In this lecture, Dr. Sabine Ladstaetter of the OAEI and the director of the Austrian Excavations at Ephesos will discuss the city as the capital of the Roman province of Asia, and as both the seat of the regional administration and an important transportation hub between the Aegean and Anatolia. Its lifeline was without doubt the harbor, which received a monumental structural framework. Local élites were comprised of wealthy shipowners and merchants, who profited from the exceptional position of the city and who embellished it via endowments. The sanctuary of Artemis of Ephesos also contributed to the commercial power of the region and served as a secure bank for deposits and a site of business transactions. The basic conditions were therefore precisely favourable for the advancement of Ephesos to one of the largest metropoleis of the ancient world.