The Traveling Jambo Ree: Ephesus

Allie, Franz (our kiwi friend from the blue cruise), and I continued on today by traveling to Selcuk, a moderate sized city near the beautiful ruins of Ephesus. The city has been in existence for thousands of years but was at its prime at the height of the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries AD. It was the second largest city in the empire at a max population of about 250,000, measured be estimating the size of its amphitheater (25k) to be about 10% of the city population.

The city is only about 15-20% excavated, but what has been discovered is a real treasure. There are marble avenues lined by columns, Roman baths, temples, affluent homes (with frescas, likely preserved by an earthquake that sealed them), and the ultimate jewel, the library of Celsus, the third largest in the ancient world. The Egyptians were so jealous of this library, they stopped exporting papyrus for scrolls. Instead, the Romans developed parchment paper and invented books!

The three of us meandered (fun fact: word comes from the winding river that led from Ephesus to the Aegean Sea!) through the ruins for several hours listening to a Rick Steves audio tour that we had downloaded earlier in the day. We all pretended to perform in the amphitheater and took jumping pics on the harbor street.

Me and Franz, flying. Amphitheater behind us.