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Uncertain Greek city in
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Caria
Silver Tetartemorion 6mm (0.23 grams) Struck circa 4th Century B.C.
Reference: Troxell, “Carians in Minature,”
Studies Mildenberg, 254, 10
Ram’s head right.
Roaring lion’s head right.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Caria (//;
from
Luwian
: Karuwa, “steep country”;
Ancient Greek
: Καρία, Karia,
Turkish
: Karya)
was a
region
of western Anatolia
extending along the coast from mid-Ionia
(Mycale)
south to Lycia
and east to
Phrygia
. The
Ionian
and
Dorian
Greeks colonized the west of it and
joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there. The
eponymous inhabitants of Caria were known as
Carians
, and they had arrived in Caria before
the Greeks. They were described by
Herodotos
as being of
Minoan
descent, while the Carians themselves
maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged in
seafaring
and were akin to the
Mysians
and the
Lydians
[citation
needed]. The Carians did speak an
Anatolian language
, known as
Carian
, which does not necessarily reflect
their geographic origin, as Anatolian once may have been widespread. Also
closely associated with the Carians were the
Leleges
, which could be an earlier name for
Carians or for a people who had preceded them in the region and continued to
exist as part of their society in a reputedly second-class status.
Municipalities of
Caria
Carian cities in white. This map depicts the current rivers and
coastline and certain features have changed over the years, notably
Miletus, Heracleia, and Myus were on the south side of a gulf and
Priene on the north side; the river Maeander has since filled in the
gulf. Also politically Telmessos, Miletus, and Kalynda were
sometimes considered Carian and sometimes not
Cramer’s detailed catalog of Carian towns in
classical Greece
is based entirely on ancient
sources.[2]
The multiple names of towns and geomorphic features, such as bays and headlands,
reveal an ethnic layering consistent with the known colonization.
Coastal Caria
Coastal Caria begins with
Didyma
south of
Miletus
, but Miletus had been placed in the
pre-Greek Caria. South of it is the Iassicus Sinus (Güllük
Körfezi) and the towns of
Iassus
and
Bargylia
, giving an alternative name of
Bargyleticus Sinus to Güllük Körfezi, and nearby Cindye, which the Carians
called Andanus. After Bargylia is
Caryanda
or Caryinda, and then on the
Bodrum
Peninsula
Myndus
(Mentecha or Muntecha), 56 miles (90 km)
miles from Miletus. In the vicinity is Naziandus, exact location unknown.
On the tip of the Bodrum Peninsula (Cape Termerium) is Termera (Telmera,
Termerea), and on the other side Ceramicus Sinus (Gökova
Körfezi). It “was formerly crowded with numerous towns.”[4]
Halicarnassus
, a Dorian Greek city, was planted
there among six Carian towns: Theangela, Sibde, Medmasa, Euranium, Pedasa or
Pedasum, and Telmissus. These with Myndus and Synagela (or Syagela or Souagela)
constitute the eight Lelege towns. Also on the north coast of the Ceramicus
Sinus is Ceramus
and Bargasus.
On the south of the Ceramicus Sinus is the Carian Chersonnese, or Triopium
Promontory (Cape
Krio), also called Doris after the
Dorian
colony of
Cnidus
. At the base of the peninsula (Datça
Peninsula) is Bybassus or Bybastus from which an earlier names, the
Bybassia Chersonnese, had been derived. It was now Acanthus and Doulopolis
(“slave city”).
South of the Carian Chersonnese is Doridis Sinus, the “Gulf of Doris” (Gulf
of Symi
), the locale of the Dorian Confederacy.
There are three bays in it: Bubassius, Thymnias and Schoenus, the last enclosing
the town of Hyda. In the gulf somewhere are Euthene or Eutane, Pitaeum, and an
island: Elaeus
or Elaeussa near
Loryma
. On the south shore is the Cynossema, or
Onugnathos Promontory, opposite
Symi.
