The Death of a Great Roman City

Ephesus was one of the biggest cities in the Roman Empire. But unlike other large cities that continued to be inhabited, Ephesus was abandoned, and today it’s only a ruin. So what were the causes of its decline? And eventual Death?
This 4th and final part in my history documentary series on Ephesus explores all the reasons for its demise, including natural disasters and attack, the slow dismantling of the city, and another slow and silent killer, which is probably the main factor that killed the city.

Written, edited and narrated by Jordan Amit:

The majority of the reconstructions are by Balage Balogh of Archaeology Illustrated:

Watch all my other Ephesus videos in my series:

0:00 - 0:35 - Introduction
0:36 - 2:05 - Historical and Geographical Context
2:06 - 2:41 - Disaster and Calamities
2:42 - 6:22 - Silting by the River
6:23 - 12:38 - Spoliation
12:39 - 15:06 - Conclusion

Check out other videos by Jordan Amit

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[SolidRollin]

The way you made this in a way the audience could truly visualize what this town looked and felt like, is great. Good job.

[Nakaska]

When I visited Ephesus a few years ago I remember it was difficult to picture it as a port city, from the ground level you couldn't really see the old artificial canal or even the modern coastline. This video really helps with visualising the site and the narration is very engaging too.

[friendlyrobotasmr]

i like the way u put the modern pictures and the ancient paintings. It truly helps us visualize what happened to it. please keep doing it

[ioyomouzi]

I am astonished with the quality of your video and the visualizations of the historical data. Amazing job!

[CAVALIERETEMPLAR]

I walked and discovered many hidden sides of the city. There are wheel traces of iron wheels on the roads still. Street name tables, shops, forums, squares and that celcus library. It was mesmerizing moment for me. I'll go there again soon. Thanks for the video.

[tomasu]

This is a topic I knew absolutely nothing about and this video is so well researched. The music and visuals are fantastic and the style is very engaging. Thanks for the content, really look forward to more!

[Dave-buiz]

The visualisation/reconstruction plus story telling is magnificent! Please continue such work.

[Manic-Main]

Bro outstanding video. I consume all history YouTube content and this is up there with the best. Keep up the grind

[jomicaza]

Great video! Great to visualize how the city looked at its peak. When I visited Ephesus two years ago, I remember reading signs for the port, and due to my ignorance I thought it was a mistranslation until I looked it up on google. The goosebumps I got walking down the streets of this beautiful city is something I’ll never forget. The terrace houses were also amazing!

[scoldeddogproduction]

I was fortunate to have lived in Izmir in the early 1980's and again in the early 1990's while in high school. I have been to many ancient cities across Turkey, each with their own unique history and attraction. Ephesus is special to me because we held our high school graduation ceremony in the library of Celsus. Thank you for creating this great video. While I already knew the information, it's a great tool for me to share with others when explaining to others what Ephesus looked like and what happened to it.

[peter-us-b]

Really well done video 👍 Nice story teller voice. The balanced speed of the video (not too fast) and the graphics were also great 👍

[Harry-xv]

I can tell a lot of effort went into this video, it really shows! Great job!!

[ggoddkkiller]

One of the best ancient Greek and Roman city documentaries i've ever seen, amazing job!

[genoallmond]

Really loved the back and forth, comparing the old with the new. But also that you showed what the place used to look like in its glory. It makes imagining what it was once like so much easier! Well done.

[antred]

1:06 👍 for that visualization! I wish more videos on ancient cities attempted to put the size and location of such cities in perspective and give the viewer a better sense of scale.

[lelandunruh]

My wife, daughter, and I visited Ephesus in 2022. It was a wonderful experience. Thank you for reminding me of such a lovely place!

[julius]

Such an awesome video. I loved the transition at 6:04, going from this ancient depiction to actual drone footage today. As others have mentioned, this was such a great video because everything was so easy to visualize.

[MG-yibx]

another great video, well informed and very detailed. I'm getting smarter watching these! Look forward to the next one.

[matthewhill]

This is one of the best visualisations and explanations of how the city actually functioned at a practical level. It made it much easier to imagine in a contemporary sense for the people who lived in the city

[Softphone]

This is my daily therapy of history. The narration is great and the video is very engaging. Thank u for doing this!