Temple of Artemis Burns: Ancient Wonder Destroyed
Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus on July 21, 356 BC, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, solely to immortalize his name. The Ephesian authorities executed him and passed a law forbidding anyone from ever speaking his name, a punishment the ancient Greeks called damnatio memoriae. The irony is complete: the prohibition failed so thoroughly that Herostratus is the only individual associated with the original temple whom most people can name. The Ephesians rebuilt the temple on an even grander scale, and the second version was considered more magnificent than the first. Alexander the Great, who was reportedly born the same night as the fire, later offered to finance the reconstruction.
July 21, 356 BC
Key Figures & Places
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