Aspendos or Aspendus (
Pamphylian: ΕΣΤϜΕΔΥΣ;
Attic
An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
: Ἄσπενδος) was an
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
Greco-Roman
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...
city in
Antalya province
Antalya Province ( tr, ) is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.
Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists vi ...
of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The site is located 40 km east of the modern city of
Antalya
Antalya () is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast outside the Ae ...
.
It was situated on the
Eurymedon River Eurymedon may refer to:
Historical figures
* Eurymedon (strategos) (died 413 BC), one of the Athenian generals (strategoi) during the Peloponnesian War
* Eurymedon of Myrrhinus, married Plato's sister, Potone; he was the father of Speusippus
* Eu ...
about 16 km inland from the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
; it shared a border with, and was hostile to, the ancient city of
Side.
History
The wide range of its coinage throughout the ancient world indicates that, in the 5th century BC, Aspendos had become the most important city in Pamphylia. At that time, according to
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scient ...
, the Eurymedon River was navigable as far as Aspendos,
and the city derived great wealth from a trade in salt, oil and wool.
Aspendos did not play an important role in antiquity as a political force. Its political history during the colonisation period corresponded to the currents of the
Pamphylia
Pamphylia (; grc, Παμφυλία, ''Pamphylía'') was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the north b ...
n region. Within this trend, after the colonial period, it remained for a time under Lycian hegemony. In 546 BC, it came under
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...
n domination. The fact that the city continued to mint coins in its own name, however, indicates that it had a great deal of freedom even under the Persians.
Circa 465 BC,
Cimon
Cimon or Kimon ( grc-gre, Κίμων; – 450BC) was an Athenian '' strategos'' (general and admiral) and politician.
He was the son of Miltiades, also an Athenian ''strategos''. Cimon rose to prominence for his bravery fighting in the naval Bat ...
led an Athenian navy against a Persian navy in the
Battle of the Eurymedon
The Battle of the Eurymedon was a double battle, taking place both on water and land, between the Delian League of Athens and her Allies, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I. It took place in either 469 or 466 BCE, in the vicinity of the mouth ...
, and destroyed it. Aspendos then became a member of the
Delian League
The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...
.
The Persians captured the city again in 411 BC and used it as a base. In 389 BC,
Thrasybulus of Athens, in an effort to regain some of the prestige that city had lost in the
Peloponnesian Wars, anchored off the coast of Aspendos in an effort to secure its surrender. Hoping to avoid a new war, the people of Aspendos collected money among themselves and gave it to the commander, entreating him to retreat without causing any damage. Even though he took the money, he had his men trample all the crops in the fields. Enraged, the Aspendians stabbed and killed Thrasybulus in his tent.
When
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
marched into Aspendos in 333 BC after capturing
Perge, the citizens sent envoys asking him not to garrison soldiers there. He agreed, provided he would be given the taxes and horses that they had formerly paid as tribute to the Persian king. After reaching this agreement Alexander went to Side, leaving a garrison there on the city's surrender. Going back through Sillyon, he learned that the Aspendians had failed to ratify the agreement their envoys had proposed and were preparing to defend themselves. Alexander marched to the city immediately. When they saw Alexander returning with his troops, the Aspendians, who had retreated to their
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
, again sent envoys to sue for peace. This time, however, they had to agree to very harsh terms; a Macedonian garrison would remain in the city and 100 gold talents as well as 4,000 horses would be given in tax annually.
In 190 BC, the city surrendered to the
Romans, and the corrupt magistrate
Verres later pillaged its art treasures.
It was ranked by
Philostratus
Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ; c. 170 – 247/250 AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born prob ...
the third city of Pamphylia, and in
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
times seems to have been known as Primopolis. Toward the end of the Roman period the city began a decline that continued throughout Byzantine times, although in medieval times it was evidently still a strong place.
Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal sour ...
writes that there was a native of Aspendos called Demetrius, who was a pupil of Apollonius of Soli. In addition, he mentions
Diodorus of Aspendus
Diodorus of Aspendus ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ὁ Ἀσπένδιος) was a Pythagorean philosopher, who lived in the 4th century BC, and was an acquaintance of Stratonicus the musician. He was the student or companion of the Pythagorean phil ...
.
Greek and Roman structures
Aspendos is known for having the best-preserved theatre of antiquity. With a diameter of 96 metres (315 ft), it provided seating for 7,000.
It was built in 155
[ by the Greek architect Zenon, a native of the city. It was periodically repaired by the Seljuqs, who used it as a ]caravanserai
A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes coverin ...
, and in the 13th century the stage building was converted into a palace by the Seljuqs of Rum.
As was usual to minimise construction complexity and cost, part of the theatre was built against the hill where the Citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
(Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
) stood, while the remainder was built on vaulted arches. The high stage, whose supporting columns are still in place, served to seemingly isolate the audience from the rest of the world. The '' scaenae frons'' or backdrop, has remained intact. The 8.1 metre (27 ft) sloping reflective wooden ceiling over the stage has been lost over time. Post holes for 58 masts are found in the upper level of the theatre. These masts supported a '' velarium'' or awning that could be pulled over the audience to provide shade.[ The diameter of the orchestra is 23.87 meters and the height of the columnatio (stage backdrop) was 15.7 meters.
