This text is a fragment of a guidebook to Ephesus: "The Secrets of Ephesus".

A narrow street, known as Kathodos (The Way Downwards) in the ancient times, led from the Domitian Square in the eastern direction, along the northern side of the State Agora. This street offered direct access to the most important religious and civic institutions of Ephesus. On both sides of the street, there are reliefs: one showing Hermes, and one depicting Apollo's tripod. Kathodos Street was hidden from the view of the people on the State Agora, and one can even imagine that it was an official route for the members of Ephesus' governing body, because of the buildings lined up along the street. Walking from the direction of the Domitian Square, the first one was Banqueting House and the Prytaneion, next was the sacred district of the double-cella temple, and finally — the Bouleuterion.

The so-called Banqueting House was a richly decorated hall 14 to 11 meters large. Its function remains uncertain, as it could have been a place for banquets or a residential house. Most probably it was functionally related to the Prytaneion.

Prytaneion

In ancient cities of Greek origins, the Prytaneion was the religious and political centre of the community. Each city and town had its own sacred fire of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, burning within this space, symbolizing the unity and vitality of the people living there. This fire had to be kept burning all the time, tended by the specially designated person. When the city sent the settlers to set up a new colony, they took with them the fire from the altar, to kindle the fire in the newly founded town.

The Prytaneion was not only the central place of the religious cult but also the political heart of the city. It was the location where the prytan held his office. The position of the prytan was of a dual nature: religious and political. First of all, the prytan was a priest or priestess who ministered in the Prytaneion, the home of Hestia Boulaia (Hestia of the Council) with the sacred fire of the city. Secondly, the prytan was the head of the executive council, chosen from the elite families of the community. In this second role, the prytan's position was similar to the mayor of a city.

The prytan had to be not only from an influential family but also from a wealthy one, as among his responsibilities were the payments of certain expenditures for the city, such as the organisation of religious ceremonies. The role of the prytan was not reserved for men only, at least in Asia Minor, where twenty-eight women are known from inscriptions to have held the position. In Ephesus, it is possible to point out two such influential women: Claudia Trophime and Favonia Flacilla.

The writings of Claudia Trophime are one of the rare cases when the work of women writers has survived from antiquity. Claudia Trophime was not only the prytan, but also a priestess of Hera and Hestia. She left two poems praising the goddess for tending the eternal flame, written around 100 CE, These writings were later found in the ruins of Ephesus: "she [the goddess] both gave satisfaction to the gods in their feasts, and tends the blooming fire of our country. Sweetest divinity, flower of the universe, you tend the eternal flame of fire from heaven on your altars."

Favonia Flacilla is known from an inscription dating back to the early 3rd century CE. She offers her thanksgiving to multiple deities whom she had served and celebrated all the mysteries for a year. The inscription is signed by "prytanis and gymnasiarch, the high-priestess Favonia Flacilla". The second title informs us that her responsibilities were not only of religious nature but also involved the organisation of public feasts, festivals, and games.

The Prytaneion of Ephesus, situated just next to the State Agora, was the seat of the rulers of the city where official celebrations, receptions, and banquets were held. The prytan of Ephesus also held the title of the asiarch, i.e. an official who led the provincial assembly and presided over the public games. However, in the case of Ephesus, the task of tending to the sacred fire belonged not to the prytan, but to the Curetes, the priests affiliated with the Temple of Artemis. Their names are inscribed on the columns of the Prytaneion.

In mythology, the Curetes were known as semi-deities who helped Leto to give birth to Artemis in the nearby grove of Ortygia. According to mythology, while Leto, impregnated by Zeus, was giving birth to the twins, Artemis and Apollo, Curetes made a lot of noise with their weapons so that Zeus's wife Hera, who jealous of Leto, would be confused and not see the birth of the twins.

The title of 'Curetes' was then given to the priests of the city's protective deity Artemis. They are mentioned, for instance, by Strabo who explains that: "A general festival is held there annually; and by a certain custom the youths vie for honour, particularly in the splendour of their banquets there. At that time, also, a special college [archeion] of the Curetes holds symposiums and performs certain mystic sacrifices". Unfortunately, the precise nature of the mystic sacrifices remains unknown. Most probably, the aim of the Curetes was to recreate the birth of Artemis Ephesia in Ortygia.

