Note 3 at Acts 18:19: Ephesus was the main commercial center of Asia Minor. It was the capital of the Roman proconsul of Asia, located at the mouth of the Cayster, about forty miles S.E. of Smyrna. It had an excellent harbor on the Aegean Sea. It had many famous orators and philosophers rivaling the city of Athens (see note 1 at Acts 17:15, p. ???).

The architecture of Ephesus was among the best in the world at that time. The temple of Diana was four times as large as the Parthenon in Athens. The theater of Ephesus was one of the largest known in ancient times. It was semicircular with a 495 feet diameter and could seat over 21,000 people.

Paul visited Ephesus briefly here on his second missionary journey, and left Aquila and Priscilla (see note 2 at Acts 18:2, p. ???) there as he hurried to Jerusalem (vv. 20-21).

On Paul's third missionary trip, he spent at least two years in Ephesus (Acts 19:10) with great success. A thriving church was established in Ephesus of which Timothy was ordained the first bishop (subscript-2 Tim. 4:22). Some scholars have estimated this church to be as large as people. One of the letters of Revelation was written to the church at Ephesus. Even into the fifth century, the church at Ephesus was a dominate force in the Christian world. In 423 A.D., the third general council of the church was held in Ephesus. Tradition has it that the apostle John spent his last days in Ephesus.

Like most major cities of that time, Ephesus was given to idolatry with many temples to different gods. The dominate temple of Ephesus was the temple of the goddess Diana (see note ? at Acts 19:24, p. ???) which was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Paul's success in sharing the gospel was greatly diminishing the worship of the goddess Diana. This enraged those who made their living from the sale of her idols (Acts 19:24-27) so that a riot ensued, and Paul eventually left Ephesus (Acts 20:1).

Paul wrote an epistle to the church at Ephesus and toward the end of his third missionary journey, he called all the elders of the church together and delivered them a charge (Acts 20:17-38).

In 262 A.D., Ephesus was destroyed by the Goths and it never regained it's former glory. The site of the temple of Diana is now a swamp and there is only a remnant of Christianity left in this city that was once a stronghold of the Christian faith. The small Turkish town of Ayasaluk is all that is left of the once glorious city of Ephesus.