- In Greek mythology, Miletus was the founder of the city described below. He had two children: Caunus and Byblis.
- Miletus was the acuser of Socrates.
Miletus was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, in the Aydin Province of Turkey, near the mouth of the Maeander River. The site was inhabited since the Bronze age. It is first mentioned in Hittite records as Millawanda.
In the time of hittite king Mursili II (ca. 1320 BC), Millawanda became a bridge-head for the expansion of the mycenaean Greeks (Achaia/Ahhijawa) in Asia Minor.
It was once one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor. Its gridlike layout, planned by Hippodamos, became the basic layout for Roman cities. The city also once possessed a harbor, before it was clogged by alluvium brought by the Meander.
The history of Miletus reaches back to the bronze age. Scholars have generally agreed that the Anatolian city Milawata mentioned in Hittite records should be identified with Miletus. In the 1500s BC, settlers from Crete moved there. In the 6th century BC, Miletus had become a maritime empire, having founded several colonies. It was under Persian rule until 479 BC, when the Greek became victorious over the Persians. During this time several other cities were formed by Milesian settlers, spanning across what is now Turkey and even as far as Crimea.
Miletus was an important center of philosophy and science, producing such men as Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes.
In 334 BC, the city was conquered by Alexander the Great.
The New Testament mentions Miletus as the site where the apostle Paul met with the elders of the church of Ephesus before his capture and travel to Rome for trial, as well as the city where Trophimus, one of Paul's travelling companions, recovered while sick.
See also: Alexander Cornelius, Pergamon Museum
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