Temple things

[bjorn-are.davidsen@s.hk.telenor.no]

I don't want to drag this Artemis discussion into extremes, so just a short 
comment based on some diggings into archeological material at home. 
There seems not to be very many who thinks Croesus was the man 
behind the first Atemis temple. However - and this is of course exactly 
what you need, Don - according to my sources there are no doubt about 
Croesus contributing with at least some of the columns, based on 
engravings on them telling that it's a gift from Croesus!  In fact he seems 
to have been contributing columns to a lot of temples in Asia Minor, just 
as a modern day tycoon donates statues and all sort of prestigious 
things to todays important buildings.

And it also seems that you are quite right about columns being reused 
for later versions of the temple, as the Croesus engravings are present 
on the second temple! You seem even correct about the ground plan 
(now, who would have thought that?:-)).

The temple was plundered by Nero (in 57?) to get treasures to the City of 
Rome (not because Rome was at war with the area, it seems, as it very 
much was part of the empire), before it  was sacked by the Goths before 
the local Christians came around and destroyed it,  before eventually 
that Leo 1 entered the scene dismantling the whole thing. Still confused? 
History IS confusing!

Bjorn Are