Corycus or Korykos ( grc, Κώρυκος) was a town of
ancient Ionia, near a mountain of the same name. It was found near the coast and is cited by
Thucydides, who says that Corycus was in the territory of
Erythrae. Thucydides writes that Corycus was the place where, during the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
, in the year 412 BCE,
Alcibiades
Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in t ...
and
Chalcideus released their prisoners and conspired to cause the defection of
Chios from 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 ...
. Later, the Spartan
Astyochus Astyochus or Astyochos ( gr, Ἀστύοχος) was a Spartan Spartan navarch, navarch who served as commander of the collective Spartan naval forces along the coast of Asia Minor from 412–411 BC. He is regarded by many contemporaries and modern s ...
was also in Corycus when he went to
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
to take command of the fleet. It was once inhabited by a piratical people, called ''Corycaei'', who carried on their trade in a systematic manner, by keeping spies in the various ports, to find out what the traders had in their ships, and where they were bound to, and so attacked them on the sea and robbed them. Hence came the proverb which
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
mentions.
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
, who quotes the ''Asia'' of
Hecataeus, and cites the passage of Strabo, reiterates that the town was in the territory of Erythrae.
In 191 BC it was the site of the
Battle of Corycus
The Battle of Corycus, also known as the Battle of Kissos took place in September 191 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting the fleets of the Roman Republic led by Admiral Gaius Livius Salinator and its Kingdom of Perga ...
.
Its site is unlocated, although
William Smith would equate it with the town of
Casystes
Casystes or Kasystes ( grc, Κασύστης) was a port town of ancient Ionia, near Erythrae. Strabo, whose description proceeds from south to north, after describing Teos, says, "before you come to Erythrae, first is Erae, a small city of the Tei ...
References
Populated places in ancient Ionia
Former populated places in Turkey
Lost ancient cities and towns
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