The palace complex above the theatre cf Ephesos

In the early history of urbanism in Europe and the Near East, the Hellenistic era is a key period due to a large number of new city foundations and the construction of the first super- cities of antiquity. It also marks the rise of ancient Ephesos to become one of the most important political, administrative and economic centres on the west coast of Asia Minor, in the west of present-day Turkey. A palace complex situated high above the port and the city`s great theatre illustrates this process from the perspective of architecture and urban planning. For the cityscape of ancient Ephesos, the urban topography of the city quarter around the great theatre, facing the harbour, was of particular importance. Its structure to date is largely unknown. This is also true for an impressive complex of buildings above the theatre in a particularly prominent position crowning the ancient urban fabric. Based on new field research, this volume is the first to systematically address the largely unresolved questions of the history of this monumental complex over many centuries and its integration in the surrounding urban landscape. The new research results suggest that the building complex was probably already used as an administrative residence in Hellenistic times, and for many centuries henceforth. At the core of the complex, the oldest building was erected around the middle of the 2 nd century BC, at a time when Ephesos was part of the empire of the Attalid kings of Pergamon. This building a monumental peristyle house with representative reception halls was part of a larger urban planning concept aimed at monumentalising the cityscape facing the harbour. Together with new investigations in other areas of the city, the results indicate that the period of Pergamene rule, during which Ephesos also became the capital of a regional administrative district, represented a milestone in the city`s development that has received too little attention so far. The further history of the complex up to the early 7th century AD was one of enormous expansion, although it was not without disruptions. At the time of its greatest expansion in the Roman imperial period, the building complex covered a sequence of artificially constructed terraces, one above the other, over an area of more than 10 000m. Many similarities to the few governor`s residences of the Imperium Romanum that are archaeologically known suggest that the complex for many centuries combined ceremonial, public/representative and administrative functions with the characteristics of a ruler`s residence and can therefore justifiably be described as a palace.