Celsus Library of Ephesus: The Man and the City behind the Famous Fa?§ade

摘要

The Library of Celsus was founded in AD 115 to honor and serve as a burial shrine for Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, one of the first men of Greek descent to enter the Roman Senate and hold high level posts in the Roman Empirea€?s eastern provinces. Located in Ephesus in present day Turkey, a city replete with beautiful monuments, the Library was an extraordinary edifice, integrating elements from Greek and Roman libraries, architecture, and design. It was one of the earliest privately endowed public libraries and among the first dedicated to an individual outside a royal family. Standing in one of the metropolisa€? most prestigious locations, it was the center of annual festivals honoring Celsus. This article explores the man and the community behind the library, drawing on archaeologistsa€? reports, what is known about the life of Celsus, and the history of Ephesus as a major spiritual and economic center, to illustrate how Celsus and his Library bridged Greek and Roman cultures and the mutual prejudice and distrust that existed between Rome and its Asian provinces at that time.