The Curetes were chosen every year, and at first, there were six of them, but later their number was increased to nine. Many inscriptions about the Curetes were discovered in different locations in Ephesus, especially at the Prytaneion. These lists start with the names of the prytan, then lists the Curetes, and finally offers the names of a number of cult attendants (hierourgoi). Initially, the Curetes were affiliated only with the Artemision, but during the Roman Empire, they also acquired a place in the Prytaneion.

The preserved fragments of the Prytaneion are dated to the reign of Emperor Augustus. However, it is believed that there had been an official building in the same location since the Hellenistic period because moving the altar of the eternal flame would be a challenging task. The Prytaneion was entered through a courtyard surrounded by columns. It also had a façade of six thick columns of the Doric order, and some of them have been reerected. There were also double columns in the corners of the main hall, while the sacred hearth stood in the centre. The square-shaped area of darker stones in the hall indicated the place of the hearth. The use of columns in the composite order, i.e. combining the elements of Ionic and Corinthian orders, indicates the reconstruction of the Prytaneion in the 3rd century CE.

The building was demolished at the time when the Scholastica Baths were repaired, i.e. around 400 CE, probably as the remainder of the pagan cults. The most interesting objects from the Ephesian Prytaneion are two statues of Artemis of Ephesus that once adorned it. They are currently exhibited in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk. These famous statues are Roman copies of earlier Greek originals. They were found buried in the Prytaneion. Their preservation, while the Prytaneion itself was destroyed, is sometimes explained by the fact that the cult of Artemis was so firmly embedded that the destroyers of the Prytaneion did not dare touch the statues of the goddess.

Between the Prytaneion and the Bouleuterion, there was the sacred district, enclosed on three sides. Its plan corresponds to the type known as the 'Rhodian Peristyle' with the elevated columnar architecture on the eastern side. On the western side, there was an altar and two smaller temples, erected on a raised podium. The sacred quarter, dating back to the reign of Augustus, was dedicated to the deified Julius Caesar and Goddess Roma or deified Augustus and Artemis. A portrait head of Augustus was found nearby, along with an inscription that mentions the dedication of a statue for Augustus.

The presence of the Temple of the Imperial Cult in the political centre of Ephesus demonstrates the official acknowledgement of the imperial presence and its cult. The double temple with two cellas was an ingenious solution that helped combine two cults within one space. As the temple was erected in the late first century BCE, with the architecture of typical Italian temple design, it is possible that the sacred building was constructed especially for the Romans living in Ephesus.

Bouleuterion

Although the building next to the Prytaneion looks like a small theatre, it was the Bouleuterion, the place where the city council met. It was built around 150 CE by Publius Vedius Antoninus. There are canals that provided water drainage in the orchestra, and the entire structure was most likely covered with a roof, to keep the councillors comfortable.

The name bouleuterion comes from the Greek word boule, meaning the group of people appointed to run the daily affairs of the city. Only the most prominent Ephesians had the privilege to participate in these discussions and decide about various aspects of the city’s functioning. The city council met at the bouleuterion and received official delegations from other cities and states, under the watchful patronage of Hestia Boulaia, whose sacred flame was burning next door. There were seats that could accommodate around 1400 people inside, so possibly it was simultaneously used as an odeon, i.e. the place of artistic performances.

Baths at the State Agora

The last significant building situated along the northern side of the agora belongs to the so-called Baths at the State Agora. The building is located at the north-eastern corner of the agora, as a continuation of the Stoa Basilica. It is believed that the Roman bathing facility that can still be seen today was erected on the site of an earlier gymnasium from the Hellenistic period. As the land was hilly on the northern side, four bathing rooms of the complex were hewn out of the bedrock to a depth of 6–7 meters.

The caldarium (hot room), at the west, was equipped with seven niches furnished with bathing pools. The colonnaded to the south and west, paved with mosaic floors, served as a lobby and recreation rooms. An exercise yard (a palaestra) for sports training and mental development, presumably lies in an unexcavated area to the south. Clay water pipes that supplied water to these baths from the main reservoirs of the city are still visible along the eastern edge of the State Agora.