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Greek city of Mesembria in Thrace
Bronze 10mm (1.11 grams) Struck 400-350 B.C.
Reference: Sear 1676
Corinthian helmet facing.
META in the four quarters of a radiate wheel.
An important colony of Megara, Mesembria was situated on the
Black
Sea coast, north of Apollonia Pontika.
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The Corinthian helmet originated in
ancient Greece
and took its name from the
city-state
of
Corinth
. It was a
helmet
made of
bronze
which in its later styles covered the
entire head and neck, with slits for the eyes and mouth. A large curved
projection protected the nape of the neck. It also protected the cheek bones,
which Greeks adored.
Out of combat, a Greek
hoplite
would wear the helmet tipped upward for
comfort. This practice gave rise to a series of variant forms in Italy, where
the slits were almost closed, since the helmet was no longer pulled over the
face but worn cap-like. Although the classical Corinthian helmet fell out of use
among the Greeks in favour of more open types, the Italo-Corinthian types
remained in use until the 1st century AD, being used, among others, by the
Roman army
.
Physical evidence
Apparently (judging from artistic and
archaeological
evidence) the most popular
helmet during the Archaic and early Classical periods, the style gradually gave
way to the more open
Thracian helmet
,
Chalcidian helmet
and the much simpler
pilos
type, which was less expensive to
manufacture and did not obstruct the wearer’s critical senses of
vision
and
hearing
as the Corinthian helmet did. Numerous
examples of Corinthian helmets have been excavated, and they are frequently
depicted on pottery
.
The Corinthian helmet was depicted on more sculpture than any other helmet;
it seems the Greeks romantically associated it with glory and the past. The
Romans also revered it, from copies of Greek originals to sculpture of their
own. From the sparse pictorial evidence we have of the republican Roman army, it
seems that in Italy the Corinthian helmet evolved into a jockey-cap style helmet
called the Italo-Corinthian, Etrusco-Corinthian or Apulo-Corinthian
helmet, with the characteristic nose guard and eye slits becoming mere
decorations on its face. Given many Roman corruptions of ancient Greek ideas,
this change was probably inspired by the “over the forehead” position common in
Greek art. This helmet remained in use well into the 1st century AD.
Literary evidence
Herodotus
mentions the Corinthian helmet in his
Histories when writing of the
Machlyes
and
Auseans
, two tribes living along the River
a class=”new” title=”Triton River (page does not exist)” href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Triton_River&action=edit&redlink=1″>
Triton in ancient
Libya
(the portion of ancient Libya he
describes is most likely in modern
Tunisia
). The tribes chose annually two teams
of the fairest
maidens
who fought each other ceremonially with
sticks and stones. They were dressed in the finest Greek
panoply
topped off with a Corinthian helmet.
The ritual
fight was part of a festival honoring
the virgin goddess Athena
. Young women who succumbed to their
wounds during the ordeal were thought to have been punished by the goddess for
lying about their virginity (Histories, 4.180).
Nesebar Mesimvria, previously known as Mesembria;
other spellings include Nessebar and Nesebur) is an ancient city
and a major seaside resort on the
Black Sea
coast of Bulgaria
, located in
Nesebar municipality
,
Burgas Province
. Often referred to as the “Pearl of the Black Sea”
and “Bulgaria’s
Dubrovnik
“,
Nesebar is a rich city-museum defined by more than three millennia of
ever-changing history.
It is a one of the most prominent tourist destinations and
seaports on the Black Sea, in what has become a popular area with several large
resorts—the largest,
Sunny
Beach
, is situated immediately to the north of Nesebar.
Nesebar has on several occasions found itself on the frontier
of a threatened empire, and as such it is a town with a rich history. The
ancient part of the town is situated on a peninsula (previously an island)
connected to the mainland by a narrow man-made
isthmus
, and
it bears evidence of occupation by a variety of different civilisations over the
course of its existence. Its abundance of historic buildings prompted
UNESCO
to
include Nesebar in its list of
World Heritage Sites
in 1983.
Originally a
Thracian
settlement known as Menebria, the town became a
Greek colony
when settled by
Dorians
from
Megara
at the
beginning of the 6th century BC, and was an important trading centre from then
on and a rival of Apollonia (Sozopol).
It remained the only
Doric colony
along the Black Sea coast, as the rest were typical
Ionic
colonies.
Remains from the
Hellenistic
period include the
acropolis
,
a temple of Apollo
,
and an agora
. A
wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side
of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th
century BC and gold coins since the 3rd century BC.
The town fell under
Roman
rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its
own coinage. It was one of the most important strongholds of the
Byzantine Empire
from the 5th century AD onwards, and was fought over by
Byzantines
and
Bulgarians
,
being captured and incorporated in the lands of the
First Bulgarian Empire
in 812 by
Khan Krum
after a two week siege only to be ceded back to Byzantium by Knyaz
Boris I
in 864 and reconquered by his son Tsar
Simeon the Great
. During the time of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
it was also contested by Bulgarian and Byzantine
forces and enjoyed particular prosperity under Bulgarian tsar
Ivan Alexander
(1331–1371) until it was conquered by
Crusaders
led by
Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy
in 1366. The Slavic[
neededcitation] version of the name, Nesebar or Mesebar, has
been attested since the 11th century.
Monuments from the
Middle
Ages
include the 5–6th century Stara Mitropoliya (“old bishopric”;
also
St Sophia
), a
basilica
without a transept
; the 10th century
church of the Virgin
; and the 11th century Nova Mitropoliya (“new
bishopric”; also
St Stephen
) which continued to be embellished until the 18th century. In the
13th and 14th century a remarkable series of churches were built:
St Theodore
,
St Paraskeva
,
St Michael St Gabriel
, and
St John Aliturgetos
.
The capture of the town by the
Turks
in 1453 marked the start of its decline, but its architectural
heritage remained and was enriched in the 19th century by the construction of
wooden houses in style typical for the
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
during this period. It was a kaza centre in
Ä°slimye
sanjak
of
Edirne Province
before 1878[1].
After the
Liberation of Bulgaria
from Ottoman rule in 1878, Nesebar became part of the
autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia as a kaza centre in
Burgaz
sanjak
until it
united
with the Principality of Bulgaria in 1886.
Around the end of the 19th century Nesebar was a small town
of Greek
fishermen and vinegrowers, but developed as a key Bulgarian seaside resort since
the beginning of the 20th century. After 1925 a new town part was built and the
historic Old Town was restored.
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