A quiz question · easy
Why did Herostratus burn the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in 356 BC, by his own confession?
Ephesus made speaking his name a capital offence — and the historian Theopompus wrote it down anyway. 'Herostratic fame' still names celebrity through destruction.
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Herostratus, Who Burned the Temple of Artemis in 356 BC So That His Name Would Be Remembered On a July night in 356 BC a man named Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus — one of the Seven Wonders — and confessed under torture that he had done it purely to make his name immortal. The Ephesians executed him and made speaking his name a capital offence. It didn't work: one historian wrote it down, and the arsonist got exactly what he wanted.
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