Athenae or Athenai ( grc, Ἀθῆναι) was a city and port of

ancient Pontus Pontus or Pontos (; el, Πόντος, translit=Póntos, "Sea") is a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in the modern-day eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region and its mountainous hin ...

, with a Greek temple of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

. According to

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

, it was 180

stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

east of the river Adienus, and 280 stadia west of Apsarus.

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...

writes that the name of the village came from a certain woman named Athenaea ( grc, Ἀθηναία) in early times who ruled over the land and not because, as some believe, of colonists from

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

settled there. He also adds that the tomb of the woman was still there. Arrian speaks of the place as a deserted fort, but Procopius describes it as a populous place in his time.

Konrad Mannert Konrad Mannert (April 17, 1756 – September 27, 1834) was a Prussian historian and geographer. Mannert was born in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, where he did his studies. In 1784 he became a teacher at the Sebaldusschule in Nuremberg, and in 1788 at t ...

assumes it to be the same place as the Odeinius of the ''

Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax The ''Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'' is an ancient Greek periplus (περίπλους ''períplous'', 'circumnavigation') describing the sea route around the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It probably dates from the mid-4th century BC, specifically t ...

''. Its site is located near the modern town of Pazar, in

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 ...

References

Populated places in ancient Pontus Former populated places in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey History of Rize Province {{AncientPontus-geo-stub