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Library of Celsus
The Library of Celsus (Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη του Κέλσου) is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Anatolia, located near the modern town of Selçuk, in the İzmir Province of western Turkey. The building was commissioned in the years 110s CE by a consul of the Roman Empire, Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus, as a funerary monument for his father Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, former proconsul of Asia, and completed during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, sometime after Aquila's death.
The Library of Celsus is considered an architectural marvel, and is one of the few remaining examples of great libraries of the ancient world located in the Roman Empire. It was the third-largest library in the Greco-Roman world behind only those of Alexandria and Pergamum, and is believed to have held around 12,000 scrolls. Celsus is buried in a crypt beneath the library in a decorated marble sarcophagus. The interior measured roughly 180 square metres (2,000 square feet).
The interior of the library and its contents were destroyed in a fire that resulted either from an earthquake or a Gothic invasion in 262 CE, and the façade by an earthquake in the 10th or 11th century. It lay in ruins for centuries until the façade was re-erected by archaeologists between 1970 and 1978.
Celsus enjoyed a successful military and political career, having served as a commander in the Roman army before being elected to serve as a consul for the Roman Empire in 92 CE. Celsus, a Romanized Greek native of Sardis or Ephesus who belonged to a family of priests of Rome, was one of the first men from the Greek-speaking eastern provinces of the Roman Republic to serve as a consul, the highest elected office in Imperial Rome. He may have been the first Greek to become a Roman senator, however there is scholarly debate that this may or may not be true. He was later appointed as proconsul, or governor, of Asia, the Roman province that covered roughly the same area as modern-day Turkey. Celsus served as a Roman senator, consul, and praetor, rising through the ranks very quickly. He then retired and returned to Ephesus, his home.
After Celsus' death, his son Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus commissioned the library in his father's honor, using Greek and Roman techniques. However, it was not completed until after Aquila's death. An inscription records that Celsus left a large legacy of 25,000 denarii to pay for the library's reading material. In Ancient Roman culture, the wealthy and privileged were expected to act as benefactors, and use their wealth for the greater good of the community. This Roman belief expanded to other Roman territories and provinces, such as the Greek city of Ephesus, where Aquila built the library in honor of his father, but also to benefit Ephesus as a whole. The library itself also embodies Roman values of sharing knowledge and growing literacy.
Celsus' family most likely became citizens of the Roman Empire under the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (14–37 CE), as he is named after Tiberius, which may have been to pay homage to the Emperor. The library operated as a public space for the city from its completion around 117–135 until 262 CE. The main floor functioned as a reading room, lit by abundant natural light from the eastern windows. Shelves or armaria set into niches along the walls held papyrus book rolls that visitors could read, though borrowing would not have been permitted because copies of books were rare and labor-intensive to produce. Additional scrolls may have been held in free-standing book boxes placed around the room, in which case the library would have had a holding capacity of up to sixteen thousand scrolls.
The interior and contents of the library were destroyed by fire in 262 CE, though it remains unknown whether this fire was the result of natural disaster or a Gothic invasion, as it seems the city was struck by one of each that year. Only the façade survived, until an earthquake in the 10th or 11th century left it in ruins as well. Between 1970 and 1978, a reconstruction campaign was led by the German archaeologist Volker Michael Strocka. Strocka analysed the fragments that had been excavated by Austrian archaeologists between 1903 and 1904. In the meantime, some of the architectural elements had been acquired by museums in Vienna and Istanbul. The absent fragments had to be replaced by copies or left missing. Only the façade was rebuilt, while the rest of the building remains in ruin.
The east-facing marble façade of the library is intricately decorated with botanical carvings and portrait statuary. The façade on the outside was built with false perspective, a Greek technique. This means that the inside columns are longer while the outside columns are higher. Though the columns are not identical, the illusion is that they are. This makes the library look larger on the outside and more grand than it actually is. Design features include acanthus leaves, scrolls, and fasces emblems, the latter being a symbol of magisterial power that alludes to Celsus's tenure as a consul. The library is built on a platform, with nine steps the width of the building leading up to three front entrances. These are surmounted by large windows, which may have been fitted with glass or latticework.
