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Greek city of Stratonikeia (Stratonicaea) in Caria
Bronze 17mm (2.86 grams) Struck circa 27 B.C. – 14 A.D. during the reign of
Roman emperor Augustus
Nike (Victory) advancing right, holding wreath and palm.
CTPA / TONI / KЄWN in three lines within wreath.
* Numismatic Note: This is a very
rare, possibly unpublished type, which clearly depicts the ancient city name. I
was unable to find even a remotely similar example to this one anywhere.
An important town in the upper
valley of the Marsyas, east of Mylasa, Stratonikeia was named in honor of the
wife of Antiochos I.
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Authenticity.
In
Greek mythology
,
Nike was a
goddess
who personified
victory
, also known as the Winged Goddess of
Victory. The Roman equivalent was
Victoria
. Depending upon the time of various
myths, she was described as the daughter of
Pallas
(Titan) and
Styx (Water) and the sister of
Kratos
(Strength),
Bia
(Force), and
Zelus
(Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close
companions of Zeus
, the dominant deity of the
Greek pantheon
. According to classical (later)
myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when
the
god was assembling allies for the
Titan War
against the older deities. Nike
assumed the role of the divine
charioteer
, a role in which she often is
portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the
victors with glory and fame.
Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged
deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is
the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance
of Athena
, and is thought to have stood in
Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.
Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.
Names stemming from Nike include amongst others:
Nicholas
, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas,
Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.
Stratonikeia (Greek:
Στ�ατoνικεια or Στ�ατoνικη; or per
Stephanus of Byzantium
: Στ�ατονίκεια) – also
transliterated
as Stratonicea,
Stratoniceia , Stratoniki, and Stratonike and Stratonice;
earlier Idrias and Chrysaoris; and for a time Hadrianopolis
– was one of the most important towns in the interior of
Caria
,
Anatolia
, situated on the east-southeast of
Mylasa
, and on the south of the river
Marsyas
; its site is now located at the present
village of
Eskihisar
,
MuÄŸla Province
,
Turkey
. It is situated at a distance of 1 km
(0.62 mi) from the intercity road
D.330
that connects the district center of
YataÄŸan
with
Bodrum
and
Milas
, shortly before
YataÄŸan Power Plant
if one has taken departure
from the latter towns.
Foundation and
Seleucid era
According to Strabo
, it was founded by the
Seleucid
king
Antiochus I Soter
(281–261 BC), who named it
after his wife
Stratonice
. Or at least this is what has been
generally told; some historians have contested this date as too early, and
proposed to consider the city’s founder Stratonice’s son,
Antiochus II Theos
, or, later still,
Antiochus III the Great
.
What seems certain is that the city was founded on the site of an old Carian
town, Idrias, anciently called Chrysaoris, said to be the first town funded by
the Lycians
. Later it passed under the control of
the
Achaemenid
Empire. According to Athens’ tribute
“assessment” of 425 BC Idrias was supposed to be responsible for the payment of
the considerable sum of six
talents
. Like many other non-Greek cities on
the 425 BC assessment Idrias is never recorded actually paying any tribute to
Athens and was never a member of the
Delian League
. In early Seleucid times,
Stratonikeia was a member of the
Chrysaorian League
, a confederation of Carian
towns. The Stratonikeians, though not of Carian origin[citation
needed], were admitted into the confederacy, because
they possessed certain small towns or villages, which formed part of it. The
league is attested by an inscription already in 267 BC, but was probably older
still. Near the town was the temple of
Zeus Chrysaoreus, at which the League’s assembly met; at these
meetings the several city-states had votes in proportion to the number of towns
they possessed.
Under the succeeding Seleucid kings, Stratonikeia was adorned with splendid
and costly buildings. At a later time in the 3rd century BC was ceded to the
Rhodians
. Rhodes seems to have then temporarily
lost it, possibly during
Macedon
‘s king
Philip V
Carian campaign (201–198 BC), but it
retook control of the place in 197 BC, keeping it until 167 BC when with the
whole of Caria it was declared free by the
Roman Republic
. From this point starts the
city’s independent coinage, which was to last until the times of the emperor
Gallienus
(253–268). In 130 BC the city had a
central role in the revolt led against the Romans, since here the
self-proclaimed king
Aristonicus
made a last stand before falling in
the hands of his enemies with the fall of the city.
Roman era
Some time after, in 88 BC,
Mithridates VI of Pontus
(120–63 BC), after
imposing a fine and a garrison on the city, resided for some time at
Stratonikeia, and married
Monime
, the daughter of Philopoemen, one of its
principal citizens. Then came in 40 BC the siege sustained against
Quintus Labienus
and his
Parthian
troops, and the brave resistance it
offered to him entitled it to the gratitude of
Augustus
and the
Senate
.[7]
The emperor Hadrian
is said to have taken this town under
his special protection, and to have changed its name into Hadrianopolis,
a name, however, which may (also) refer to another town also called Stratonikeia.
Pliny
[8]
enumerates it among free cities in
Anatolia
.
Menippus
, according to
Cicero
one of the most distinguished orators of
his time, was a native of Stratonikeia.
Under the
Roman Empire
, the town seems to have continued
in its prosperity: it was in this age that were built Stratonikeia’s most
impressive remains, first of all the theatre, with the seats remaining,
estimated to be able to contain no fewer than ten thousand people; and secondly,
the Serapeum, or a temple dedicated to the cult of
Serapis
, built about 200
CE
, full of inscriptions and invocations to the
gods. Other important ruins are on the
acropolis
, surrounded by a wall and crowned by
a small temple dedicated to the cult of the emperors, and a powerful fortress.
Much worse is the state of conservation of the city walls and its
agora
, while the location of the temple of Zeus
Chrysaoreus is still unknown.
Titular see
It was
Christianized
early. The
Notitiae Episcopatuum
mention the
see
up to the thirteenth century among the
suffragans of
Stauropolis
. Only three of its bishops are
known, by their signatures at councils: Eupeithus, at the
Council of Chalcedon
(451); Theopemptus, at the
Council of Constantinople
(692); and Gregory,
at the
Council of Nicaea
(787). Stratonikeia remains a
titular see
of the
Roman Catholic Church
,
Latinized
as Stratonicensis in Caria;
the seat has been vacant since the death of the last
bishop
in 1977.
Today
The city’s site is today partly occupied by the
Turkish
village of Eskihisar, and part of the
site’s
necropolis
(allegedly of modest scientific
significance) has vanished with the opening of a pit to extract the lignite
reserves that feed the nearby YataÄŸan power plant. The pit is proposed to be
transformed into a lake in the coming years, once the reserves there are
exhausted. The village has a local museum, which contains mostly Roman remains;
but the most remarkable object is a
Mycenaean
stirrup-cup of buff with horizontal
red stripes which is dated to the 12th or 11th century BC. All the exhibits were
found locally.
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