Also known as Asia Minor, the peninsula that forms the westernmost extension of Asia. It stretched from the Aegean to the Euphrates River and Antitaurus Mountains, a maximum of about 1,200 km, and from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, about 600 km. Its mountain ranges determine its topography. In the east they rise in sheer peaks (see the the Pontos). In the center they occupy the north and south regions of the peninsula, surrounding the relatively arid central plateau, and in the west break up into parallel chains separated by the broad and fertile plains of the Aegean region. The configuration of mountains and plains has influenced patterns of settlement of communication. Wealth and populations have historically been concentrated in the western coastal plains, which support extensive agriculture of the Mediterranean type and are well connected by natural land routes that also lead into the interior; the region has many good harbors.
The broken country between the Aegean and the plateau contains many sites strategically located on roads, while habitation on the plateau is scattered along the routes that follow the edges of the central steppe. The adjacent parts of Cappadocia contain several populous valleys, but settlement diminishes in the mountainous country to the east, where arable land is confined to narrow and often isolated valleys. The relatively unpopulated mountainous regions, which occupy much of the country, are valuable for their pastures and mineral deposits, as well as for defense of the routes that pass through them.
Asia Minor prospered in late antiquity, when they divided it into two dioceses and twenty-four provinces. Urban life flourished in the coastal regions and along the roads leading to the frontier; villages enjoyed the benefits of a long period of peace. The population was largely Christian by the fourth century and thoroughly hellenized by the sixth. Asia Minor was, however, the home of numerous heresies. Peace was rarely uninterrupted: the revolts of Prokopios and Tribigild in the fourth century, like the interruptions of the Huns in the fifth through sixth centuries passed rapidly. The revolts of the Isaurians in the fifth century were a more persistent source of trouble. The reign of Justinian I brought extensive construction of buildings and roads, but the financial demands of his wars drained local resources. Endemic brigandage and revolt afflicted large areas, from Pisidia to the Pontos, provoking administrative reforms whose failure was usually due to corruption. The plague of 542 reduced the population, but some cities and the southern coastal region continued to prosper.
The 7th century brought fundamental changes aggravated by Persian attacks that devastated the country, provoking the ruin of the network upon which social and economic life had been based. The Persians were immediately followed by the Arabs, who failed to achieve any permanent conquests of the peninsula but, through their incessant attacks over two centuries, precluded any possibility of recovery. The loss of Syria, Plaestine and Egypt to the Arabs meant that Asia Minor became the heartland of the medieval empire and its main bulwark against threats from the east. In order to survive, therefore, it received an extensive network of fortifications and its administration was militarized in the system of themes. Arab raids nevertheless continued to strike throughout the country, culminating in the sieges of Constantinople from 674 to 678 and 716/717 and the capture of Amorion in 838.
During the 8th century, Anatolia was a center of iconoclasm and became ethnically diverse as Slavs were brought in to settle regions devastated by the Arabs or recurrence of the plague. At this time, the army dominated the country: in the 9th century, the themes of Anatolia had a total force of about 70,000. Strategoi and their subordinates ruled provinces and cities. Cities were often under the joint administration of a strategos and a bishop. Most large ancient cities had disappeared, replaced by smaller fortified towns and castles; eventually, new cities rose to prominence on account of their strategic locations. Most of the population lived in villages, with a fortress for a refuge nearby. Some commerce still continued, especially to serve the needs of the capital and army; regional fairs, often celebrated on the feast day of a saint, provided local stimulus.
Byzantium moved on the offensive in the mid-9th century, gradually pushing back the frontier and establishing a peace and security that prevailed to the mid-11th century. Expansion eastwards brought significant ethnic and economic change as immigrants from Syria and Armenia settled in previously desolate regions and as magnates, whose families played an ever increasing role in politics, took over extensive tracts of land. Civil war precipitated by their rivalries caused widespread disturbance in the late 11th century.
The Turks, whose raids began striking into Anatolia in the mid-11th century, brought the next fundamental change, in which the region, previously united, was divided between two or more powers. After the battle of Mantzikert in 1071, the Empire permanently lost control of the east and center. Thereafter, they were precariously confined to the coastal region, where the Seljuk Turks seriously threatened their position. Although the First Crusade pushed the Turks back onto the plateau and allowed Alexios I to mark further gains, no part of the country was free from attack during his reign. John II frequently fought in Asia Minor, consolidating Byzantium control by building strategic fortresses and establishing a foothold on the edge of the plateau. Under Manuel I, who restored security to many regions, the immigration of Turkoman nomads threatened the frontier. In an effort to solve the problem by striking directly at the Seljuks, Manuel met disaster at Myriokephalon in 1176. In the 1180s and 90s, the major frontier forts fell and the Turks advanced westward. This process was helped by the troubles attendant upon the Fourth Crusade.
Throughout is history Byzantine sought to maintain control, of the Black Sea, in part to preclude foreign powers from establishing a foothold there and threatening Constantinople. Byzantine naval control is not matched by similar commercial success. The Black Sea is important as a source of food for Constantinople; fish from its waters and grain from the Dobrudja and Crimea. It is also a crossroads of long-distance trading, linking the Empire with Central Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and beyond. This trade attracted Italian merchants, particularly Venetians and Genoese, from the 11th century, Manuel I in seeking an ally against Venice, granted Genoa the right to trade in the Black Sea.
The Black Sea features prominently in the earliest histories and legends of the Mediterranean world. Ancient authors and storytellers set their tales of gods and heroes in the Black Sea - a region on the fringe of their known world. The perils and riches which these early stories attribute to the region reflect the mystique which surrounded the Black Sea in ancient times. The Greeks originally referred to the Black Sea as Pontos Axeinos - the Inhospitable Sea - for good reason. Large sections of the southern and Crimean coasts are mountainous and offer few protected anchorages. Violent storms and dangerous winds from both north and south made navigation treacherous for ancient mariners. Despite these hazards, however, the Mediterranean cultures were drawn to the Black Sea by its enormous economic potential. The story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, while fictional, illustrates the great value placed on the resources of the Black Sea by the ancient Greeks. The lure of mineral and agricultural wealth offset the dangers of sailing into these unchartered waters.
The ancient pattern of colonization and trade in the Black Sea continued through the Byzantine period and into the Middle Ages. Many scholars have relegated the Black Sea to the periphery of the Byzantine world, but historical sources contradict this view. The economic importance of the Black Sea grew dramatically during the early medieval period as a result of the Arab invasions of the eastern Mediterranean in the seventh century. To avoid the hazards of piracy and war in the Mediterranean, the lucrative trade between Europe and the Near East was redirected through the Black Sea and the land and riverine trade routes of eastern Europe. The enormous wealth generated by this commerce attracted the attention of newcomers to the Black Sea region - Scandinavian merchant-mercenaries.
