Side: Agora with Thealer in Ihe Backgrımtut
Both Slrabo and Arrian write that Side was founded by settlers from Cyme on thc Aeolian coast of Asia Minör, a colony that his-lorians datc to Ihe seventh or sixth century B.c. Arrian vvrites of Side in his account of Alcxander's moves immediatcly after the initial surrender of Aspendııs:
The next objective was Side, a lown whose people came originally from Cyme in Aeolia. Thcre is a iradiıion among them that wlıen the (îısl settlers from Cyme sailed thither and landed From thcir ships to find a new home, they promptly forgot their native Grcck and began to talk in a foreign tongue—not the language spoken by the people of those parts, but in an enlirely ncw dialect of thcir own; and from then on the men of Side had remained foreigners, distinet in speceh, as in everything else, from their ncighbors.
This strange and as yet undeciphered language vvas apparently uniquc to Side, appcaring on coins of the city as carly as ca. 500 B.C. and in three inseriptions of the third century B.C.—tvvo of them accompanied by a Grcck text. üeorgc Bean holds that this must have been the language of the indigenous Pamphylian people \vho vvere living here \vhen the Cymeans fırst arrived.
The colony must have been a vveak onc, Bean suggests, if the Aeolian settlers were unable to impose thcir Greck language in the ne\v colony, bul \vere forced to adopt the local speech.Thcre is no evidence of Greek being used at Side before the city sur-rendered to Alexander in 333 B.C. The fırst Greek inseriptions on stone at Side date from ca. 300 B.C, and on coins from the second century B.C, by vvhich time Greek had long been the officia! language throughout Asia Minör, the old Anatolian tongucs having vanished.
Aftcr its surrender to Alexander, the history of Side is much the same as that of the other Pamphylian cities. it vvas held fırst by the Ptolemies and then by the Seleucids, vvhom the citizens of Side supported in a \var againsl Rhodes iri 190 B.C Al that time a naval battle vvas fought off Side betvvecn the Rhodian navy and the fleet of the Scleucid king Antiochus III, vvhose forces vvere led by Hannibal.Thc battle ended in an indecisive victory for the Rhodians, vvho vvere in alliance vvith Rome. A fevv months later the Romans and their Pergamene allics deci-sively defeated Antiochus near Magnesia ad Sipylum, ending the Seleucid dominion in Asia Minör.
Side remained free from both Pcrgamum and Rome, and though it became part of the Roman province of Asia in 129 B.c, it remained in effect an autonomous city, free to engage in the piracy and slave trade that had by then become thc principal sources of income for the ports in Pamphylia and Cilicia. As Strabo vvrites in book VI of his Geography: "in Side a city in Pamphylia, the dockyards stood öpen to Cilicians, vvho vvould seli thcir captives at auction there, though admitting that these vvere freemen." The people of Side thus had a bad rcputation among thc Grecks of their time, as George Bean notes in Turkey's Southern Slıore:
The citizens' reputation was perhaps not of ıhe best. if there is any signifi-cance in a story told of thc well-known harper Stratonicus. whosc qtıips
vvere famous. When asked vvho vvere the most rascally of mankind, hc is said to have replied, 'in Pamphylia the men of Phaselis, in the \vhole vvorld the men of Side.'
The fortunes of Side declined in ıhe lale Roman era vvhen the city came under attack by both Scythian corsairs from the Black Sea and vvild Isaurian tribesmen from the Taurus mountains. Conditions improved in the fifth and sixth centuries, vvhen the damage of the earlier incursions vvas repaired and the popula-lion of the city increased to vvhat it had been in antiquity. Side survived the Arab invasions of the seventh and eighth centuries only by building a nevv defense vvall across the middle of the city, diminishing its area by one-rtalf. Thenceforth the city declined inexorably, and it vvas abandoned altogether in the tenth century after a great fire destroyed many of its buildings, its inhabitants moving to Altaleia.
