Alabanda ( grc, Ἀλάβανδα) or Antiochia of the Chrysaorians was a city of

ancient Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...

Anatolia 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 ...

, the site of which is near

Doğanyurt, Çine Doğanyurt is a village in the Çine district of Aydın province, Turkey, formerly called Araphisar. Doğanyurt is 9 km from the district seat, Çine, and 47 km from the province seat, Aydin. The ruins of ancient Alabanda Alabanda ( ...

Aydın Province Aydın Province ( tr, ) is a province of southwestern Turkey, located in the Aegean Region. The provincial capital is the city of Aydın which has a population of almost 200,000 (2012). Other towns in the province include the summer seaside res ...

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 ...

. The city is located in the saddle between two heights. The area is noted for its dark

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and for gemstones that resembled

garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different ...

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 ''Ethn ...

claims that there were two cities named Alabanda (Alabandeus) in Caria, but no other ancient source corroborates this.

History

According to legend, the city was founded by a

Carian The Carian language is an extinct language of the Luwic subgroup of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Carian language was spoken in Caria, a region of western Anatolia between the ancient regions of Lycia and Lydia, ...

hero

Alabandus Alabandus ( Ancient Greek: ) was in Greek mythology a Carian hero, son of Euippus and Callirhoe, although which one is unclear (according to some traditions, his mother's name was Car). Mythology Alabandus was the founder of the town of Al ...

. In the

Carian language The Carian language is an extinct language of the Luwic subgroup of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Carian language was spoken in Caria, a region of western Anatolia between the ancient regions of Lycia and Lydia, ...

, the name is a combination of the words for horse ''ala'' and victory ''banda''. On one occasion,

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

mentions Alabanda being located in

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empir ...

, instead of in Caria, but in fact the same city were meant.

Amyntas II Amyntas II ( grc, Ἀμύντας) or Amyntas the Little, was the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia for a short time, ''circa'' 393 BC. Thucydides describes him as a son of Philip, the brother of king Perdiccas II. He first succe ...

, son of the Achaemenid Persian official

Bubares Bubares ( el, Βουβάρης, died after 480 BC) was a Persian nobleman and engineer in the service of the Achaemenid Empire of the 5th century BC. He was one of the sons of Megabazus, and a second-degree cousin of Xerxes I. Marriage to the ...

, is known to have been given the rule over the city by king

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of D ...

(r. 486-465 BC). In the early

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

period, the city was part of the

Chrysaorian League The Chrysaorian League ( grc, σύστημα Χρυσαορικόν, ''systema Chrysaorikon'') was an informal loose federation of several cities in ancient region of Caria, Anatolia that was apparently formed in the early Seleucid period and last ...

, a loose federation of nearby cities linked by economic and defensive ties and, perhaps, by ethnic ties. The city was renamed Antiochia of the Chrysaorians in honor of

king

Antiochus III Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the r ...

who preserved the city's peace. It was captured by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon a ...

in 201 BC. The name reverted to Alabanda after the Seleucid defeat at the

Battle of Magnesia The Battle of Magnesia took place in either December 190 or January 189 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and the allied Kingdom of ...

in 190 BC. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

occupied the city shortly thereafter. According to

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

in Greece they worshiped a number of deified human beings, at Alabanda there was

. In 40 BC, the rebel

Quintus Labienus Quintus Labienus Parthicus (died 39 BC) was a Roman general in the Late Republic period. The son of Titus Labienus, he made an alliance with Parthia and invaded the Roman provinces in the eastern Mediterranean which were under the control of Mark ...

at the head of a

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

n army took the city. After Labienus's garrison was slaughtered by the city's inhabitants, the Parthian army stripped the city of its treasures. Under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, the city became a

conventus In Ancient Rome territorial organization, a ''conventus iuridicus'' was the capital city of a subdivision of some provinces (Dalmatia, Hispania, Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either consi ...

( Pliny, V, xxix, 105) and

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 s ...

reports on its reputation for high-living and decadence. The city minted its own coins down to the mid-third century. During the

Byzantine Empire 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 Constantinopl ...

, the city was a created a

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 ...