The commercial interests of these merchant-mercenaries were integral in the early development of the Rus state. Byzantine, Rus and Arabic sources document the extensive commercial and military activity of the Rus throughout the northern Black Sea region. Competition for access to the commercial wealth of the Black Sea quickly brought the Rus and Byzantines into conflict. Several seaborne attacks were launched by the Rus across the Black Sea against Constantinople. The essentially commercial nature of this rivalry is demonstrated by the trade treaties which concluded these conflicts regardless of the success or failure of the Rus attacks.
Rus leaders were well aware of the importance of the Black Sea to the economic welfare of their state. While quite remote from the Black Sea, Kiev rose to preeminence among the Rus principalities through its strong links with Black Sea trade. Prince Svyatoslav even attempted to relocate his capital to the Black Sea, at the mouth of the Danube, to improve the commercial position of his state.
While early Rus-Byzantine relations were essentially military and commercial in nature, they eventually expanded into the cultural sphere as well, as reflected in the Byzantine influence on Rus architecture as well as the Rus conversion to Christianity in AD 988. These ties secured continuous trade relations between the two states until the fall of Kiev in the mid-13th century.
Both the ancient Greeks and Romans relied heavily on grain, fish, salt, and other resources from the Black Sea hinterland to satisfy the needs of their large urban populations. In exchange, oil, wine, and finished products were imported for consumption by the colonists and native population. These bulk food products were carried in amphorae, two-handled transport jars. As in antiquity, a lively trade between the Mediterranean and Black Sea continued through the Middle Ages. In addition, locally manufactured amphorae and trade goods were being shipped abroad from Crimea.
Despite the collapse of the Rus state and the waning of Byzantium's influence in the Black Sea in the 13th century, the Black Sea remained a center of maritime trade. Italian merchants, primarily Genoese and Venetian traders, continued a lucrative trade in luxury goods from the Near East, as well as agricultural goods and slaves from the Eurasian steppe. The Italian trading centers in Crimea thrived on this trade and became quite prosperous. For example, contemporary sources claim that the Genoese colony at Kaffa in Crimea became so prosperous through Black Sea trade that it rivaled Genoa itself in wealth.
Former great seaport. As capital of the province of Asia, Ephesus enjoyed considerable prosperity due to commerce, banking and the patronage of the proconsul and the metropolitan bishop. Constantinus II, Arkadios and especially Justinian I adorned the city. The city was very prosperous and richly ornamented until devastating earthquake of 614, after which the city never recovered its prosperity.
New fortifications enclosed less than half the city and created a new defensive center around the Church of St. John a mile away. Ephesus became a city of the Thrakesion theme. The 10th century it was the center of a tourma of the theme of samos. By the 9th century, neglect and resultant silting had ruined the harbor and the city had moved to the hill around the Church of St. John to become an inland fortress. The city survived the attack of the Paulicians in 867/8, had Italian concessions after 1082 and was occupied bu the Turks from 1090 to 96. It was then usually known as "Theologos" (after St. John) or simply the "Kastron." In 1147 Ephesus was host to the Second Crusade and in 1206 it recognized the Laskarids under whom it became a center of learning.
Traditions that associated Ephesus with St Paul, the Apostle John, the Virgin and the Seven Sleepers made it the natural site for the councils of 431 and 449 and the frequent goal of pilgrimage.
The Temple at EphesusAlthough the foundation of the temple dates back to the seventh century BC, the structure that earned a spot in the list of Wonders was built around 550 BC. Referred to as the great marble temple, or temple D, it was sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus and was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron. It was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon.The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years, the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid homage to the goddess by sharing their profits with her. Recent archeological excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts from as far as Persia and India. On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. He did indeed. Strangely enough, Alexander the Great was born the same night. The Roman historian Plutarch later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple". Over the next two decades, the temple was restored and is labeled "temple E" by archeologists. And when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple. When St. Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD, he was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess. And when the temple was again destroyed by the Goths in 262 AD, the Ephesians vowed to rebuild. By the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamor. The final chapter came when in 401 AD the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom. Ephesus was later deserted, and only in the late nineteenth century has the site been excavated. The digging revealed the temple's foundation and the road to the now swampy site. Attempts were recently made to rebuilt the temple, but only a few columns have been re-erected.
DescriptionThe foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar to most temples at the time. Unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building was made of marble, with a decorated facade overlooking a spacious courtyard. Marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which was approximately 80 m (260 ft) by 130 m (430 ft) in plan. The columns were 20 m (60 ft) high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. There were 127 columns in total, aligned orthogonally over the whole platform area, except for the central cella or house of the goddess. The temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time. When St Paul visited the city, the temple was adorned with golden pillars and silver statuettes, and was decorated with paintings. There is no evidence that a statue of the goddess herself was placed at the center of the sanctuary, but there is no reason not to believe so. The early detailed descriptions of the temple helped archeologists reconstruct |
One of the first themes of Asia Minor, originated in the command of the magister militum for Armenia instituted by Justinian I. The theme encompassed eastern Anatolia from Cappadocia to the Black Sea and the Euphrates. The importance of Armeniakon derives from its size and strategic location. The original area was divided early in the ninth century into Armeniakon, Charsianon and Cappadocia. In the 10th century Caldia became separate leaving Armeniakon to comprise the western Pontic coast as well as the mountains and valleys to the south. Its capital is Amaseia.
A region of northwest Asia Minor, opposite Constantinople. Bithynia became a separate province in the early 4th century. Besides its capital, Nikomedeia, Bithynia contains a few important cities, Nicaea, Chalcedon and Prousa, and rich agricultural land. Although the growth of Constantinople eclipsed its cities, Bithynia prospered from its location on the trade and military routes between Constantinople and Anatolia. The suburban coastal region east of Constantinople flourished particularly as the seat of many rich villas. Bithynia became part of the Opsikion theme in the 7th century. Latter it was divided between that theme and the Opitmatoi. The civil province continued to exist into the 8th century when Slavic captives were settled there. An important monastic center, Bithynia is ecclesiastically divided into three provinces: Nikomedeia, Nicaea and Chalcedon.
Ancient district in northwest Anatolia adjoining the Sea of Marmara on the north and the Aegean Sea on the west. A vague inland perimeter was bounded by the districts of Lydia on the south and Phrygia and Bithynia on the east. Mysia designated a geographic rather than a political territory and encompassed Aeolis, Troas, and the region surrounding Pergamum.
Homer mentioned the Mysians (for whom the region was named) as primitive allies of the Trojans, but historically there is no record of their action as an independent nation. Mysia was ruled successively by Lydia, Persia, and Pergamum, after which it was incorporated into the Roman province of Asia (129 BC).