The unique 19 km-long ]Roman aqueduct
The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported min ...
is possibly the most important monument, since the last 2 km of the conduit is a well-preserved inverted siphon, rather than an open channel, which made this aqueduct famous. The siphon allowed shorter arches to be constructed at the expense of finding a way to contain the water pressure in the siphon in an era when large diameter piping was difficult to seal. The siphon was split into three bridge sections 600, 900 and 150 m long, separated by 5.5 m square two towers where the aqueduct bends and where the water ascended and descended and which are today still 30 m high. The siphon was built on arches to cross the marshy valley between the hills and the town. The central section consisted of 46 arches up to 15 m high, 29 of which are still standing. The siphon was 40 m deep between the towers leading to a pressure of 400kPa (4bar) in the pipes and delivered about 5600 m3 per day. The pipes were carved blocks of limestone carefully fitted together to ensure a good seal using a mortar of lime and olive oil which expands when wet. It was built between the middle of the 2nd and end of the 3rd century. An inscription states Tiberius Claudius Italicus spent 2 million denarii to build an aqueduct here.
Nearby stand the remains of a stadium, baths, basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
, agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order ...
and nymphaeum. The Roman Eurymedon Bridge
The Eurymedon Bridge was a late Roman bridge over the river Eurymedon (modern ''Köprüçay''), near Aspendos, in Pamphylia in southern Anatolia. The foundations and other stone blocks (''spolia'') of the Roman structure were used by the Selj ...
, reconstructed in the 13th century, is also in the vicinity.
Coinage
Aspendos was one of the earliest cities to mint coins. It began issuing coinage around 500 BC, first stater
The stater (; grc, , , statḗr, weight) was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece. The term is also used for similar coins, imitating Greek staters, minted elsewhere in ancient Europe.
History
The stater, as a Greek silver curre ...
s and later drachma
The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history:
# An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, f ...
s; "the slinger on the obverse represents the soldiery for which Aspendus was famous in antiquity," the reverse frequently depicts a triskelion. The legend appears on early coins as the abbreviation ΕΣ or ΕΣΤϜΕ; later coinage has ΕΣΤϜΕΔΙΙΥΣ, the adjective from the city's local (Pamphylian) name Estwedus. The city's numismatic history extends from archaic Greek to late Roman times.
Bishopric
The Christian bishopric
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
of Aspendus was a suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
of the metropolitan see
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
of Side, the capital of 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 ...
of Pamphylia Prima
Pamphylia (; grc, Παμφυλία, ''Pamphylía'') was a region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (all in modern-day Antalya province, Turkey). It was bounded on the no ...
, to which Aspendus belonged. Of its bishops, the names of four are recorded in extant documents: Domnus was at the First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.
This ecumenical council was the first effor ...
in 425, Tribonianus at the Council of Ephesus in 431, Timotheus at the 448 synod held by Flavian of Constantinople, which condemned Eutyches
Eutyches ( grc, Εὐτυχής; c. 380c. 456) or Eutyches of Constantinople[Robber Council of Ephesus
The Second Council of Ephesus was a Christological church synod in 449 AD convened by Emperor Theodosius II under the presidency of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria. It was intended to be an ecumenical council, and it is accepted as such by the m ...]
held the same year, and Leo at the Second Council of Nicaea
The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by the Old Catholics, the Anglican Communion, an ...
in 787.
No longer a residential bishopric, Aspendus is today listed by the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
as a titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...
.[''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 840]
Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival
The theatre hosts the annual Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival organized by Turkish State Opera and Ballet
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and m ...
since 1994, with international participation of opera and ballet companies and an audience of about 10,000.
Dalida
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...
held her last concert there on 28 April 1987.
Gallery
File:Aspendos Market Hall 7349.jpg, Aspendos Agora and Market Hall
File:Aspendos Ornamental Gate 4726.jpg, The Ornamental Gate
File:Aspendos Aqueduct 3313.jpg, Roman aqueduct of Aspendos
File:Aspendos Basilica Antalya Turkey.jpg, The Basilica
File:Aspendos Eurymedon Bridge 4575.jpg, The Eurymedon Bridge
File:Aspendos Nymphaeum 4707.jpg, The Nymphaeum
File:Aspendos Temple 4658.jpg, Aspendos Temple
References
External links
History of Aspendos
Maps of Aspendos
How to go to Aspendos
Plan of the Aspendos Antic Theater
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080312235846/http://www.livius.org/a/turkey/aspendus/aspendus01.html Livius.org: Aspendusbr>Aspendos html5/full screen panoramas taken December, 2012
Over 350 pictures from several visits
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Archaeological sites in Antalya Province
Catholic titular sees in Asia
Former populated places in Turkey
Geography of Antalya Province
Greek colonies in Anatolia
Members of the Delian League
Populated places in ancient Pamphylia
World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey
Ancient Roman theatres in Turkey
Serik District