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Miletus

Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.

Pictures of the theater can be found here.

The site of old Miletus. Photo Jona Lendering. Kalabak tepe, the site of old Miletus, where people like Thales invented philosophy, and Hecataeus geography. It was destroyed by the Persians in 494 BCE, after they had defeated the navy of the Ionian Greeks at Lade. Miletus was rebuilt on a promontory, north of the old town. The gridiron plan of the new town, designed by the Milesian Hippodamus, became the standard for urban planning.
The site of the harbor of Miletus, seen from the top of the theater. Photo Marco Prins. The site of the harbor of Miletus, seen from the Byzantine fortress near the top of the Graeco-Roman theater. The river Meander has deposited much sand in the area, so that the coastline has receded. The North Agora is to the right. Almost all ruins are from the Roman.
The agora of Miletus, seen from the west. Photo Marco Prins. The North Agora of Miletus, seen from the west. The region is now very marshy. Here you can see it on a satellite photo.
A model of the North Agora of Miletus, seen from the north. It is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The agora of Miletus, seen from the north. Photo Marco Prins. The North Agora  of Miletus, seen from the north. The monument to the left is the Ionian stoa, which was built by the former Roman procurator of Asia, Tiberius Claudius Sophanus in c.50 CE. These wetlands are only accessible during the summer.
The thermae of Capito. Photo Marco Prins. The thermae of Capito, at the North Agora. The baths were built by a man named Vergilius Capito during the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-54).
The remains of a Roman naval monument. Photo Marco Prins. The remains of a Roman naval monument, possibly dedicated by Octavian to commemorate the naval battle off Actium (31 BCE), where he defeated Cleopatra VII Philopator of Egypt and Marc Antony. It was ornamented with tritons and the prows of warships. It is possible, however, that the monument is a generation older, and honored Pompey the Great, who had defeated the Cilician pirates.
The interior of the thermae of Faustina. Photo Marco Prins. The interior of the thermae of Faustina, the wife of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180). These baths must have been finished before 176, the year of Faustina's death.
Statue of river god Meander in the thermae of Faustina. Photo Marco Prins. Statue of river god Meander in the thermae of Faustina.
to part two
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