City in Bithynia, one of thre greatest of the Empire. Nicaea prospered from its location on major trade ad military routes and its control of an extensive fertile territory. In late antiquity, it was large, powerfully fortified city filled with civic and private buildings laid out on a regular plan. Nicaea is a fortified military base and seat of an imperial treasury. Earthquakes in 363 and 368 combined with the growth of Constantinople provoked decline; many civic buildings feel into ruin, to be rebuilt by Justinian I. During these centuries, the church of Nicaea flourished: Valens made it a metropolis independent of its ancient rival Nikomedeia. Conflict between the two sees flared at the Council of Chalcedon, originally planned to meet in Nicaea.
After a period of obscurity, Nicaea frequently appears in the 8th centuy and later as a powerful fortress. In 715 it was the refuge for Emperor Anastasios II, and in 716 and 727 it resisted Arab attack. The city is a major bulwark on the highway that leads to Constantinople. Damage from the siege of 727 was compounded by an earthquake in 740. The city became the capital of Opsikion in the 8th century. In the 10th century, Nicaea was a center of administration and trade, with a Jewish community and an imperial xenodocheion. Rebels sought to control it was a strong point near Constantinople: Vardas Skleros, Issac I Komnenos, Nikephoros III Botaneiates and others all fought in and around Nicaea. When Melisssenos joined Alexios I in the West in 1081, he left Nicaea to his Turkish allies, who soon assumed control. Nicaea was thus capital of the first Turkish state in Asia Minor until the First Crusade captured it in 1097 after a long siege, their first victory in Asia and the only time in history that Nicaea succumbed to direct assault rather than blockade. Alexios I took control of Nicaea from the reluctant Crusaders and defended it against the Turks. In 1147, Nicaea was the supply base for the abortive Second Crusade and in 1187, unsuccessfully revolted against Andronikos I.
A city in Bithynia. The foundation of Constantinople brought decline but Nikomedeia remained a provincial capital and a seat of a philosophical school.. Ruined by an earthquake in 358, it never fully recovered. Its location on the main road to the capital made Nikomedeia a major military base. The city s largely abandoned, its ruins overgrown with thorns and brambles. The once busy harbor is largely abandoned today, as the city has withdrawn to a defensible hilltop. Both the First and Second Crusades stopped there.
The hilly and mountainous region of central Asia Minor stretching from the Pontic mountains to the Taurus and from the Salt lake to the Euphrates. Except a few fertile plains (the best around Melitene). Cappadocia is not very productive and never supported a large population or extensive urban life. In antiquity, it had only three cities - Caesarea, Melitene and Tyana. Throughout most of the empire's history most of the land of Cappadocia was owned by the emperor and the population was his tenants. Cappadocia is rich in minerals and is famed for its cattle, sheep and especially horses. The region gained importance from its command of the main highways across Anatolia and from its proximity to the frontier.
A valley in Cappadocia, the site of a number of rock cut refectories, mills and painted chapels that houses a long-lived and thriving monastic community.
City on the main route between Constantinople and the Near East, about 30 km north of the beginning of the Cilician Gates. Tyana was the civil and ecclestical metropolis of Cappadocia. A frequent goal of Arab attack, Tyana was taken and severely damaged in 708, 806, 831. After 933 Tyana fell into permanent decline retaining only its ecclesiastical rank.
District of southwestern Asia Minor, south of the Meander River. Caria has a long indented coastline with many harbors, chains of forested mountains and fertile interior valleys. It became a separate province ca. 305 with Aphrodisias as its capital. In 536, Justinian I assigned Caria to the quaestura exercitus, together with Scythia, Moesia, the Aegean islands and Cyprus; its purpose was evidently to assure supplies, especially of timber, to the danube armies. John of Ephesus, in his mission to the pagans of Caria and the neighboring provinces in 542, claimed to have made 80,000 converts; paganism was still strong in the mountain regions. Caria became part of the theme of Kibyrrhaiotai, but is mentioned as a province as late as 722, when it appears as belonging to the apotheke of Asia, Caria and the Islands, and the Hellespont organized to supply the army. Later uses of the term refer to the geographic area or to the ecclesiastical province that lasted until the end of Byzantine rule. Caria is also used as the name for the city of Aphrodisias.
A Roman province of southeastern Anatolia consisting of two districts: Cilicia Pedias, a well-watered fertile plain bounded by the Taurus, Antitaurus and Mediterranean; and Cilicia Tracheia, the rugged region of the southern taurus stretching west to Pamphylia.
After 1071, Byzantium lost Cilicia to Philaretos Brachamios. Thereafter, it constantly changed hands between Byzantium, Crusaders, Seljuks and Armenians. John II Komnenos took it in 1137. Manuel I Komnenos had to reconquer it in 1159. It was definitively lost to the Armenians after 1176.
A principality (1073 - 1099) and subsequently a kingdom (1099-1375) under the Armenian Rubenid and Het'umid, and the Latin Lusignan dynasties. Armenians fleeing from Seljuk invasions after the defeat at Mantzikert (1071) took refuge in Rubenid strongholds such as Vahka and Gobidar (Kopitar) in the Antitaurus mountains, and the Het'umid Lambron near the Cilician Gates. By the end of the 12th century the Rubenids had established a kingdom that encompassed at its peak the coastal plain of Cilicia as well as the surrounding mountains. Its capital is located at Sis, in the foothills.
The princes of Armenia Cilicia, although occasionally supported by the crusaders, were forced to recognize the suzerainty of Byzantium (reaffirmed by the campaigns of John II Komnenos in 1138 and Manuel I Komnenos in 1158) and negotiations were opened between the Armenian church and the Byzantine empire. The Third Crusade enabled the Rubenid prince Leo II to be officially crowned king as Leo I. Officially Byzantium sanctioned this action, however Armenian Cilicia turned thereafter increasingly towards the Latins.
The Kingdom prospers from the trade passing from the West to the far East through its port of Ayas, especially during the period of Mongol protection in the second half of the 13th century. Its culture reaches its apogee in the same period.
The narrow pass, 1,050 meters high, that offers the easiest crossing of the Taurus Mountains between central Anatolia and the plain of Cilicia, and thus always the route of a major highway. The term strictly denotes the narrow pass but it also applies to the whole stretch of road through the mountains. The pass has several fortresses.
The longest (2,760 km) river of Western Asia. The Euphrates is navigable from north of Edessa and is the principal waterway for transportation, though it is vulnerable politically and military. Heavily fortified since Roman times, the river provided the principal means for Persian expeditions against Byzantium. Important cities along the Euphrates included Melitene, Samosata, Hierapolis, Zenoia and Kirkesion. Stretched of the Euphrates were part of the Sasanian-Byzantine border. The river continued to be a principal invasion route for Muslims in the 7th through 9th centuries. Control of its upper reaches, including such strongholds as Kamacha, occasioned much Byzantine-Muslim warfare.
