The
Temple of Artemis (
350 BC, at
Ephesus (present
Turkey)), is considered one of the
Seven Wonders of the World. Built by King
Croesus of
Lydia, it was destroyed in
356 in an act of arson committed by one
Herostratus. According to the story, his reason for setting the fire was that he wanted to go down in history. (From his name derives the term
herostratic fame.) The legend continues that
Artemis herself did not protect her temple, because she was too busy tending to the birth of
Alexander the Great, which took place that same night.