Side remained utterly deserted for almost a thousand years, and sand from the beach drifted över the ruined city, almost burying it in huge dunes. At the beginning of the tvventieth cen¬tury Greek-speaking Turkish refugees from Crete vvere resettled in Side, building their vvooden houses amidst the half-buried ruins of the ancient city, the men supporting their families prin-cipally by flshing. Their descendants continue to live in Side, bul fevv of the men are stili fishermen, for the village is novv almost entirely devoted to tourism, vvith hordes of foreigners and Turks attracted by the beautiful beach that stretches off for miles eastvvard along the coast of Pamphylia.
Side is stili partially ringed by its ancient defense vvalls, vvhich sealed off the peninsula on vvhich the city vvas founded and extended around its seavvard sides as vvell. The land vvalls survive mostly on Ihe northern side, those to the south having becn largely buried in the sand, vvhile the sea vvalls have virtu-ally disappcared. These exceptionally vvell-built vvalls, vvhich probably date from the second century B.c.,are among the finest examples of Hellenistic fortifications extant in Turkey. The modern road brings us to the main gatevvay in these vvalls, vvith the outer portal flanked by tvvo massive defense tovvers. Just outside the gatevvay there is a nymphaeum dating from the sec¬ond century A.D., stili standing to half of its original heighl. it had a three-storied facade—little remains of the upper Ivvo sto-ries—vvith projecting vvings framing a large vvater basin. The surviving bottom story contains three niches, each vvith three vvater spouts. The nymphaeum vvas revetted vvith marble and adorned vviıh statues and reliefs, some of the latter stili to be seen among the architectural fragments lying in front of the fountain.
We pass through the outer gate into an outer court of rectan-gular plan, and from there through another gate into a semicir-cular inner courtyard.The inner court vvas revetted vvith marble slabs in vvhich there vvere seven niches conlaining statues, some of vvhich are novv in the Side museum. At the far end of the courtyard vve pass through the inner gate to enter the city.
The remains of a colonnaded slreet lead straight ahead from the main gate to the entryvvay of the inner city.This street divided Side into tvvo of its four quarters, the other tvvo being in the inner city. The area to the right of the street vvas knovvn as the Quarter of the Great Gate, and that to the left vvas the Quarter of the Great Guild. The latter quarter vvas bisected by another colonnaded street that headed left from the main gate at an angle of forty-five degrees.
We begin our exploration of Side by vvalking along the street to the left, nûvv heavily overgrovvn. About 200 meters along this street vve come on our left to the remains of a fifth-century basil-ican church and a building identified as the episcopal palace, the seat of the bishop of Side in Byzantine times. The basilica had a central nave flanked by side aisles, vvith a large baptistery to the left of the apse. The church vvas connected to the palace on its southeast sicje by a building believed to be a martyrion, the tomb and shrine of a Christian martyr. Some vvalls of the palace
are stili standing, including those of a small private chapel vvith three ro\vs of seats in the apse.
A path leads from the basilica to the southcast gatc of the outer defense walls, vvhich dates from the Hellenistie period. Archaeologists have cleared a fine mosaic pavement dating from the early Byzantine period, as vvell as a number of interesting reliefs of armor and vveapons, now exhibited in the museum.
We novv follovv the street that leads straight ahead from the main gate to the city center, a distance of some 400 meters. As vve approach the center vve see the agora and the theatcr to the left, the gate to the inner city straight ahead, and a Roman bath on the right.
The bath, which dates from the fifth century A.D., has been superbly restored and novv houses the Side museum. The exhibits in the museum are mostly anlicjiıities unearthed in Side in the years 1947-67 by Professor Arif Müfit Mansel and sub-sequently by Prof essor Jale İnan, their finds including some of the finest Roman statuary in Asia Minör. To the left of the museum entrance vve see the remains of a nymphaeum consisting of three basins vvith statues betucen them. A head of Hermes from one of these statues is novv in the museum.
The propylon of the agora \vas direetiy aeross the street from the bath. it led into a vast market squarc, 94 by 91 meters, sur-rounded on ali four sides by Corinthian stoas dating from the second century A.D. A number of the columns that slood in the north sloa have been reerected.along vvith their capilals. Bchind the stoas there vvere shops, some of vvhich opened on to the mar¬ket square and others to the street outside, as vvell as four that could be entered from ıhe theater. The remains of a number of these shops can stili be seen, as vvell as those of a large and vvell-constructed public latrine in the vvest corner of the square.
