Archaic Period (900-560 BCE): The foundations of the city may date back to the waves of Sea Peoples and resistance movements that characterized part of the Archaic Period. A village developed though it was not as well developed or known as Miletus. It appears to have played a significant role as part of the Ionian Renaissance during the time of Heraclitus the philosopher. It was a farming and trade village until the harbor was established. A significant cultic site to Cybele developed there.
Greco-Lydian Period (560-290 BCE): According to Herodotus, King Croessus (560 BCE) conquered the city mid 6th century BCE, as he tamed the Ionian cities. The establishment of mining operations for gold and the minting of Lydian coins in this period gave rise to trade that can be archaeologically documented. During this period the city re-engineered the Cybele cultic site and built a Temple to the Greek goddess Artemis, constructed entirely of marble.
In 546 BCE, the area became part of the Satrapy of Ionia. When Darius died (485), the Persian King’s son Xerxes focused his conquest ambition on Greek territory. On a return from battles in Greece he honored the Temple of Artemis in 478 BCE, an unusual move as the Persians destroyed many other contemporary shrines. The Persians were eventually defeated in the region in 466 BCE, when Ephesus became a tributary of Athens. The city undertook to restore the Artemission, and the city in 450 BCE.
As the center for tourism and trade, the Artemission became synonymous with Ephesus. After the tragic fire in 356 BCE (tradition holds that Herostratos set that temple aflame to make a name for himself), the city took a long time to recover. Alexander would later offer to finish the half-reconstructed Temple, but the city declined, not completing the work until Lysimachus held the city upon Alexander's death. Lysimachus introduced new colonists and renamed city after his wife Arsinoë, but that name didn’t last. He increased the prominence of the city by enclosing it with six miles of wall. (Today, the traditional Prison of Paul is located within westernmost tower of that wall).
Greco-Roman Period (290 BCE-300 CE): After Lysimachus was killed in 281 BCE, Ephesus came under control of the Seleucid dynasty. They were defeated by the Romans at Magnesia (189 BCE) and Ephesus was turned over to control by Pergamum, until in 133 BCE Ephesus came under direct Roman rule.
The site was a known Roman haven, as a discovery of a statue of Julius Caesar suggests, along with a record that Antony and Cleopatra wintered there (33/32 BCE). The erection of an Egyptian style Serapis temple at the northeast corner of the Agora may have been by Cleopatra. A famous colossal head identified as Antony has also been found. The Austrian excavation team found a stone head now universally accepted as that of the Egyptian god Amon. Not always a period of comfortable relations, Ephesus didn’t like Rome initially when Roman civil wars helped Brutus and Cassius then Antony. Hailed by Pliny as the great luminary of Asia and by Strabo as the greatest emporium of Asia, the city enjoyed frequent foreign guests, and built its tourism industry.
Later emperors also enjoyed a relationship with the city. Statuary dedicated to Augustus in the temple of Artemis is depicted on coinage. The monumental triple gate to the commercial agora from the Library of Celsus was dedicated to Augustus' family in 4/3 BCE. Augustus also regulated the scope and size of the legal area of refuge for criminals at the Artemission in hopes of stopping the city from becoming overloaded with criminals. Later, Nero rebuilt the stadium and Ephesus coined a commemorative coin in honor of his work. Nero was not embarrassed to openly take statuary from the city for his own collection.
Emperor Domitian (81-96 CE, the one who exiled John to Patmos) is credited by some as having erected a great altar and temple to himself on Curetes Street. When Domitian was assassinated in 96, the colossal statue was destroyed, pieces are found in the Museum at Izmir. Trajan also took a special interest in the city. His father had been appointed the proconsul of Asia back in 79 and built a wall around the Artemission precinct. Trajan added to his father's old work a new showpiece: the Nymphaion on Curetes Street.
After the time of Paul and John, Emperor Hadrian made Ephesus his "favorite city" and entitled it the "Imperial Capital of Asia" (125 CE). He instituted games called Hadrianea and local sponsors held the games in his honor. A Neocorate temple was built and dedicated to Hadrian in 129 CE. The citizens of Ephesus honored Emperor Antonius Pius on his birthday and he built a great gymnasium in response. The city was eventually destroyed by the Goth invasion of 262 CE, and it never regained any real importance.