The Euphrates floods from November to the end of March, and, especially in April and May, carries heavy silt to the Mesopotamian plain. Its water allows the agriculture that flourishes along its banks, in contrast to the often parched lands beyond the reach of irrigation.
The rugged southwestern region of Asia Minor, characterized by forested mountains and a long coastline. Because of its numerous harbors and its location of the sea route between Italy or Constantinople and the east, Lycia prospers from trade. It contains numerous small cities, but has never supported a large population. Lycia became a separate population under Constantine I, with its metropolis at Myra. It was especially prosperous in the 6th century. In the 7th century Lycia became part of the Kibyrrhaiotai theme, but continued to exist as an administrative and customs unit throughout the early 8th century. Lycia entered a period of depression and ruin after the onset of the Arab raids in 655. Under the Komnenoi it flourished. Currently it is facing great challenges from the Turks and will fall to them at the end of the 12th century.
An ancient land of western Anatolia, extending east from the Aegean Sea and occupying the valleys of the Hermus and Cayster rivers. The Lydians were said to be the originators of gold and silver coins. During their brief hegemony over Asia Minor from the middle of the 7th to the middle of the 6th century BC, the Lydians profoundly influenced the Ionian Greeks to their west.
In the 7th century BC Lydia filled the vacuum left by the Cimmerian destruction of Phrygia and established a dynasty at Sardis under the legendary king Gyges. The kingdom reached its zenith under Alyattes (c. 619-560), who parried a Median threat, pushed back the Cimmerians, and extended his rule in Ionia. The kingdom seemed destined to reach even greater heights under Alyattes' son, the wealthy Croesus, when the Persians under Cyrus brought the Lydian monarchy to a final and dramatic end (c. 546-540).
The Lydians were a commercial people, who, according to Herodotus, had customs like the Greeks and were the first people to establish permanent retail shops. Their invention of metallic coinage, which the Greeks quickly adopted, played an important part as a catalyst in the commercial revolution that transformed Greek civilization in the 6th century BC.
Sardis former capital of ancient Lydia. Strategically located on a spur at the foot of Mount Tmolus, it commands the central plain of the Hermus Valley and was the western terminus of the Persian royal road. Sardis was the capital of the flourishing Lydian kingdom of the 7th century BC and was the first city where gold and silver coins were minted. From about 560 to about 546 Sardis was ruled by Croesus, who was renowned for his great wealth and was the last king of Lydia. Taken by the Persians (c. 546 BC), Sardis fell in turn to the Athenians, the Seleucids, and the Attalids until bequeathed to the Romans in 133 BC. Under the Roman Empire, it was the metropolitan capital and center of judicial administration of the Roman province of Lydia. Destroyed by an earthquake in AD 17, the city was rebuilt and remains one of the great cities of Anatolia through the Byzantine period.
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The Temple of Artemis at Sardis, begun about 300 BC, was probably worked on (with long gaps) until the 4th century AD. The Artemis temple went through three stages of development. The original temple was constructed in the 4th century B.C. This first building faced west and was in the Ionic order. It measured 23.00 by 67.52 meters in size. It consisted of a pronaos (an outer portico), a cella (an enclosure in which the statue of the goddess was housed), and an opisthodome (back chamber). The temple had a double row of columns. This temple was destroyed or fell to ruin and work on building a second one on the same site took place between 175-150 B.C. Thirteen of the bases of the columns on the east were erected during this period after which construction came to a halt. Had it continued, there would have been twenty columns on the temple's long side and eight on the short. Only six columns were added to the opisthodome. Work did not begin again until 150 A.D. when the work of building was taken up for a third time and the temple was finally completed in the pseudo-dipteros plan laid down three centuires earlier with 8 by 20 columns and measuring 45 by 97.94 meters. In Roman times, the cella was divided into two with the western half being dedicated to Artemis and the eastern to Zeus. During a later period, the temple was also employed in the worship of the emperor Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina. The temple was used until the 5th century A.D. after which it appears to have been abandoned and allowed to fall into ruins. |
A city of Lydia. Philadelphia was significant in the 6th century when the followers of Proklos called it "little Athens" because of its festivals and temples. Philadelphia, a city of the Thrakesion theme, was occupied by Turks after Mantzikert (1071), but was recovered by the Byzantines in 1098 and became capital of the theme, a major bulwark of the frontier and base for imperial expeditions to the east. It is a center of trade, with colonies of Venetians and Genoese. It is noted for its production of leather goods and red-dyed silk.
Philadelphia owes its survival in part to its long and powerful walls, which have received considerable improvement recently. It boasts a sizable domed church dedicated to the Virgin which is the site of many reported miracles.
The southern part of the central Anatolian plateau, an arid, treeless plain bounded by hills and mountains. The country is generally unproductive and has a sparse population whose main centers are around the edges of the plain. It contains, however, much grassland suitable for pasture, and the adjacent mountains are rich in minerals.
One of the original Themes of Asia Minor in the 7th century, deriving its name from the Latin obsequium, denoting a body of comitatenses. The headquarters of the theme was Ankyra, from which the komes commanded the troops of all northern Asia Minor from the Dardanelles to the halys. In the mid-8th century, Optimaton and Boukellarion were detached to become separate themes. After that, Opsikon stretched from the Dardanelles to the edge of the central plateau, its capital was Nicaea. In the 12th century, the western part was called "Opsikion and Aigaion". The theme survived under the Laskarids.
A mountainous region of Asia Minor between the Aegean plains and the central plateau, a rough country of great strategic importance because of the highways that pass through it. Phyrgia was made a province, joined with Caria, in 297. It became separate in the early 4th century, then was divided into Phrygia Pacatiana in the west (capital Laokdikeia) and Phrygia Salutaris in the south (capital Synada). In 536, Justinian gave the governor of the former province the rank of comes with civil and military powers and appointed a biokolytes of Phrygia to suppress local outbreaks of violence. Both offices were abolished in 553. The territory of Phrygia was divided between two themes (Anatolikon and Thrakesion). It continued to exist, however, as an ecclesiastical province and as a geographical term. In the 11th and 12th centuries the region was on the frontier and subject to incessant attacks of the Turks, to whom the last Byzantine outpost fell after 1204.
Phrygia was an early center of Christianity. It is notorious as the home of a variety of heresies, including Montanism, Novatianism and the judaizing sect of Athinganoi.
