My Favourite Planet - the online travel guide
 
Ephesus
  1 introduction
2 history
3 practical info
4 sightseeing
5 getting there
photo gallery
 
My Favourite
Planet guides
 
  contents
contributors
impressum
sitemap
 
 
Turkey
 
  Istanbul
Ephesus
Kuşadası
Pergamon
Selçuk
 
 
Places on My Favourite Planet
 
England
  Avebury
Greece
  Agios Efstratios
Alexandroupoli
Athens
Kastellorizo
Kavala
Patmos
Pella
Polygyros
Psara
Samos
Samothraki
Stageira &
Olympiada
Veria
 
MFP People
 
My Favourite
Planet Blogs
 

The Cheshire Cat Blog - travel articles, photo essays and videos at My Favourite Planet Blogs

Cheshire Cat
Blog
 

Edwin Drood's Column - the blog by The Mysterious Edwin Drood at My Favourite Planet Blogs

Edwin Drood's
Column
 
 

Guide to Planet Earth at My Favourite Planet

Guide to
Planet Earth
Visit the My Favourite Planet Group page on Facebook
  My Favourite Planet, the online travel guide  
home   places   galleries   news   about   contribute   contact   blogs
My Favourite Planet > English > Middle East > Turkey > Ephesus > photo gallery
Ephesus, Turkey Ephesus photo gallery 1 33 of 62
 

The Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates to the Lower (Commercial) Agora, Ephesus, Turkey at My Favourite Planet

The Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates to the Lower (Commercial) Agora.
 
The Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates

The monumental triple-arched gateway (also known as the Gate of Augustus, or the South Gate) stands to the southeast corner of the Lower (Commercial) Agora (also known as the Tetragonos Agora), on the north side of the square of the Library of Celsus. It was built around 4-3 BC and dedicated by two former slaves, Mazeus and Mithridates, who had been freed by Emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC-14 AD) and apparently become very prosperous in Ephesus. See photos below of the inscriptions dedicated by Mazeus and Mithridates to Augustus and members of his family [1]: his third wife Livia Drusilla, his daughter Julia (Julia the Elder, by his second wife Scribonia) and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

It was designed in the form of a triumphal arch, and richly decorated at the front and within each of the three arched passages, which are connected to each other by doorways with skylights (see next page). See a photo of a relief of Aphrodite on the central arch of the gate on the next page. The back of the gate is quite plain (see photo below).

During the reigns of Emperors Claudius (41-54 AD) and Nero (54-68 AD) alterations were made to the gate, an extension was built on the north side, and it was intergrated into the newly redesigned agora, the ground level of which was raised 2-3 metres. Over the centuries various inscriptions with market regulations and other official announcements were added. The building collapsed during an earthquake in the 13th century.

The Gate was first excavated in 1903 and restored 1980-1989 (see below), using original parts discovered during the 1903 excavation.

A marble slab with an inscription mentioning Mithridates Agrippa can be seen on the ground, on the other side of the square on which the gate and Library of Celsus stand. The inscription is thought to be from the grave of the Mithridates who had the gate built.
 
photos and articles:
© David John
 

See also:

Selçuk

the nearby town

Selçuk
galleries index
 

Selcuk photo gallery 1 - town of Selcuk, Turkey

Selçuk
gallery 1
around town
 

Selcuk photo gallery 2 - Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Turkey

Selçuk
gallery 2
Ephesus
Museum
 

Selcuk photo gallery 3 - Serbian folk dancers in Selcuk, Turkey

Selçuk
gallery 3
Serbian dancers
visit Selçuk
 
 

The dedicatory inscription of Mazeus and Mithridates in three parts above the gateway, Ephesus, Turkey at My Favourite Planet

The dedicatory inscription of Mazeus and Mithridates in three parts above the gateway.

The inscriptions on the left and right are in Latin, with dedications to Emperor Augustus,
his wife Livia Drusilla, his son-in-law and closest ally Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and his
daughter Julia (Julia the Elder). The first is signed by Mazeus, the second by Mithridates.
The central inscription is in Greek. The letters were originally inlaid with bronze.
The dedication is heavily abbreviated, but has been translated:

"For Emperor Caesar Augustus, the son of the god, Pontifex Maximus,
who was consul twelve and tribune twenty times; and Livia (wife of) Caesar Augustus;
Marc Agrippa, the son of Lucius, who was consul three times and tribune six times;
and Julia, daughter of Caesar Augustus.
Mazeus and Mythridates to their master and the people."

The photos below show details of the inscriptions, all to approximately the same scale.
 

The inscription over the left arch of the Mazeus and Mithridates Gate, signed Mazeus et...

The western inscription, over the western arch (on the left) of the gate, signed "Mazeus et".
The signature of Mithridates is over the eastern arch (on the right, see below).