South of there is Peraea, a section of the coast under
Rhodes
. It includes
Loryma
or Larymna in Oedimus Bay, Gelos,
Tisanusa, the headland of Paridion, Panydon or Pandion (Cape Marmorice) with
Physicus,
Amos
, Physca or Physcus, also called Cressa (Marmaris).
Beyond Cressa is the Calbis River (Dalyan
River). On the other side is
Caunus
(near Dalyan), with Pisilis or Pilisis
and Pyrnos between.
Then follow some cities that some assign to Lydia and some to Caria: Calynda
on the Indus River, Crya, Carya, Carysis or Cari and Alina in the Gulf of
Glaucus (Katranci Bay or the Gulf of
Makri
), the Glaucus River being the border.
Other Carian towns in the gulf are Clydae or Lydae and Aenus.
Inland Caria
At the base of the east end of
Latmus
near
Selimiye
was the district of Euromus or Eurome,
possibly Europus, formerly Idrieus and Chrysaoris (Stratonicea),
apparently the ethnic center of non-Hellenic Caria. The name Chrysaoris once
applied to all of Caria; moreover, Euromus was originally settled from
Lycia
. Its towns are Tauropolis, Plarassa and
Chrysaoris. These were all incorporated later into
Mylasa
. Connected to the latter by a sacred way
is Labranda. Around Stratonicea is also
Lagina
or Lakena as well as Tendeba and
Astragon.
Further inland towards
Aydin
is
Alabanda
, noted for its
marble
and its
scorpions
, Orthosia,
Coscinia
or Coscinus on the upper
Maeander
and Halydienses, Alinda or Alina. At
the confluence
of the Maeander and the Harpasus is
Harpasa
(Arpaz). At the confluence of the
Maeander and the Orsinus, Corsymus or Corsynus is
Antioch on the Maeander
and on the Orsinus in
the mountains a border town with
Phrygia
, Gordiutichos (“Gordius’ Fort”) near
Geyre
. Founded by the
Leleges
and called Ninoe it became Megalopolis
(“Big City”) and
Aphrodisias
, sometime capital of Caria.
Other towns on the Orsinus are Timeles and Plarasa.
Tabae
was at various times attributed to
Phrygia, Lydia and Caria and seems to have been occupied by mixed nationals.
Caria also comprises the headwaters of the Indus and Eriya or Eriyus and
Thabusion on the border with the small state of
Cibyra
.
Pre-Hellenic
states and people
For more details on this topic, see
Carians
.
The name of Caria appears in a number of early languages:
Hittite
Karkija (a member state of the
Assuwa
league, c. 1250 BC),
Babylonian
Karsa,
Elamite
and
Old Persian
Kurka. Allegedly, the region
received the name of Caria from
Car
, an ancestral hero of the Carians.
Sovereign
state hosting the Greeks
Archaeologists studying a Carian tomb in
Milas
, Beçin.
Caria arose as a
Neo-Hittite
kingdom around the 11th century
BC.The coast of Caria was part of the
Doric hexapolis
(“six-cities”) when the
Dorians
arrived after the
Trojan War
in the last and southernmost waves
of Greek migration to western Anatolia’s coastline and occupied former
Mycenaean
settlements such us
Knidos
and Halicarnassos (present-day
Bodrum
). Herodotus, the famous historian was
born in Halicarnassus during the 5th century BC. But Greek colonization touched
only the coast and the interior remained Carian organized in a great number of
villages grouped in local federations.
The Iliad
records that at the time of the
Trojan War
, the city of
Miletus
belonged to the Carians, and was allied
to the Trojan
cause.
Lemprière
notes that “As Caria probably
abounded in figs
, a particular sort has been called Carica,
and the words In Care periculum facere, have been proverbially used to
signify the encountering of danger in the pursuit of a thing of trifling value.”
The region of Caria continues to be an important fig-producing area to this day,
accounting for most fig production in Turkey, which is the world’s largest
producer of figs.
Lydian province
The expansionism of
Lydia
under
Croesus
(560-546 BC) incorporated Caria briefly
into Lydia before it fell before the Persian advance.
