Before alluding to some of the interesting facts that have been preserved concerning the early history of this great temple it may not be out of place to touch upon a custom which prevailed in Ephesus in respect to the employment of architects, which Vitruvius relates. He says: “In the magnificent and spacious Grecian city of Ephesus an ancient law was made by the ancestors of the inhabitants, hard in its nature, but nevertheless equitable. When an architect was entrusted with the execution of a public work, an estimate thereof being lodged in the hands of a magistrate, his property was held as security until the work was finished. If, when finished, the expense did not exceed the estimate, he was complimented with decrees and honors. So when the excess did not amount to more than a fourth part of the original estimate, it was defrayed by the public, and no punishment was inflicted. But when more than one-fourth the estimate was exceeded, he was required to pay the excess out of his own pocket.” The honest Vitruvius almost sighs as he adds: “Would to God that such a law existed among the Roman people, not only in respect to their public, but also of their private buildings, for then the unskilful could not commit their depredations with impunity, and those who were most skilful in the intricacies of the art would follow the profession! Proprietors would not be led into an extravagant expenditure, so as to cause ruin; architects themselves, from the dread of punishment, would be more careful in their calculations, and the proprietor would complete his building for that sum or a little more, which he could afford to expend. Those who can conveniently expend a given sum on any work with the pleasing expectation of seeing it completed would cheerfully add one-fourth more; but when they find themselves burdened with the addition of half or even more than half of the expense originally contemplated, losing their spirits and sacrificing what has already been laid out, they incline to desist from its completion.” There are, perhaps, some people even at the present time who can be found to echo these sentiments of Vitruvius, and exclaim: Would to God that such a law existed among the American people, especially in New York and Chicago! Theodorus of Samos, it will be remembered, laid the foundation of the temple to Artemis of Ephesus in the year 600 B.C. To guard against the destruction of the temple by earthquakes, a marshy site was chosen, and Theodorus insured a firm foundation, by using charcoal, which was rammed down solidly, and then covered with fleeces of wool. Ctesiphon and his son did not, however, begin the superstructure until about forty years later.