The inscription in Latin mentions Augustus and his wife Livia Caesar Augusus (Livia Drusilla).

IMP • CAESARI • DIVI • F • AVGVSTO • PONTIFICI
MAXIMO • COS • XII • TRIBVNIC • POTEST • XX • ET
LIVIAE • CAESARIS • AVGVSTI
MAZAEVS • ET •
 

The inscription over the central arch of the Mazeus and Mithridates Gate at My Favourite Planet

The inscription over the central arch of the gate, with the dedication,
in Greek, by Mazeus and Mithridates to their patron and the demos (city).

ΜΑΞΑΙΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΜΙΘΡΙΔΑΤΗΣ
ΤΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣΙ ΚΑΙ ΤΩ ΔΗΜΩ

Below the inscription are the remains of a frieze with a relief of Aphrodite
and a long inscription in Greek. See the photo on the next page.
 

The inscription over the left arch of the Mazeus and Mithridates Gate, signed by Mithridates

The eastern inscription, over the right arch of the gate, signed "Mithridates".

The inscription in Latin mentions Augustus' daughter Julia (Julia the Elder) and her husband
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippa was one of Augustus' most trusted generals and political allies.
He had been named as Augustus' successor, but died in 12 BC. After his death he continued to be
honoured in many cities of the Roman Empire.

M • AGRIPPAE • L • F • COS • TERT • IMB • TRIBVNIC
POTEST • VI • ET
IVLIAE • CAESARIS • AVGVSTI • FIL
MITHRIDATES • PATRONIS

Read more about Emperor Augustus and his relationship to Agrippa
on Athens Acropolis gallery, page 8: The Pedestal of Agrippa.
 

Aphrodite relief, Mazeus and Mithridates Gate, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

Below the inscription over the central arch is a relief showing the goddess Aphrodite,
with tiny winged Eros figures (Erotes) lifting her braids. Underneath is the beginning of
another inscription, with the Greek words "ΑΓΑΘΗΙ ΤΥΧΗΙ" (AGATHE TYCHE, Good Fortune)
which were often used to precede the main text of official inscriptions and decrees.

See also the photo on the next page.
 

Modern inscriptions commemorating the reconstruction of the Mazeus and Mithridates Gate, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

Modern inscriptions in Turkish and German inside the gateway commemorating
its reconstruction 1980-1989 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI),
under the directorship of H. Vetters and G. Langmann. Architectural research and
project director: Friedmund Hueber. Initiator and financing: Anton Kallinger-Prskawetz.
   
 

The back (north side) of the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

The back (north side) of the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates, on the
southeast corner of the Lower Commercial Agora (the Tetragonos Agora).

Compared with the decoration of carvings and inscriptions on the front of the gate, the rear now appears quite bare. Around the edges of the agora square are rows of Corinthian columns which formed the stoa (colonnade) sheltering the front of the shops.

The smaller arched doorway immediately to the left of the three archways of the gate is the entrance to the small Museum for the Visually Impaired.

Behind the gateway, to the left is the white plastic roof of the Terrace Houses, and to the right the top of the facade of the Library of Celsus. In the backgound is the steep north slope of Mount Koressos (Bülbül Daği, Nightingale Mountain), along the top of which the fortification walls of the city were built during the Hellenistic period.
 
Mazeus
and
Mithridates
Ephesus
Notes, references and links
 
1. For further information about the complex relationships and genealogies of the first emperors, see the article about Agrippina the Elder in the MFP People section. Agrippina was Augustus' granddaughter, Agrippa's daughter, mother of Caligula and grandmother of Nero.
 
Photos, articles and map: © David John,
except where otherwise specified.

Additional photos: © Konstanze Gundudis

All photos and articles are copyright protected.

Images and materials by other authors
have been attributed where applicable.

Please do not use these photos or articles without permission.

If you are interested in using any of the photos for your website,
project or publication, please get in contact.

Higher resolution versions are available on request.

Some of the information and photos in this guide to Ephesus
originally appeared in 2004 on davidjohnberlin.de.
 
 
See also
The Cheshire Cat Blog
photo essays about Turkey:

Istanbul Essentials part 1

Istanbul Essentials part 2

Istanbul Essentials part 3
with video

Ionian Spring part 1

Ionian Spring part 2

Ionian Spring part 3
 
My Favourite Planet Group page on Facebook

Visit the My Favourite Planet Group on Facebook.

Join the group, write a message or comment,
post photos and videos, start a discussion...
< Ephesus gallery contents  
 
Copyright © 2003-2022 My Favourite Planet  |  contributors  |  impressum  |  contents  |  sitemap
my-favourite-planet.com   website design by Ursa Major Design