The round strueture in the center of the square has been iden-tified as the foundation of a shrine dedicated to Tyche, the god-dess of fortune, dated to the second century A.D. İl originally
ısisted of a cylindrical ehamber surrounded by a circlet of velve Corinthian columns, surmounted by a roof in the shape of a tvvelve-sided pyramid. The ceiling of the temple vvas a dome decorated vvith reliefs representing the tvvelve signs of the zodiac and other figures. The first Western traveler to report on *his temple vvas Captain Francis Beaufort, vvho in the years 1811-12 mapped the southern coast of Turkey for the British Admiralty in HMS Frederikssteen, later vvriting of his discov-eries in Karamama. Beaufort vvrites that in the Temple of Tyche he savv three blocks of the ceiling vvith reliefs representing Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer, follovved by the fig¬ures of a svvan and a naked youth, but ali of these have novv dis-appeared.
Thealer al Side, wilh Axoru and Roınan Balh in ıhe Baıkçround
During the seventh or eighth century A.D. the people of Side vviıhdrevv to the inner city for defense against the onslaughts of the Arabs, although in times of peace they stili continued to use the public buildings in the outer city. The Byzantine defense vvall ineluded ıhe theater in its üne of fortifications, extending
from the south side of its cavea to another great colonnaded square near the shore. The latter square has been identified as the state agora, an arca measuring somc 90 by 70 meters, sur-rounded on ali four sides by Ionic stoas vvith walkways 7 meters in vvidth. On its eastern side are the remains of a complex of three large chambers; the tvvo on the sides possibly served as a library and archives, \vhile the central one vvas probably reserved for the emperor. Several of the statues that önce adorned this room are now in the museum; one remains in place, a headless figüre of Nemesis, the goddess of divine retri-bution, vvhich stands in a niche in the southeast corner.
Gıttewuy to the inner City ut Side
1 lıe theater is by far the most impressive monument in Side, a particularly striking sight vvhen vievved against the background of the sand dunes that have half-buried the ruins of the ancient city on its southern side. it vvas constructed in the second century A.D. and is thus Roman in design. But the arehiteet retained one dis-tinctly Greek feature; he extended the are of the cavea beyond a circle by thirty degrees on either side of the diameter.
Consequently the vaulted passage\vays of the paradoi make the same angle \vilh the proscenium as in a Greek theater. The cavea has a single diazoma, vvith twenty-nine rovvs of seats belovv and tvventy-tvvo above, vvith stairvvays dividing the lovver zone into eleven cunei and the upper into tvventy-four. The upper part of the cavea is carried on a huge free-standing tvvo-storied strueture that vvas originally some 16 meters high, stili standing to a height of 14 meters.The ground floor consists of a vaulted semi-circular corridor supported on massive piers separated by vvide vaulted openings, some of vvhich lead to an inner courtyard and others to enelosed chambers that may have been shops or store-rooms. Additional openings lead from the inner corridor to the diazoma, from vvhere the speetators going to the lovver tiers descended to their seats via öpen stairvvays, vvhile those going to the upper seats used narrovv interior stair\\ ells buiiı into the thîck vvalls dividing the enelosed chambers deseribed above. During the late Roman period a vvall vvas constructed in front of the orehestra to protect speetators during gladiatorial combats and speetacles involving vvild animals. Inscriptions and faded fres-coes reveal that the theater vvas converted into an open-air church in the fifth or sixth century, vvith a pair of small chapels created at the tvvo corners of the auditorium.
The stage building must have been splendidly adorned, as evidenced by the architectural and sculptural fragments and reliefs that have tumbled into the orehestra and are novv arrayed around the theater. The building vvas in three stories rising to a height of more than 20 meters, approximately the height of the auditorium.The bottom story vvas aboul 3 meters high, projeetr ing fonvard some 6 meters to form the proscenium that vvas used as a stage. Above this rose the tvvo stories of the facade, sumptuously decorated vvith columns, niches, statues and reliefs. At the foot of this facade, to the rear of the stage, there is a long frieze representing mythological scenes, stili in place but badly damaged. There vvere nine rooms in the bottom story
from vvhich five passageways Icd out to the agora; when the Byzantine fortification vvall vvas built ıhe stage building became part of its strueture and these passages \vere blocked up.
