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Geometric Period

Miletus must have been colonised circa 1050 BC by Ionian colonists. According to mythological traditions, Neleus, son of the king of Athens Kodrus, who came from Pylos, was the founder of the city. The Ionian colonists massacred all the male inhabitants they found there (Carian and Cretan) and married their women.

At first, the descendants of Neleus established a monarchy. However, it was abandoned in the 10th/9th century BC, when the conflict between the two successors to the throne, the Neleid cousins Leodamas and Phitres or Amphitres, caused a strange trial: each pretender of the throne led a part of the Milesian army against a different enemy of the city. Leodamas won and became king. Phitres revolted and, at the head of his own force, killed Leodamas and attempted to accede to the throne. The sons of Leodamas, however, took vengeance for their father’s death. It was then that Epimenes was chosen as an aesymnetes. He exterminated the band of Phitres’ sons and established aristocracy. .

 
 

IMAGES

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VIDEO

Digital walk through ancient Miletus and extracts from the documentary and the 3D digital reconstructions

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Quicktime VR

The Council House of Miletus and the Sanctuary of Apollo Delphinios

 

ARCHITECTURAL TERMS

Architectural types - Ground plans - Reconstruction drawings

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