. The ruins of Alabanda are 8 km west of

Çine Çine is a town and a district of Aydın Province, in the Aegean region of Turkey, from the city of Aydın, on the road to Muğla. History Throughout the ages this area has belonged to the Ionians, Caria, Lydians, Persia, Ancient Rome and By ...

and consist of the remains of a theatre and a number of other buildings, but excavations have yielded very few inscriptions.

Ecclesiastical history

The names of some bishops of Alabanda are known because of their participation in church councils. Thus Theodoret was at the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, B ...

in 451, Constantine at the

Trullan Council The Quinisext Council (Latin: ''Concilium Quinisextum''; Koine Greek: , ''Penthékti Sýnodos''), i.e. the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at ...

in 692, another Constantine 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, and John at the Photian

Council of Constantinople (879) The Fourth Council of Constantinople was held in 879–880. It confirmed the reinstatement of Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople. The result of this council is accepted by some Eastern Orthodox as having the authority of an ecumenical co ...

. The names of two non-orthodox bishops of the see are also known: Zeuxis, who was deposed for

Monophysitism Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means " nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the inc ...

in 518, and Julian, who was bishop from around 558 to around 568 and was a Jacobite. No longer a residential diocese, Alabanda is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

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 archbi ...

Notable people

* Aridolis, tyrant of Alabanda during the

Second Persian invasion of Greece The second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC) occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasio ...

*Leon of Alabanda (Λέων), a Greek rhetorician and writer *

Apollonius the Effeminate Apollonius the Effeminate ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Μαλακος) was a Greek rhetorician of Alabanda in Caria who flourished about 120 BC. After studying under Menecles, chief of the Asiatic school of oratory, he settled in Rhodes, where ...

, a Greek rhetorician *Menecles of Alabanda (Μενεκλῆς), a Greek rhetorician, brother of HieroclesCICERO, DE ORATORE, 26
/ref> *Hierocles of Alabanda (Ἱεροκλῆς), a Greek rhetorician, brother of Menecles *

Apollonius Molon Apollonius Molon or Molo of Rhodes (or simply Molon; grc, Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Μόλων), was a Greek rhetorician. He was a native of Alabanda, a pupil of Menecles, and settled at Rhodes, where he opened a school of rhetoric. Prior to tha ...

, a Greek rhetorician *

Apaturius Apaturius ( grc, Ἀπατούριος) of Alabanda was a scene-painter of ancient Greece, whose mode of painting the scene of the little theatre at Tralles is described by Vitruvius, with the criticism made upon it by Licinius. Vitruvius, '' De a ...

, a Greek scene-painter *Menedemus of Alabanda (Μενέδημος), a Greek general who participated at the

Battle of Raphia The Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king and pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire durin ...

Bishops

*Theodoret (mentioned in 451) * Zeuxis (? – 518 deposed) (Monophysite) * Julian (about 558 – about 568) (Jacobite) *Constantine (mentioned in 692) *Constantine II (mentioned in 787) *John (mentioned in 879) *Saba (9th–10th century) *Nicephorus (11th century) *Anonymous (mentioned 11th century) *William O'Carroll, (February 3, 1874 – October 13, 1880)Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series Episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 447. *Rocco Leonasi (March 30, 1882 – March 14, 1883) *Giuseppe Francica-Nava de Bontifè (August 9, 1883 – May 24) *Nicola Lorusso (June 23, 1890 – June 8, 1891) *John Brady (June 19, 1891 – January 6, 1910) *Joseph Lang (February 26, 1915 – 1 November 1924) *François Chaize,(May 12, 1925 – February 23, 1949) *José María García Grain,(March 10, 1949 – May 27, 1959) *Michel Ntuyahaga (June 11, 1959 – November 10, 1959 * James William Malone (January 2, 1960 – May 2, 1968)

Bibliography

*''Turkey: The Aegean and Mediterranean Coasts'', Blue Guides , pp. 349–50. *J. Ma, ''Antiochos III and the Cities of Western Asia Minor'', , p. 175

External links

Hazlitt's Classical GazetteerDictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) at Perseus Project

References

Sources

* * {{Authority control Populated places in ancient Caria Archaeological sites in the Aegean Region Seleucid colonies in Anatolia Ruins in Turkey Catholic titular sees in Asia Former populated places in Turkey Buildings and structures in Aydın Province Tourist attractions in Aydın Province Çine District