Just to the north of the theater the road passes under a monu-mental Roman archway. When the Byzantine fortification vvall vvas built this arehvvay vvas also ineluded in its strueture, becom-ing the entrance to the inner city, bricked up except for a small gate surmounted by an areh. The arehvvay vvas önce surmounted by an arehitrave and attic, on top of vvhich therc vvas probably a sculpture of a four-horse chariot, for an inseriplion rccords llıal the area inside the gate vvas knovvn as the quarter of the Quadriga.
Outside the gate and to the left there is an clegant little foun¬tain, consisting of tvvo vvater basins in front of an arehed niche, flanked by projeeting vvings supported by pairs of columns. it is believcd that this monument originally stood clsevvhere in the city, and that it vvas moved to its present location and converted into a fountain vvhen the Byzantine fortification vvall vvas built. The fountain bears an inseription recording that it vvas ereeted in A.D. 74 in honor of Vespasian, vvhose statue stood in the cen-tral niche.
Just inside the gate and on the left are the scant remains of a limestone temple vvhose basc measured 17.5 by 7.25 meters. This vvas a pseudo-dipteral temple vvith four Corinthian columns of red granite in its pronaos, approached by steps on its north side. it vvas ereeted in ıhe Hellenisüc period and restored in the Roman imperial era. The proximity of the temple to the theater suggests that it vvas dedicated to Dionysus.
Another colonnaded street began just inside the inner gate and extcnded diagonally southvvestvvard to the tip of the penin-sula. This is novv the main street of the village of Side, vvith another street branehing off to the right halfvvay along leading to the main square.
Continuing along the main street, vve pass on our right the unexcavated remains of a large Roman bath. We then come to the end of the peninsula, vvhere on the shorc to the left vve sce the remains of a Byzantine fountain, as vvell as those of a small semicircular building raised on a base some tvvo meters high, approached by a flight of steps on the vvest side. The latter has been identified as a temple dedicated to ıhe Anatolian deity Men.
Temple ofApollo al Şule
The remains of three other struetures stand on Ihe shore to the right of the road, vvhich ends here on the promontory that formed the southern arm of the ancient harbor, novv silted up. The strueture nearest the road is a large fiflh-century Byzantine basilica. The central area of the nave vvas separated from the side aisles by tvvo colonnades formed by columns taken from Roman buildings.The nave ended in an apse vvith a synthronon approached by six marble steps, vvith small chapels at the ends of the aisles. A martyrion vvas later added to the south side and a small church vvas ereeted in the middle of the nave, probably after the original basilica had been destroyed.
The other t\vo structures are just beyond the basilica. The one to the north is somevvhat larger, but thcy are othervvise identical. They are both Corinthian hexastyle peripteral temples of the sec-ond century A.D., vvith six columns on the ends and eleven on the sides, six columns in antis in the pronaos, and no opisthodomos. Part of a frieze of Gorgon heads has survived from the southern templc. The temple on the south vvas dedicated to Apollo and the other to Artemis. Some of the columns of the templc of Apollo have been reerected, making it a most romantic sight, particu-larly \vhen these sand-swept ruins on the Mediterranean shore are silhouetted againsl a Pamphylian sunset.
Therc is another monument on the shore about 400 meters to the \vest of the ancicnt city. This is a large and richly decorated mausoleum in the form of a temple, raised on a portico and sur-rounded by a courtyard, stili standing almost to its full height vvith Uvo arches. The tomb has been dated to ca. A.D. 300, but there is no evidence to identify it further.
We novv make our vvay back to Highvvay 400, \vhere vve turn right and resume our drivc eastvvard. Some four kilometers beyond the Side turnoff vve cross the Manavgat Çayı, the river Melas of antiquity, vvhereupon vve come to the village of Manavgat. Manavgat is famous for its trout, and so vve might pause here for lunch at one of the fish restaurants on the river. We can then make an excursion upstream to see the şelale (vvaterfalls) of Manavgat.
We novv continue upstream for another nine kilometers on a road signposled for ancient Seleucia, vvhich is near the village of Bucakşehlcr at the road's end.
