en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebonianus_Gallus
1 correction found
They invaded Asia Minor by sea, burned the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and returned home with plunder.
This raid is misplaced in time. Standard references date the Gothic destruction of Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis to 262 CE, during the reign of Gallienus, not during Trebonianus Gallus’s reign, which ended in August 253.
Full reasoning
The article places the burning of the Temple of Artemis in the narrative of Trebonianus Gallus’s reign and immediately before events in early 253. But the cited event is generally dated to 262 CE, nearly a decade later.
A HISTORY overview of Ephesus states plainly: “In 262 A.D., the Goths destroyed Ephesus, including the Temple of Artemis.” That date falls well after Trebonianus Gallus died in August 253.
A sourcebook text of Jordanes, History of the Goths places the same attack specifically in the reign of Gallienus (260–268 CE): while Gallienus was emperor, Gothic leaders crossed into Asia and “set fire to the renowned temple of Diana at Ephesus.”
So the problem is not that Ephesus was never attacked, but that this article assigns the famous destruction of the temple to the wrong period. The raid belongs to the reign of Gallienus, not to the reign of Trebonianus Gallus.
2 sources
- Ephesus- Turkey, Temple & Map | HISTORY
The Decline of Ephesus: In 262 A.D., the Goths destroyed Ephesus, including the Temple of Artemis.
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Ancient History — Jordanes: History of the Goths, Chap. 20
Jordanes: History of the Goths Chap. 20: The Devastation of the Goths in the Reign of Gallienus, 260-268 CE ... leaders of the Goths ... set fire to the renowned temple of Diana at Ephesus.