Detail of a Roman mosaic found at Cisamus Statue of emperor Hadrian from Cisamus Cisamus or Kisamos ( grc, Κίσαμος) was town of

ancient Crete The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe. After the Minoan civilization was devastat ...

. It appears as one of two towns of the name in the

Peutinger Table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-cen ...

M.P. A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

to the west of

Cydonia Cydonia may refer to: Music * ''Cydonia'' (album), a 2001 album by The Orb * "Cydonia", a track by heavy metal band Crimson Glory from '' Astronomica'' Places and jurisdictions * Kydonia or Cydonia, an ancient city state on Crete, at modern ...

. The name appears as Cisamum in

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 '' ...

. Its site is located under modern

Kastelli-Kissamou Kissamos ( el, Κίσσαμος) is a town and a municipality in the west of the island of Crete, Greece. It is part of the Chania regional unit and of the former Kissamos Province which covers the northwest corner of the island. The town of Kissa ...

, where travelers in the 19th century observed 14 or 15 fragments of shafts of marble and granite columns, an Ionic capital, and remains of walls, indicating that there once existed upon this site a flourishing and important city. The town was one of the two harbours of

Polyrrhenia Polyrrhenia or Polyrrenia ( grc, Πολυρρηνία; modern el, Πολυρρηνία, Polyrrinia), Polyrrhen or Polyrren (Πολύρρην) or Polyren (Πολύρην), or Pollyrrhenia or Pollyrrenia (Πολλύρρηνα),''Periplus of Pseudo- ...

. The other harbour was

Phalasarna Phalasarna or Falasarna ( grc, Φαλάσαρνα) is a Greek harbour town at the west end of Crete that flourished during the Hellenistic period. The currently visible remains of the city include several imposing sandstone towers and bastions, ...

. In 69–67 BC the latter city was destroyed by the Romans and Cisamus became the main port of Polyrrhenia. In the first century AD Polyrrhenia lost importance and it seems that many people from there moved to Cisamus. The town was enlarged on a street plan with grid patter. Its legal status is disputed. But on the Peutinger Table it is one of only four major cities mentioned on Crete. There are only a few remains dating to the classical period (4th century BC) at Cisamus. The excavations show that the town was heavily expanded at the beginning of the Roman rule. Rescue excavations of the last decades brought to light substantial remains of the town. These remains include parts of cemeteries, several bath houses and many urban villas several of them well equipped with mosaics. There are remains of a temple and of a christian church. Several high quality statues were found in the town, many of them come from the area of the theatre, others from the bath houses but also from private houses. The town was heavily destroyed in the earthquake of 365. The city had a theatre and an amphitheatre. The remains were still visible in the 16th century but were already gone in the 19th century. There is evidence due to an inscription for a Jewish community in the town.James K. Aitken, James Carleton Paget: ''The Jewish-Greek Tradition in Antiquity and the Byzantine Empire'', Cambridge 2014, ISBN 978-1-107-00163-3, p. 72.

References

Populated places in ancient Crete Former populated places in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece Catholic titular sees in Europe {{AncientCrete-geo-stub