A little further to the S. we come to SMYRNA, one of the most celebrated cities of Asia Minor, though it was comparatively late in attaining this eminence. It was situated on a bay of unrivalled beauty and commercial excellence; and, almost alone of the great cities or ports of Western Asia has preserved its eminence to the present day, being now, as it has long been, the chief emporium of the Levant trade. In remote times, Smyrna successfully resisted the attacks of Gyges, king of Lydia, and was, in consequence, taken and destroyed by his successor, Alyattes. It is said, that, after this blow, it was nearly deserted for 400 years, but was, at length, rebuilt by Antigonus and Lysimachus, though not exactly on the same site. With this rebuilding its great prosperity commenced. Nor were the claims to distinction advanced by itself inferior to its real greatness. Inscriptions abound (some of the best, indeed, among the marbles at Oxford), where, as on its coins, it calls itself ΠΡΩΤΗ ΑCΙΑC, the “first city of Asia”; and so, indeed, it long continued, though at times suffering severely from civil wars and earthquakes, and most of all from the merciless treatment of Tímúr. Smyrna claimed, especially, to be the birthplace of Homer, and dedicated a temple to him. A cave was also shown there, in which the poet was said to have composed his verses (Pausan. Ach. 5). Smyrna is not, however, mentioned by Homer. In the reign of Tiberius, Smyrna contended with ten other cities for the honour (?) of erecting a temple to that worthless ruler, and won the prize; and here, not many years later, the Christian Church flourished under Polycarp, its first bishop, who is believed to have suffered martyrdom in its stadium about A.D. 166. Next to Smyrna we may take CLAZOMENÆ, a town whose date is probably not earlier than the Ionic migration. It was famous as the birthplace of Anaxagoras, the philosopher, whose disciple Archelaus taught Socrates and Euripides; and, also, as one of the states which joined with the Phocæans in founding the naval colony of Naucratis in Egypt (Herod. ii. 178). It retained its name and existence till late in the Byzantine period (Plin. v. 31; Ptol.; Hierocl. Synecd.), but, towards the middle of the eleventh century, was finally destroyed by the Turks.