This form of government continued to the time of Pythagoras, who lived before Cyrus the Great, and was one of the most savage tyrants of whom history makes mention. He was succeeded by Pyndarus, who ruled with a less absolute and cruel sway; in whose time Ephesus was besieged by Croesus, king of Lydia. That prince advised the inhabitants to dedicate their city to Diana; and they having resolved to follow his advice, he treated them with kindness, and restored them to their former liberty. The other tyrants, mentioned in Ephesian history, were, Athenagoras, Comes, Aristarchus, and Hegesias. The last of these governed under the patronage of Alexander[234]. That conqueror, however, at length expelled him; and, having done so, bestowed upon the temple of Diana, after having defeated the Persians on the banks of the Granicus,--all the tributes which the Ephesians had been accustomed to pay to the Persian kings. He also established a democracy in the city. Ephesus was greatly assisted, also, by Lysander the Lacedemonian. Plutarch relates, that when that person went to Ephesus, he found that city well disposed to the Lacedemonians, but in a bad condition as to its internal policy, and in danger of falling into the hands of the Persians; because it was near Lydia, and the king's lieutenants often visited it. Lysander, therefore, having fixed his quarters there, ordered all his store-ships to be brought into the harbour, and built a dock for his galleys. By these means he filled the ports with merchants, their markets with business, and their houses and shops with money. So that from that time, and from his services, continues Plutarch, Ephesus began to conceive hopes of that greatness and splendour in which it afterwards flourished. We must now describe the temple at this place, dedicated to Diana. It was in part built by the hands of kings. It was four hundred and twenty-five feet long and two hundred feet broad, and not only adorned with the choicest paintings and statues, but with whatever the hand of art or genius could produce in that day of superior execution and magnificence. The roof was supported by one hundred and twenty-seven columns, sixty feet high. Of these, thirty-six were carved in a most exquisite manner: nor was it entirely completed till two hundred and twenty years after its first foundation. Its architect was Ctesiphon. The riches placed in this temple were very great, and the goddess was represented as crowned with turrets, holding in her arms lions; while a number of beasts seemed to indicate the fertility and resources of the earth, or of nature. It was formed of ebony; and Pliny states, that though the staircase, which led up to the top of this edifice, was not very narrow, it was formed out of the trunk of one single vine.