An ancient city in the highlands of Phrygia. The river Parthenios makes the area fertile. The city played an important political role in the 4th century: in 366 Valens defeated the usurper Prokopios at Nakoleia and forced him to take refuge in the woods (the area was later deforested); in 399, Nakoleia was the center of the revolt of Tribigild. In 782, the Arabs temporarily seized the city and its citadel. Constantine, bishop of Nakoleia, was one of the initiators of Iconoclasm in the reign of Leo III. Soon thereafter Nakoleia was elevated to the rank of archbishopric. By the 11th century, it had been elevated to a metropolitan.
The south shore of the Black Sea, from the Halys River to the Phasis, together with the adjacent mountains and the valleys of Isis and Lykos. The coastal region is exceptionally fertile and well forested, with rich mineral deposits. It has always been densely populated, wile the drier interior contains fewer cities.
The ancient district in northeastern Anatolia adjoining the Black Sea. In the 1st century BC it briefly contested Rome's hegemony in Anatolia. An independent Pontic kingdom with its capital at Amaseia (modern Amasya) was established at the end of the 4th century BC in the wake of Alexander's conquests. Superficially Hellenized, the kingdom retained its Persian social structure, with temple priests and Persianized feudal nobles ruling over a heterogeneous village population. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC Pontus gradually asserted itself among the petty Hellenistic states of Anatolia, annexing Sinope (modern Sinop) as its new capital (183 BC). The Pontic kingdom reached its zenith under Mithradates VI Eupator (c. 115-63 BC), whose program of expansion brought him into disastrous conflict with Rome, resulting in the virtual extinction of the Pontic kingdom and its incorporation into the Roman Empire (63-62 BC).
Major Port of the Pontos whose double harbor and location at the narrowest point of the Black Sea provides commercial importance and close ties with the Crimea. Justinian II used Sinope to reconnoiter Cherson, and at various times a kommerkiarios of Sinope and the Black Sea existed. In 1081 the Seljuks captured Sinope along with a sizable imperial treasury established there. Alexios I restored Byzantine rule and Sinope prospered as a well-defended port. It was the base for Andronikos Komnenos during his activities in the the Pontos. The Komnenoi of Trebizond hold Sinope from 1204 to 1214, when it falls to the Seljuks. Sinope is a suffragan bishopric of Amaseia.
The CatacombsThe early Christians lived in a mainly pagan and hostile society. During Nero's persecution (64 A.D.) their religion was considered "a strange and illegal superstition". The Christians were mistrusted and kept aloof, they were suspected and accused of the worst crimes. They were persecuted, imprisoned, sentenced to exile or condemned to death. Unable to profess their faith openly, the Christians made use of symbols, which they depicted on the walls of the catacombs and, more often, carved them on the marble-slabs which sealed the tombs. Like the ancients, the Christians were very fond of symbolism. The symbols were a visible reminder of their faith. The term "symbol" refers to a concrete sign or figure, which, according to the author's intention, recalls an idea or a spiritual reality. The main symbols are: the Good Shepherd, the "Orante", the monogram of Christ and the fish. The Good Shepherd with a lamb around his shoulders represents Christ and the soul which He has saved. This symbol is often found in the frescoes, in the reliefs of the sarcophagi, in the statues and is often engraved on the tombs. The "Orante": this praying figure with open arms symbolizes the soul which lives in divine peace. The monogram of Christ is formed by interlacing two letters of the Greek alphabet: X (chi) and P (rho), which are the first two letters of the Greek word "Christos" or Christ. When this monogram was placed on a tombstone, it meant a Christian was buried there. The fish. In Greek one says IXTHYS (ichtus). Placed vertically, the letters of this word form an acrostic: Iesus Christos Theou Uius Soter = 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.' Acrostic is Greek word which means the first letter of every line or paragraph. The fish is a widespread symbol of Christ, a motto and a compendium of the Christian faith. Some other symbols are the dove, the Alpha and the Omega, the anchor,the phoenix, etc. The dove holding an olive branch symbolizes the soul that reached divine peace. The Alpha and the Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. They signify that Christ is the beginning and the end of all things. The anchor is the symbol of salvation and of the soul which has peacefully reached the port of eternity. The phoenix, the mythical Arabian bird, which, according to the beliefs of the ancient, after a thousand years arises from its ashes, is the symbol of the resurrection of the bodies. The martyrs' tombs, the cubicles and also the arcosoliums could be at times decorated with pictures painted with the method of the fresco. The frescoes represent biblical scenes of the Old and the New Testament, some of them with a precise symbolic meaning. |
Trebizond is the main city of the Eastern Black Sea area. Like Giresun, it was founded by Miletian colonists in the 8th century BC and was known as Trapezus, probably because it was located on a 'table' of land above the harbor. Over the centuries, Trebizond became subject to numerous conquerors: the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Pontic Kings, the Romans, the Byzantine rulers, the Seljuk Turks. This was due mainly to its strategic location at the terminus of the great overland route from China, India, Persia and Mesopotamia and was also the gateway to Constantinople and the markets of Europe. In spite of the successive rulers, the culture of the rural Pontic community remained relatively unchanged over thousands of years.
Trebizond is a vital harbor on the Erzurum-Tebriz and Black Sea-Persia trading routes in the second half of the 13th century. The Mongols were in power in the beginning, however the Turkomans took power later on.
Today, the offshore island at Giresun, Buyuk Ada, is thought to be the island of Ares where the Amazons erected a temple to honor the god of war. It is still occupied by large numbers of birds, mainly cormorants and gulls. During the annual Aksu Festival on May 20th, locals cast pebbles into the river to signify a release of the past year's misfortune. Then they take a boatride to circle the island three times from east to west and disembark on the eastern shore where they approach a huge black boulder that is reputed to possess magical powers. Pebbles representing their wishes are placed in small holes in the boulder and celebrations begin when they return to the mainland.
The first community in this area was established as Kerasus in the 8th century BC by Greek colonists from Miletus. The coastal areas were later consolidated as the Kingdom of Pontus which attained its golden age in the 3rd century BC. By about the 1st century BC, the Romans had conquered the Pontic Kingdom and the Roman general, Lucullus, exported the first cherry trees to Europe from this region. Cherry orchards still flourish in the hills of Giresun along with hazelnut trees. South of Giresun from the village of Dereli, an unpaved road climbs to Kumbet Yayla, a high mountain pasture with stately stands of pine trees.
From Kumbet Yayla, there are trails to other summer pastures including those near Yaglidere. They are mainly ancient animal paths that wind up and down the rugged land that was once inhabited by Mossynoecian tribes. When Xenophon passed through this area (401-399 BC), he noted that they performed private acts in public. Some scholars attribute their inappropriate behavior to the possible effects of 'crazy honey' or 'deli bal.' Even a small amount can make a man seem intoxicated. The pungent, sweet smelling flowers of Rhododendron luteum are found throughout the Eastern Pontus and are responsible for this unique honey that could disable an entire army.
