And the Walls Come Tumbling Down

First of all, I am very happy to be back on the job after a whirlwind of house renovations and out-of-town visitors.  Thank you for your patience - I know it has been difficult for you, going so long between my blogs.

But now that I'm back in the saddle, I have some catching up to do.  And for today's Past Forward installment, we visit the ancient city of Euromos.

Euromos is just north of the Bodrum Peninsula, in between ancient Ephesus and ancient Halicarnassus which, as you recall, is the site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

Euromos, originally Kyromus, was first settled around the 6th century BC by the Carians.  It was later renamed Euromos after one of the Carian emperors, and thrived for many centuries due to it's strategic location along the ancient trade routes of Anatolia.

The Carian rulers of Euromos built the city in the Hellenistic style because, as you know from previous readings, the Carians were big fans of the Greeks.  The city was laid out precisely in neat rows and included the usual Greek city areas - an Agora (gathering place), an amphitheater (a bouleuterion in this case- a smaller amphitheater designed primarily for meetings of officials) and burial grounds, complete with vaulted tombs for the the VIP's.

The Agora - a gathering place at the town center.  

Meetings, markets, trade and other business was conducted there

The Amphitheater (Bouleuterion) on the hillside, as seen from the Agora

The Amphitheater as seen from the seat of a spectator (yours truly)

Burial site and Vaulted Tombs

Later, when the Romans conquered the area and took over the city, there were several structural improvements made, most significantly by Emperor Hadrian - yes, that same Hadrian known for his wall in Britannia.  He did in fact build another wall here in Euromos, along with a bath house and a magnificent temple to Zeus.  The wall here, and the wall in Britannia, being at the farthest ends of the Roman Empire, essentially symbolized the Empire's outer walls.  

What's left of Hadrian's "other" Wall

Roman Bath House - several nice mosaics remain, but unfortunately 

I couldn't get close enough for a good photo, I could only get a peek.

Roman Bath House

The Temple of Zeus - by all accounts one of the best-preserved 

ancient structures ever found.

My intrepid exploring partners

The Temple of Zeus was believed to be unfinished, as several of the columns had not been "fluted" after they were erected.  Historians believe that this may be because the city was abandoned rather suddenly by an outbreak of plague.  Hadrian's wall here was about as effective at keeping out the plague as was his other wall at keeping the Scots out of Britannia (not very).  

And so we have today's message from the Past:  As has been made abundantly clear throughout history, walls simply cannot keep out a determined invader. They are not bad at keeping people in, but they ultimately fail to keep anyone or anything from getting in.

Next up:  Iassos

[All photos and videos courtesy of yours truly, with the exception of the map, which is courtesy of HolyLandPhotos.org.]