According to Arrian, Seleucus I Nicator (r. 321-280 B.C.) founded nine cities that he named Seleucia after himself. This one vvas named Seleucia in Pamphylia to distinguish it from the others. it alvvays remained a very minör city, seldom mentioned in the ancient sources, and it is completely ignored by Strabo.
The site of the ancient city is on a precipitous hill accessible only from the south along a narrovv col, originaiiy protected by a vvall vvith a gate. Just inside the site of the gate to the Ieft vve see a spring shaded by fig trees, its clear, cold vvater issuing from vvithin a cave. The remains of ancient masonry indicate that the cave vvas used as a fountain house. A short vvay above the spring there is a large building stili standing to a height of some 9 meters, a landmark visible far to the south.The building comprises five rooms arrayed side by side; it vvas evidently a Roman bath, as evidenced by the round holes for vvater pipes in
its vvalls.
The center of the ancient city is eastvvard at the foot of the hill. Here vve come to the agora, a rectangular area measuring about 45 by 37 meters. The central area of the agora is a colon-naded square measuring some 30 by 25 meters, vvith four columns on the north side stili standing in part. There is a rough staircase at the northern end of the east colonnade, but in the present ruined state of the agora it is not clear why it vvas built.
The agora is surrounded by buildings in a remarkably good state of preservation. The most notable of these is the tvvo-sto-ried market hail that takes up the east side of the square, vvith much of the front vvall of the upper story stili standing vvith its large rectangular vvindovvs. The lovver floor contains a rovv of eight compartments, of vvhich the first and fourth from the north have arched doorvvays and the others lintels. The arched door-vvays gave access to stairvvays leading to the upper floor, vvhile the others led to shops. Adjoining the market hail on the south is a semicircular building, some 23 meters in diameter, appar-ently a later addition. The function of the building is unknovvn, though it may vvell have been an odeion that also served as the bouleuterion. The rough vvall along its diameter and beam holes in the front vvall indicate that it vvas subsequently subdivided into shops on the side facing the square. The building has five doors on that side; över the second from the south there is an inscription recording that it vvas built by a certain Nectarius.
At the middle of the agora's north side there is a vaulted pas-sagevvay now blocked at its far end.This is flanked on its east side by a building made of handsome masonry, \vhile the structure that formerly stood on the vvest side of the passage has been destroyed.
The ground level on the \vest side of the square vvas iovver, so that side of the agora had a basement story.This structure is vvell preserved, vvith shallovv arched recesses on either side, along vvith a small building at the northvvest corner w i ıh handsome cushioned masonry. The ground slopes avvay steeply at the southvvest corner of the agora, and the retaining vvall is stili standing there to a height of 15 meters, its İovver part of bossed masonry.
A short \vay to the north of the market hail there is a vvell-pre-served temple, the cella completely intacı except for its roof. The temple apparently had four columns along its front, but these have disappeared. The necropolis is near the \vestern edgc of the acropolis. The tombs are mostly built of masonry rather than rock-hevvn, \vith one notable group containing twclve mon-uments in tvvo ro\vs of six each, some of them reasonably vvell preserved.
We return önce again to Highvvay 400 and continue driving eastvvard. Önce past Manavgat the highvvay runs along close to the shore, passing a succession of long sandy beaches and little coves, vvith the massed peaks of the Taurus looming to the north över the lush coastal plain.
About tvvelve kilometers beyond Manavgat vvc pass a turnoff on the lefl to Highvvay 695, vvhich leads north through the mountains to Beyşehir and Konya. Some seventeen kilometers farther along vvc turn left on a secondary road signposted for Alarahan, a drive of around nine kilometers.
Alarahan is a vvell-prcserved Seljuk caravanserai vvith crencl-Iated vvalls, its overall dimensions 51 by 39 meters. An inserip-tion over the enlryvvay records thal the caravanserai vvas built in 1229-30 by Alaettin Keykubat I. The door leads into a long
Alarahan: Acropolis Framed in the Arch of the Curavanserai
ridor vvith seven rooms öpening off on either side, the ones on the left giving access to larger chambers behind. Behind the rooms on the right are the stables, vvhich vvere approached by a separate entryvvay on the right side of the front facade. One of the rooms inside the main door served as a mescit (small mosque), vvhile the other vvas the living quarters of the porter. The rooms at the far end included the kitchen, dining hali, hamam, and toilets.