The valleys immediately south of Trebizond that control routes to the interior. The region is dominated by the land holdings of the monasteries of Peristera, Soumela and Vazelon and inhabited by Greek speaking peasants.
Located on a spectacular site on the face of a cliff on the western slopes of Mt. Melas, about 40 km south of Trebizond. The origins of Soumela, which is dedicated to the Virgin, are shrouded in legend. Pious tradition places the foundation of Soumela in the 4th century, and attributes its establishment to two Athenian monks, Barnabas and Sophronios, who supposedly discovered in a cave at Soumela an icon of the virgin painted by St. Luke.
Also called Zaboulon after the mountain it is on. Built on a cliff, it is about 45 km southwest of Trebizond. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the monastery of Vazelon was founded in the 3rd century, destroyed by the Persians in the 5th and restored by belisarios in the 6th. Vazelon, like Soumela, has a sacred cave.
(Armenian: Karin; Turkish: Erzurum) Major strategic and commercial center on the main east-west highway between Anatolia and the East. Its original name of Karin was derived from that of the district known to classical authors as Karenitis. It was renamed Theodosioupolis in honor of Theodosios II and returned to a variant of its original name under the Arabs.
Karin first formed part of the domain of the Armenian Arsacids and was the residence of the last ruler of the western part of the realm after its partition between the late Roman Empire and Persia circa 387. Its real importance began with its fortification under Justinian I when it became the northern anchor of the eastern limes and the seat of the magister militum for Armenia. The strategic importance of the site was recognized throughout the Middle Ages. First taken by the Arabs in 653 and included in the Muslim fortified border zone it was briefly recovered by Constantine V in 754 and part of its population moved to the Balkans. Recaptured by the Arabs, it remained Muslim, though occasionally recognizing Armenian overlordship, until its reconquest by the Byzantine Empire in 949 when Greeks and Armenians were again settled there. Early in the 11th century, Basil II made it the residence of the strategos of the theme of Iberia until its administrative center was shifted to Ani in 1045. The Seljuk sack of the neighboring commercial city of Artze in 1048/9 forced its population to retreat to the fortress of Theodosioupolis, which began to be called Arcn Rum (Arzan ar-Rum). The city was briefly captured by the Turks in 1170-1172, before being regained by the Byzantines. After 1201 it is ruled by the Seljuks.
City on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia. Important as a port for communication across the Black Sea and as a military base. Currently a doux administers it.
The site occupies the neck and steep slopes of a peninsula, with two harbors. The ancient city, which stretches to the mainland was abandoned in the late 9th century after an attack by the Rus as Amastris contracted within new walls.
The Coruh River is renowned as one of the fastest flowing rivers in the world with many difficult rapids. It originates in the Mescit Daglari just south of Ispir and flows in a southwesterly direction towards Bayburt. Bayburt boasts the largest fortress (6th century) in all of Anatolia. Here, the river turns approximately 180 degrees and flows north easterly to Ispir. The 60 mile trip on water takes about 3 days through a pastoral landscape with isolated settlements. Orchards, vineyards and vegetable gardens dominate the river banks in the valley of the area around Ispir, an old medieval town. It is a prominent fortress city buffered between the massive Kackar and Mescit Mountains with river access to the Black Sea as well as an overland route to the west of Rize via the highest mountain pass in northeast Anatolia, the Ovitdagi Gecedi. The fortress and the Bagratid castle belie its distinguished history as a city that was equal to Bayburt in economic importance and from which sprang the Bagratid Dynasty whose princes ruled Georgia for almost a thousand years.
Beyond Ispir, the river begins to wield its awesome power. It narrows considerably causing the water to swell and foam as it passes through a deep rocky gorge with rapids, it is a difficult section especially when the river is full. Fruits and vegetables are grown intensively on the river banks, a mass of greenery that contrasts with the parched slopes that rise from the valley. Several streams from the Kackar Mountains empty into the Coruh.
The river flows for about 30 miles between Camlikaya and Yusufeli with a number of rapids. The river passes by a number of hamlets and villages with interesting old bridges and ruins. From Tekkale, a side valley leads up to a 10th century Georgian church, the Otkha Eklesia which is Georgian for "four churches." There are three other churches. One is a small chapel much further (6 hrs. round trip) up the same valley as the Otkha Eklesia on a mountain ridge. Another is just downstream from Tekkale on a rocky bluff where a ruined fortress and chapel overlook the Coruh River. The third is also located downstream from Tekkale but it is hidden on the northern bank of the river.
A mountain range in southeastern Anatolia that ancient geographers considered the natural frontier between Europe and Asia. Its distinction from the Caucasus was confused by some writers on geography. Byzantine authors usually consider the Taurus as a mountainous area dividing northern Syria from eastern Asia Minor and extending as far as Isauria, Cilicia, Lykaonia and Cappadocia. Armenia is located beyond the Taurus. Barely passable (the main road leads through the Cilician Gates), the rugged terrain of the Taurus contributes to the relative independence of the local (Isaurian) population. On the other hand is prevents a serious obstacle for the armies of Arabs, Byzantines, Crusaders, etc. Who have moved to and from Syria.
These mountains are usually snow covered in winter. The natural barriers are rugged and bleak, and the few usable passes are encrusted with fortifications.
The Northeastern extension of the Central Taurus range, the Mercan range, straddles both the Tunceli and Erzincan provinces. Mt. Akbaba, at 3462 meters, is the highest summit in the Mercandagi range. The limestone geology of these mountains creates their very rugged profile.
Güü is the child of savage nature, hidden from the outside world by jealous mountains which pierce the clouds. One of the few routes is from Bayburt via the 1,875 meter Vavuk Dagi (Mt.) pass. The castle crowned the cliffs like an eagle's nest and Harsit winds its way through a deep narrow gorge like an ancient silver snake. From the opposite direction along Zigana Dagi from Trebizond. Even invading armies of powerful states and brigands lured by Güü rich silver seams were forced to withdraw unable to penetrate its natural defenses. In 20 BC Güü passed into Assyrian hands and was famed for its rich silver beds. For centuries silver worked by the Assyrian trading colonies was transported to their own lands in Mesopotamia. Under the Romans, the city was known as Argyropolis, or silver city. Leaving aside the historical wealth of Güü, one cannot help but be effected by its natural setting among deep labyrinths of gorges, steep slopes and towering peaks. Climbing the 3,000 m Abdalmusa will reward you with the indescribable sight of 21 lakes carved by massive glaciers over 2.5 million years ago, the most important of which are Karagö and Karanlik Gö (Lake).
