The AD 17 Lydia earthquake caused the destruction of at least twelve cities in the region of Lydia in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(now part of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

). The earthquake was recorded by the Roman historians

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

and

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

, and the Greek historians Strabo and

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

. Pliny called it "the greatest earthquake in human memory" (Nat. Hist. 2:86 §200). The city of

Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...

, the former capital of the Lydian Empire, was the most affected and never completely recovered from the destruction.

Damage

Historical records list up to fifteen towns and cities that were destroyed or damaged by the earthquake: Sardis, Magnesia, Temnos,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Aegae,

Apollonis Apollonis (; grc, Ἀπoλλωνίς means "of Apollo") was one of the three younger Mousai Apollonides (Muses) in Greek mythology and daughters of Apollo, who were worshipped in Delphi where the Temple of Apollo and the Oracle were located. T ...

, Mostene, Hyrkanis, Hierapolis, Myrina, Cyme, Tmolus,

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

, Ephesus and

Kibyra Cibyra or Kibyra (Greek: ), also referred to as Cibyra Magna, was an Ancient Greek city near the modern town of Gölhisar, in Burdur Province. It lay outside the north-western limits of the ancient province of Lycia and was the chief city of ...

. Of these, Pergamon, Ephesus and Kibyra are not mentioned by Tacitus. The record of damage at both Ephesus and Kibyra may refer instead to an earthquake in AD 23. In Pergamon the Heroon of Diodoros Pasparos was remodelled after the earthquake.

Earthquake

There are very few extant details for this earthquake. It is known that it occurred during the night, in AD 17 and that it affected a series of cities. A variety of epicenters have been used in catalogues, near Ephesus in the NGDC database, at Sardis in the CFTI4MED database and near Magnesia in the IISEE catalogue.

Aftermath

The Roman Emperor,

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

, agreed to waive all taxes due from Sardis and the other cities for a period of five years after the earthquake. He further sent Sardis ten million sesterces and appointed Marcus Ateius, an ex-

Praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

, to assess their needs. In recognition of the aid received and the tributes that were waived, twelve of the cities raised a colossal statue in Tiberius' honour in

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

's Forum in Rome, with each of the cities represented by a recognisable figure. Two additional figures were added later, representing Kibyra and Ephesus as they had also received aid from Tiberius. A copy of this statue, with the figures transferred to a frieze around the base, was erected in

Puteoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

where it can still be seen. A statue was raised in Tiberius' honour at Sardis in AD 43, with an inscription calling him the "founder of the city". Another incomplete inscription, found at Sardis, is thought to have been a copy of a formal document from the cities to the emperor expressing their gratitude. The surviving part includes signatories from representatives of eight of the cities. Commemorative coins were struck in AD 22–23 in Rome, showing Tiberius with the inscription "CIVITATIBVS ASIAE RESTITVTIS" (RPC I.2.48) or "cities of Asia restored". Provincial coins were also struck, including one from the city of Magnesia, bearing the inscription "ΤΙΒΕΡΙΟΝ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΝ ΚΤΙΣΤΗΝ" or "Tiberius Augustus Founder". Some of the cities changed their names in honour of the emperor. Hieracome became Hierocaesarea, Kibyra added Caesarea after its name, Philadelphia was renamed Neocaesarea, and Sardis added "Caesarea" briefly to its name.W. M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, p. 214.

References

{{Earthquakes in Turkey 17 10s in the Roman Empire 1st-century earthquakes 1st-century natural disasters 0017 Lydia Lydia Articles on pre-1900 earthquakes Earthquakes in the Roman Empire

Damage

Earthquake

Aftermath

See also

References