The caravanserai stands beneath a hill in a beautiful river val-ley near the remains of a Seljuk bridge. At the head of the val-ley vve see a steep-sided conical hill ringed around vvith the vvalls of a thirteenth-century Seljuk fortress knovvn as Alarakale. We approach the castle by vvalking to the end of the road, from vvhere \ve cross a number of vegetable gardens to a path along the bank of the river. This brings us to a lo\v-roofed tunnel that leads up to the outer courtyard of the fortress. From there rock-hevvn steps ascend to a second court and then to the citadel on the summit, vvhere there are the remains of a residential quarter along vvith a mosque and a hamam used by the garrison. The vievv from the summit is superb, stretching ali the vvay back dovvn the valley tovvard the sea.
We return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving eastvvard. About fıfteen kilometers beyond the Alarahan turnoff vve pass on both sides of the road the ruins of an unidentifıed ancient city.
Next vve see on our left another Seljuk caravanserai, the Şarapsa Hanı.This is a long and narrovv building measuring70 by 15 meters, vvith its entrance in the middle of one of the long sides. An inscrip-tion över the entryvvay records that the caravanserai vvas built by Sultan Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II. The caravanserai comprises nine vaulted bays, vvhose interior divisions are extended as buttresses on the outside of the building, vvith slitted vvindovvs in each compart-ment and a chimncy in the ccnter of every other bay. There is also a mescit at the east end of the building.
Soon after passing the Şarapsa Hanı vve come vvithin vievv of Alanya, one of the grandest sights along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, vvith the crenellated vvalls of its rose pink Seljuk fortress crovvning the great peninsular rock above the sea. This spectacular landmark, knovvn in antiquity as Kalonoros, marked the boundary betvveen Pamphylia and Cilicia, vvhere this second itinerary comes to an end.
Monday, May 4, 2009
ANTALYA TO ALANYA
Aspendus and the other cities in Pamphylia came under Persian rule soon after the fail of Sardis in 546 B.c. The region vvas liberated from the Persians in 467 B.c. vvhen the Athenian commander Cimon defeated the Persian forces at the mouth of the Eurymedon. Aspendus then became a member of the Delian League, though the amount of the annual tribute that it paid is unknovvn. Aspendus and the other cities of Pamphylia fell under the control of Persia again in 386 B.C, and they vvere stili under Persian domination vvhen Alexander arrived in the spring of 333
B.c. The cilizens of Perge had already surrendered to Alexander vvhile he vvas in Phaselis, so vvhen he arrived in Pamphylia the gates of their city vvere opened to him. He then advanced tovvards Aspendus, vvhich at first surrendered to him vvithout a struggle, as Arrian narrates in book I of The Campaigns of Alemnder:
u
Advancing from Perge, he vvas met by plenipotentiaries from Aspendus, vvho offered to surrender ıhe tovvn, but begged, at the same time, that no garrison be put in. As to the garrison, they got vvhat they asked for; but
İ
AIexander demanded that the tovvn should contribute fifty talents tovvards the men's pay and hand över ali the horses bred there as tribute to Darius [Darius III, the Persian king). Both demands vvere agreed to.and theenvoys returned home.
Alexander then moved on to Side, vvhich surrendered imme-diately, after vvhich he proceeded to Sillyum. But there, as vve have seen, the determined resistance of the defenders gave him pause, and he broke off the siege abruptly vvhen he reccived a report, as Arrian vvrites, that "determined him to returned to Aspendus." The rest of the story is best told by Arrian:
The report stated that the people of Aspendus had backed out of their agree-ment; they vvere refusing to hand över the horses to the proper authorities and to pay the money; moreover they had taken their movable property inside the tovvn's defences, shut their gates against Alexander's men, and vvere at vvork upon ali necessary repairs to their vvalls.