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Library of Celsus
The Library of Celsus (Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη του Κέλσου) is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Anatolia, located near the modern town of Selçuk, in the İzmir Province of western Turkey. The building was commissioned in the years 110s CE by a consul of the Roman Empire, Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus, as a funerary monument for his father Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, former proconsul of Asia, and completed during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, sometime after Aquila's death.
The Library of Celsus is considered an architectural marvel, and is one of the few remaining examples of great libraries of the ancient world located in the Roman Empire. It was the third-largest library in the Greco-Roman world behind only those of Alexandria and Pergamum, and is believed to have held around 12,000 scrolls. Celsus is buried in a crypt beneath the library in a decorated marble sarcophagus. The interior measured roughly 180 square metres (2,000 square feet).
The interior of the library and its contents were destroyed in a fire that resulted either from an earthquake or a Gothic invasion in 262 CE, and the façade by an earthquake in the 10th or 11th century. It lay in ruins for centuries until the façade was re-erected by archaeologists between 1970 and 1978.
Celsus enjoyed a successful military and political career, having served as a commander in the Roman army before being elected to serve as a consul for the Roman Empire in 92 CE. Celsus, a Romanized Greek native of Sardis or Ephesus who belonged to a family of priests of Rome, was one of the first men from the Greek-speaking eastern provinces of the Roman Republic to serve as a consul, the highest elected office in Imperial Rome. He may have been the first Greek to become a Roman senator, however there is scholarly debate that this may or may not be true. He was later appointed as proconsul, or governor, of Asia, the Roman province that covered roughly the same area as modern-day Turkey. Celsus served as a Roman senator, consul, and praetor, rising through the ranks very quickly. He then retired and returned to Ephesus, his home.
After Celsus' death, his son Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus commissioned the library in his father's honor, using Greek and Roman techniques. However, it was not completed until after Aquila's death. An inscription records that Celsus left a large legacy of 25,000 denarii to pay for the library's reading material. In Ancient Roman culture, the wealthy and privileged were expected to act as benefactors, and use their wealth for the greater good of the community. This Roman belief expanded to other Roman territories and provinces, such as the Greek city of Ephesus, where Aquila built the library in honor of his father, but also to benefit Ephesus as a whole. The library itself also embodies Roman values of sharing knowledge and growing literacy.
Celsus' family most likely became citizens of the Roman Empire under the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (14–37 CE), as he is named after Tiberius, which may have been to pay homage to the Emperor. The library operated as a public space for the city from its completion around 117–135 until 262 CE. The main floor functioned as a reading room, lit by abundant natural light from the eastern windows. Shelves or armaria set into niches along the walls held papyrus book rolls that visitors could read, though borrowing would not have been permitted because copies of books were rare and labor-intensive to produce. Additional scrolls may have been held in free-standing book boxes placed around the room, in which case the library would have had a holding capacity of up to sixteen thousand scrolls.
The interior and contents of the library were destroyed by fire in 262 CE, though it remains unknown whether this fire was the result of natural disaster or a Gothic invasion, as it seems the city was struck by one of each that year. Only the façade survived, until an earthquake in the 10th or 11th century left it in ruins as well. Between 1970 and 1978, a reconstruction campaign was led by the German archaeologist Volker Michael Strocka. Strocka analysed the fragments that had been excavated by Austrian archaeologists between 1903 and 1904. In the meantime, some of the architectural elements had been acquired by museums in Vienna and Istanbul. The absent fragments had to be replaced by copies or left missing. Only the façade was rebuilt, while the rest of the building remains in ruin.
The east-facing marble façade of the library is intricately decorated with botanical carvings and portrait statuary. The façade on the outside was built with false perspective, a Greek technique. This means that the inside columns are longer while the outside columns are higher. Though the columns are not identical, the illusion is that they are. This makes the library look larger on the outside and more grand than it actually is. Design features include acanthus leaves, scrolls, and fasces emblems, the latter being a symbol of magisterial power that alludes to Celsus's tenure as a consul. The library is built on a platform, with nine steps the width of the building leading up to three front entrances. These are surmounted by large windows, which may have been fitted with glass or latticework.