City, southeastern Anatolia, southwest of Lake Van at 4,600 ft (1,400 m) above sea level. Strategically situated in the narrow valley of the Bitlis Ç, a tributary of the Tigris River, it commands the only route from the Van basin to the Mesopotamian plains. It was mentioned frequently, as Bagesh, in old Armenian sources. Taken by the Muslim Arabs during the reign of the caliph 'Umar (634-644), it changed hands intermittently among the Arab dynasties, the Armenians, the Byzantines, the Persian Il-Khans, and the Mongols until the establishment of a Kurdish dynasty in the 14th century. The area in which Bitlis is situated includes the eastern corner of the Mus Plain, the plateau west of Lake Van, and the wild, mountainous country on both sides of the city of Bitlis. The climate in mountainous areas is harsh, with long winters and heavy snowfalls.
Turkish Murat Nehri river, the major headstream of the Euphrates. In antiquity it was called Arsanias. The river rises north of Lake Van near Mount Ararat, in eastern Anatolia, and flows westward for 449 miles (722 km) through a mountainous region to unite with the Karasu Ç and form the Upper Euphrates near Malatya.
Zela is a town in east-central Anatolia. Lying in a fertile plain crossed by the Yesil River, the town is at the foot of a hill crowned by a ruined citadel. Zela, the ancient temple state of Pontus, was famous as the site where Julius Caesar defeated Pharnaces II, son of Mithradates VI of Pontus, and said of his victory, "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered"). The town is an important local commercial and agricultural market for such regional products as cereals.
Paphlagonia, an ancient district of Anatolia adjoining the Black Sea, bounded by Bithynia in the west, Pontus in the east, and Galatia in the south. The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient peoples of Anatolia. Passing under the rule of Lydia and Persia, they submitted to Alexander the Great (333 BC), after which they enjoyed a measure of independence. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC Paphlagonia was gradually absorbed by the expanding Pontic kingdom on its eastern border. When the Pontic kingdom under Mithradates VI was destroyed by Pompey in 65 BC, the coastal districts of Paphlagonia (including its capital at Sinope) were attached to Roman Bithynia while the interior regions were left under native rulers. Upon the extinction of the native dynasty (c. 6 BC), the remainder of the territory was incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia. Upon the division of the empire in the 4th century AD, Paphlagonia became a separate Roman province.
Ancient inland district of south central Anatolia. Its inhabitants, a mountain people described by Greco-Roman authors as warlike and uncivilized, were conquered by the Roman general Servilius "Isauricus" early in the 1st century BC. Their country with its capital, Isaura Palaia, was joined with Cilicia by Pompey; and under the emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC-AD 14) it became part of the Roman province of Galatia. Isauria was later prominent as the birthplace of the East Roman (Byzantine) emperor Zeno, whose reign (474-491) is sometimes known as the"Isaurian Ascendancy." The Byzantine emperor Leo III (reigned 717-741) was once called the Isaurian, but on the mistaken belief that he had been born in Isauria.
Ancient district in central Anatolia that was occupied early in the 3rd century BC by Celtic tribes, whose bands of marauders created havoc among neighboring Hellenistic states. Invited from Europe to participate in a Bithynian civil war (278 BC), the Gallic horde plagued western Anatolia until checked by the Seleucid king Antiochus I at the so-called Elephant Battle (275 BC). At that point the Celts, called Galatae (Galatians) by 3rd-century writers, settled in the territory to which they gave their name. The Galatians, having joined the Seleucids against Rome (winter 190-189 BC), brought upon themselves a Roman punitive expedition (189 BC) from which they never recovered. Passing successively under the rule of Pergamum and Pontus, Galatia became a Roman protectorate (85 BC) ruled by puppet kings. Though originally possessing a strong cultural identity, the Galatians by the 2nd century AD had become absorbed into the Hellenistic civilization of Anatolia.
Ancient region in the interior of Anatolia north of the Taurus Mountains, inhabited by a wild and warlike aboriginal people who pastured sheep and wild asses on the bleak central highlands. Little is known about the early Lycaonians. They seem to have escaped Persian domination but afterward shared the fate of many Anatolian states, passing under the rule of Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, the Attalids of Pergamum, and, finally, the Romans. Under Roman administration, Lycaonian territory was attached to Galatia to the north and Cappadocia to the east. The country was traversed by one of the great highroads across Anatolia, along which were clustered its urban centers. Iconium was its capital and principal city since Seleucid times. Lycaonia, visited by St. Paul, was Christianized early, and by the 4th century it possessed a more completely organized ecclesiastical system than any other region of Anatolia.
City, central Anatolia. Turkish: Konya. The city lies at an elevation of about 3,370 feet (1,027 m) on the southwest edge of the central Anatolian Plateau and is surrounded by a narrow, fertile plain. It is backed by Bozkir Mountain on the west and enclosed by the interior edges of the central Taurus ranges further south.
Iconium is one of the oldest urban centers in the world; excavations in Alâ Hill in the middle of the city indicate settlement dating from at least the 3rd millennium BC. According to a Phrygian legend of the great flood, Konya was the first city to rise after the deluge that destroyed humanity. Still another legend ascribes its ancient name to the eikon (image), or the gorgon's head, with which Perseus vanquished the native population before founding the Greek city.
After the collapse of the Hittite empire, the Phrygians established a large settlement there. It was Hellenized gradually from the 3rd century BC and became a self-governing city, largely Greek in language, education, and culture. Some of the citizens, however, retained their Phrygian culture, and it was probably among them that the Jewish community stirred up opposition to the Apostle Paul on his first visit in AD 47 or 48; he returned in 50 and 53. Iconium, included in the Roman province of Galatia by 25 BC, was raised to the status of a colony by the emperor Hadrian in AD 130 and became the capital of the province of Lycaonia about 372.
Located near the frontier, Iconium was subject to Arab incursions from the 7th to the 9th centuries. It was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the emerging Seljuk Turks in 1072 or 1081 and soon became the capital of the Seljuk sultanate of Rum. Renamed Konya, it reached its greatest prosperity under their rule and was accounted one of the most brilliant cities of the world. Its enlightened rulers were great builders and patrons of art who endowed the city with many buildings, including some of the finest existing examples of Seljuk art.
The surrounding area, consisting of plains at the base of the Taurus Mountains, has numerous oases, and irrigation schemes have further extended the amount of cultivated land. Wheat and cotton are the main crops grown on the plains. North of the city, the bare Anatolian steppe provides spring pasture and supports some dry farming. The products of the steppe include wool and livestock. Lead is also mined in the vicinity.
Historically Gangra, a city in north-central Anatolia. It lies at the confluence of the Tatli and the Aci rivers. Gangra, capital of the ancient Paphlagonian kings, was incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia (c. 6 BC) and renamed Germanicopolis. It was captured by the Seljuk Turks after their victory over Byzantine forces at Mantzikert (AD 1071) and then changed hands several times among the various Turkmen dynasties.
