But as Rome fell,
so did Ephesus. Once a thriving seaport, the city was
sacked by barbarians. Eventually its busy port silted
up and it was abandoned. 1,000 years of silt left it
stranded three miles inland from the Aegean coast. The library --
the third-largest of the Roman empire, is a highlight. The facade is striking. Statues of women
celebrating the virtues of learning and wisdom
inspired the citizenry. The city's main street is
lined with buildings grand, even in their
ruined state. This one, known as
Hadrian's Temple, was built in
the second century. Dedicated to
Emperor Hadrian, its decorations are
full of symbolism. To this day, archeologists
debate just what it all means. For extra guidance,
we're joined by my friend Lale Surmen Aran. For years, Lale has led our bus
tour groups around Turkey, and for this itinerary
she's joining us. Huge city -- quarter of
a million people. This was one of
the biggest metropolises of the Roman period. Now, we're in the downtown
and the main street of the city, but the city expanded beyond
this main street on both sides. RICK: So, way up to
the mountain, actually? LALE: On both directions,
way up to the mountains, and housed 250,000 people. All the city was planned. Right underneath us
there was a huge sewer, and there were clay pipes at
either side of the street taking fresh water to the baths
and the fountains. Ah, so they had aqueducts coming
in and powering the whole city. LALE: Yes. See, these were
the public toilets attached to the Roman baths
next door. Everybody sat next to
one another. RICK: So, public toilets
were really public. The terrace houses stretch up
from the city's main drag. These excavations
are incredibly complex, like piecing together
an enormous puzzle. The fragments are
so delicate, the ongoing work is protected
under a roof. The terrace houses give us a
particularly intimate look at Ephesian life
2,000 years ago. Now, how many families would
have lived in this zone? LALE: Only five. -Just five?
-Five families. And these were
huge houses. RICK: This must have been
the elite of Ephesus. LALE: Ultra, ultra rich. Not only for Ephesus, but among the richest
of the world lived in these houses. RICK: So, when you
walk through here, can you imagine what it would
be like to live at that time? Sort of -- it was very luxurious
living in these houses. All houses were arranged
around an atrium, so they had the courtyard
with rooms all around, which were richly decorated with
art on two or three floors. A standard feature
of any Roman city was its theater. To estimate an ancient
city's population, archeologists multiply
the capacity of its theater by ten. As this one holds 25,000, they
figure the city's population was a quarter million. It was here that the apostle
Paul planned to give his talk instructing the Ephesians to
stop worshipping man-made gods. And here in Ephesus,
that god was Artemis. The local craftspeople produced
statues of Artemis like this. It was a big industry -- they exported them
far and wide. When they realized
Paul's message would ruin their businesses,
they started a riot. Imagine this theater filled
with thousands of people all shouting in
one angry voice, "Great is Artemis
of the Ephesians." For his own safety,
Paul had to flee, and he ended up giving
his message by letter. That's why, in the Bible,
we've got Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
