Imperial sources know the name ‘Alope’ for the ancient phase of the history of Ephesus in Asia Minor. The origin of the information seems to be a local tradition, witnessed by a minor Ephesian author, Themistagoras, and forged on the basis of a Hellenistic reading of Homer’s ‘Trojan Catalogue’ (Il. II 856s.). The transmission of the notice is not straightforward, as it filters through ancient and Byzantine erudition, with a possible accumulation of confusion surrounding the geographical terms of the question.