Named in full Caesarea Ad Anazarbus, it is the former city of the ancient province of Cilicia in Anatolia that was important in the Roman and Byzantine periods. It was located in south-central Anatolia. Founded by the Romans in 19 BC, it rivaled Tarsus, the Cilician capital, in the 3rd century AD, and later became the seat of the separate Roman province of Cilicia Secunda. Anazarbus was an archbishopric under the Byzantine Empire. After its devastation by earthquakes in the 6th century, it was rebuilt, first as Justinopolis, later as Justinianopolis.
Under Muslim occupation it was renamed 'Ayn Zarbah and retained its strategic importance. It was regained for Byzantium by Nicephorus Phocas about 962 and was subsequently devastated during the Crusades. As Anavarza, it became the capital of Cilician Little Armenia early in the 12th century.
(Aram. and Syr. Urhai/Orhai; Ar. Roha), in southeastern Anatolia, former capital of ancient Osrhoene. It is situated on a limestone ridge, an extension of the ancient Mount Masius in the Taurus mountains of southern Anatolia, where the east-west highway from Zeugma (in the vicinity of modern Birecik) on the Euphrates to the Tigris met the north-south route from Samosata to the Euphrates via Carrhae (Harran). Edessa was held successively by the Seleucids, Parthians, and Romans. The history of pre-Hellenistic Urhai is unknown, but the name may have been derived from Persian Kosrow (Gr. Osroes; Procopius, De Bello Persico 1.17.23-24). It may have been the abundant sources of water at Urhai that inspired Seleucus Nicator, who founded the Greek settlement there in about 303 B.C.E., to name it after the old Macedonian royal city, which was also well supplied with water (Appian, Syriaca 57; Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. Edessa). The name was later changed, probably by Antiochus (q.v.) IV Epiphanes (175-64 B.C.E.), to Antiochia on the Callirhoe (a local fishpond), but after his reign it reverted to Edessa and Urhai.
The fact that coins were minted at Edessa under Antiochus IV suggests a degree of autonomy and importance in the Seleucid period. Greeks were never predominant in the population, however, as attested by the epithet "half-barbarian" (Gk. mixobarbaros; Malalas, pp. 418-19). Arab influence was strong in the region, and when Seleucid power declined in the late 2nd century B.C.E. Edessa became the capital of a small kingdom, ruled by the so-called "Abgar (q.v.) dynasty," generally allied with the Parthians, and under strong Parthian cultural influence. Pliny the Elder (5.85) called the inhabitants of Osrhoene "Arabes," and the ruler was also known as "phylarch" or "toparch" of the Saracens (Festus, 14). It was upon entering Edessa in 114 that the Roman emperor Trajan received the title Arabicus. From that time onward Edessa came increasingly within the Roman sphere.
In the Roman civil wars of 193-94 Edessa supported Gaius Pescennius Niger, governor of Syria, who made peace with the Parthians before being defeated by Septimus Severus (193-211). At some time between 195 and 199 Severus created two new provinces out of the conquered territories beyond the Euphrates, to serve as buffers for the province of Syria. According to a fragmentary inscription from the ruined fortress at Eski Hasr, about 70 km west-northwest of Edessa, it had been built "between the province of Osrhoene and the kingdom of Abgar" (Wagner), evidence that Abgar VIII (177-212) had retained his domain, though it must have been reduced to a small area around Edessa. The kingdom of Osrhoene was finally abolished in 249 (Michael, V/5, pp. 77-78).
Christianity must have been established in Edessa before the end of the 2nd century C.E., as a "church" was among the buildings destroyed in a disastrous flood in about 216 (Chronicle, pp. 1-2). The city had its martyrs (Guria and Shamona being the best known) during the persecutions under Diocletian (284-305). After they ceased Christianity quickly became the dominant religion in Edessa, which was a favorite stopping place for pilgrims on their way to nearby Carrhae. Abgar IX (214-40) was a patron of the gnostic teacher Bardesanes, who played an important role in the life at court. A letter from Mani (d. 274) to the community at Edessa, cited in the Cologne Mani Codex, indicates that Manicheans were also active in the city even during his lifetime.
Although the Sasanian Sapur I (240-70) won a great victory near Edessa in 260, capturing the Roman emperor Valerian, in his inscription at Kaba-ye Zardost near Persepolis the city is not listed among those captured in that campaign. This omission and the fact that he had to bribe his way past the garrison at Edessa during his withdrawal suggest that the city either held out against him or was under his control for only a short time. After Galerius Maximianus' victory over the Persians in 298 Edessa became the capital of the new province of Osrhoene. The Roman turncoat Antoninus, who pointed out to Sapur II (309-79) in 359 that, if Edessa were not captured, his rear would not be secure (Ammianus Marcellinus 18.5.7), emphasized its military importance. While Nisibis was the major fortress in the Mesopotamian limes, Edessa served as a base, providing fresh supplies of men and material to the forward position. It was probably during Diocletian's reorganization in 293 that a state factory was built there to provide arms and equipment for the troops deployed on the frontier (Malalas, p. 307; Notitia Dignitatum [east] 11.23). Edessa's own defenses were never tested by the Persian army during the reign of Sapur II. There is no indication that it had a regular garrison, apart from soldiers seconded to serve on the staff of the commander of the province (dux Osrhoenae).
When the Roman emperor Jovian surrendered Nisibis to the Persians in 363 a flood of refugees, mainly Christians, poured into Edessa. Among them was the poet Ephraim the Syrian, who helped to found a seminary popularly known as the "school of the Persians." In the christological controversies of the late 4th century the school took the side of Nestorius and, as the population of Edessa increasingly adopted the Monophysite view, was finally forced to move to Nisibis, which was still held by the Persians. Edessa withstood a fierce siege in 544 (Procopius, De Bello Persico 2.26.5-2.27.46) but fell to Kosrow II Parvez (590-628, with interruption) in his sweep across Mesopotamia in 609 (Chronicon, p. 699). A number of leading Monophysites were deported to Persia. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius retook Edessa in 628 and restored orthodoxy. In 18/639 the Byzantine general Ptolemaius surrendered the city to the advancing Arabs.
For some centuries after the Muslim conquest Edessa was inhabited by a substantial Christian population, despite the damage inflicted by sieges, sacks, and predatory governors. In about 421/1030 the town was retaken by the Byzantines, who held it until 479/1086, when it was recaptured by the Saljuqid Maleksah 1072-92); he lost it to an Armenian adventurer a few years later. In 1097-1144 the city was the capital of the Crusader county of Edessa. In 1260 it surrendered to the Mongols, becoming one of the westernmost towns of the Il-khanid and Timurid empires.
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