Case file · Folklore / legend
The Temple of Artemis burns
Herostratus burned the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in 356 BC to become famous. Plutarch says it happened on the night Alexander the Great was born, and the Persian magi read it as an omen of disaster for Asia.
356 BCE · 37.95, 27.36 · status: legend
The account
Artemis was said to have been absent, attending Alexander's birth. Ephesus forbade anyone to speak Herostratus' name.
The sceptical view
The birth-night coincidence was likely added later to Alexander's legend.