This continued for two years, A.D. 55–57, and during this period the labours of the Apostle were carried on with unceasing energy. Not only in the school of Tyrannus, but _from house to house_ he went about amongst the brethren, instructing them in their most holy faith, and warning them _with tears_ (Acts xx. 20–31) to hold fast that which they had been taught, _repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ_ (Acts xx. 21). The result of such labours, carried on by the Apostle himself, and probably by his immediate[1025] converts, was speedily perceptible. An important church was founded at Ephesus itself, over which “presbyters” were appointed to preside (Acts xx. 28), and the Word was made known throughout the Roman province of Asia, and probably contributed to the foundation of the seven famous churches of that region (Acts xix. 10). Ephesus, it must be borne in mind, was no common city[1026]. The capital of the province, the principal emporium of trade on the nearer side of Mount Taurus, it claimed with Smyrna the honour of being one of the “eyes” of Asia. Though Greek in its origin it was half Oriental in the prevalent worship and the character of its inhabitants, and contained the famous temple of Diana, or Artemis, deemed by the ancients one of the wonders of the world[1027]. The original temple, built at the expense of all the Greek cities in Asia, the erection of which was begun before the Persian, and lasted even through the Peloponnesian war, was set on fire by Herostratus on the night that Alexander the Great was born. But in its place there soon arose a still more sumptuous structure, on which all that art and skill could achieve was freely lavished. The Temple-area was 425 ft. long by 220 in breadth, and was surrounded by 127 marble columns, 60 ft. high, each the gift of kings, and 36 of them beautifully ornamented. The roof was supported by columns of green jasper, eight of which may be seen in the mosque of St Sophia at Constantinople, whither they were removed by the emperor Justinian after the temple had been destroyed by the Goths. The altar, richly adorned, was the work of Praxiteles, and here and there were statues from the chisels of the most eminent sculptors. The walls were adorned with the finest paintings in the world, the master-pieces of Apelles and Parrhasius, while the sacred precincts, to the extent of a furlong from the building, offered an inviolable sanctuary to all who sought an asylum there. The presiding deity of this magnificent pile was an ancient, black, wooden idol, said to have fallen down from heaven, representing Artemis, not the huntress-goddess of the Greeks, but an Asiatic divinity[1028], the impersonation of nature, the prolific “mother of life,” as shown by the many breasts represented on her image.