Persian satrapy
Caria was then incorporated into the Persian
Achaemenid
empire as a
satrapy
in 545 BC. The most important town was
Halicarnassus
, from where its sovereigns
reigned. Other major towns were
Latmus, refounded as Heracleia under Latmus
,
Antiochia
,
Myndus
,
Laodicea
,
Alinda
and
Alabanda
. Caria participated at the
Ionian Revolt
(499–493 BC) against the Persian
rule.
During the
Second Persian invasion of Greece
, the cities
of Caria were allies of
Xerxes I
and they fought at the
Battle of Artemisium
and the
Battle of Salamis
.
Themistocles
, before the battles of Artemisium
and Salamis, tried to split the Ionians and Carians from the Persian coalition.
He told them to come and be on his side or not to participate at the battles,
but if they were bound down by too strong compulsion to be able to make revolt,
when the battles begin, to be purposely slack. Plutarch in his work, The
Parallel Lives, at The Life of Themistocles wrote that: “Phanias (Greek:
Φαινίας), writes that the mother of
Themistocles was not a
Thracian
, but a Carian woman and her name was
Euterpe (Greek:
Eυτέρπη), and Neanthes (Greek:
Νεάνθης) adds that she was from
Halicarnassus in Caria.”.
After the unsuccessful Persian invasion of Greece the cities of Caria became
members of the
Delian League
.
Halicarnassus was the location of the famed
Mausoleum
dedicated to
Mausolus
, a
satrap
of Caria between 377–353 BC, by his
wife,
Artemisia
. The monument became one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
, and from
which the Romans named any grand tomb a mausoleum. Halicarnassus was also
the birthplace of
Herodotus
.
Macedonian kingdom
Caria was conquered by
Alexander III
of Macedon
in 334 BC with the help of the
former queen of the land
Ada of Caria
who had been dethroned by the
Persian Empire
and actively helped Alexander in
his conquest of Caria on condition of being reinstated as queen. After their
capture of Caria, she declared Alexander as her heir.
Roman-Byzantine
province
As part of the
Roman Empire
the name of Caria was still used
for the geographic region but the territory administratively belonged to the
province of
Asia
. During the administrative reforms of the
4th century this province was abolished and divided into smaller units. Caria
became a separate province as part of the Diocese of Asia.
Christianity
was on the whole slow to take hold
in Caria. The region was not visited by
St. Paul
, and the only early churches seem to
be those of
Laodicea
and
Colossae
(Chonae)
on the extreme inland fringe of the country, which itself pursued its
pagan
customs. It appears that it was not until
Christianity was officially adopted in
Constantinople
that the new religion made any
real headway in Caria.
Dissolution under the Byzantine Empire and passage to Turkish rule
In the 7th century provinces were abolished and the new
theme
system was introduced. The region
corresponding to ancient Caria was captured by the
Turks
under
Menteşe Dynasty
in early 13th century.
There are only indirect clues regarding the population structure under the
Menteşe and the parts played in it by Turkish migration from inland regions and
by local conversions, but the first
Ottoman Empire
census records indicate, in a
situation not atypical for the region as a whole, a large
Muslim
(practically exclusively Turkish)
majority reaching as high as 99% and a non-Muslim minority (practically
exclusively
Greek
supplemented with a small
Jewish
community in Milas) as low as one per
cent. One of the first acts of the Ottomans after their takeover was to transfer
the administrative center of the region from its millenary seat in Milas to the
then much smaller Muğla
, which was nevertheless better suited for
controlling the southern fringes of the province. Still named Menteşe until the
early decades of the 20th century, the
kazas
corresponding to ancient Caria are
recorded by sources such as G. Sotiriadis (1918) and S. Anagiostopoulou (1997)
as having a Greek population averaging at around ten per cent of the total,
ranging somewhere between twelve to eighteen thousand, many of them reportedly
recent immigrants from the islands. Most chose to leave in 1919, before the
population exchange
.
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