The main part of the tovvn of Aspendus is built upon a very steep and easily defended hill, the base of vvhich is vvashed by ıhe river Eurymedon. There vvere also a number of houses on the level ground round this central strong-hold.all of them enelosed vvithin a vvall of no great height.This vvall, together vvith ali houses on the flat ground vvhich secmed impossible to hold, vvas abandoned by the people of ıhe place the moment they vvere avvare of Alexander's approach. They hurriedly vvithdrevv and took refuge vvithin the fortified center on the hill. Alexander, as soon as he reached the tovvn, led his men inside the outer vvall—novv defenceless—and took up his quarters in ıhe deserted houses.
The shock of Alexander's presence and the sight of his army surrounding them vvas too much for the people of the tovvn: they sent their spokesmen to hini and hegged lo be allovved Ihcir original icrms. Alexandcr. hovvever, in spite of the fact ıhat the position of Aspendus was a strong one and he was not prepared fora protracted siege,refused the request; he demanded,in addi-tion to the horses they had previously agreed to hand over, 100 talents instead of the original fıfty and the surrender as hostages of the leading men of the community; furtber, they vvere forced to obey the governor appointed by him-self, to pay an annual tribute to Macedon, and submit to an inquiry inlo the rightful ownership of the land. vvhich they vvere accused of holding by force, \vhen it was really the property of their neighbors.
After Alexander's death Aspendus passed in turn to Antigonus, the Seleucids of Syria, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and the Pergamene kings; then, in 129 B.c, it became part of the Roman province of Asia.
The Romans negleeted Lycia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia, inter-vening only vvhen Cilician pirates interfered vvith their com-merce. What is more, the Roman governors used their office to enrich themselves at the expense of the locals. The \vorst of the Roman governors was Publius Cornelius Dolabella, vvho vvas proconsul in 80-79 B.C, during vvhich time he plundered the cities of Pamphylia and Cilicia vvith the help of his legate Gaius Verres. A decade later Verres vvas prosecuted by Ciceroand con-vieted of having abused his office, vvhich led him to flee into exile to escape punishment. Cicero's address to the court men-tions the art treasures that Verres looted from Aspendus during his term as Dolabclla's legate:
You are avvarc. gentlemen. that Aspendus is an old and famous town in Pamphylia, ful I ol fine statuary. I slıall not allege that from ıhis to\vn thİS or that particular statue vvas removed. My charge is that Verres did not leave one statue behind from temples and public places alike, vvith the vvhole of Aspendus looking on, they vvere ali openly loaded on vvagons and carted avvay. Yes, even the famous Harpist of Aspendus, about vvhom you lıave often heard the saying that is proverbial among the Greeks that 'he made the music inside'—that too he carricd off.
Conditions vvere greatly improved after A.D. 43, vvhen
Claudius joined Lycia and Pamphylia together to make one
province. The tvvo parts of the province each had their ovvn magistrates, headed respectively by a Lyciarch and a Pamphyliarch, vvho managed their internal affairs under the aegis of Rome. This union continued until the early fourth cen-tury, vvhen Diocletian (r. 284-305) made Lycia and Pamphylia separate provinces önce again, an arrangement that continued under his immediate successors and on into the Byzantine era. Aspendus continued to be an important place in the early Byzantine period, but then the Persian and Arab invasions brought about an inexorable decline from vvhich it never recov-ered. Like Perge, it vvas taken by the Seljuks in 1078 and the Ottomans in 1392. By then Aspendus had declined to the status of a village, and in the late Ottoman period it vvas abandoned al together.
Thealer al Aspendus
The magnificent Roman theater at Aspendus has alvvays elicited encomiums from travelers, such as that of the arehae-ologist D. G. Hogarth in his Accidents of an Antiquarian's Life (1910): "You may have seen amphitheatres in Italy, France,Dalmatia and Africa: temples in Egypl and Greece; palaces in Crete; you may be sated vvith antiquity, or scornful of it. But you have not seen the theatre at Aspendus." George Bean vvrites of his first impression of the theater at Aspendus in Turkey's Southern Shore: "the vvriter vvell remembers the feeling, almost of avve, vvhich it gave him vvhen he first stepped into its interior: 'This is not lıke anything I ever savv before.'"
One can appreciate here betler Ihan anywhere else in Asia Minör the total visual effect of a Roman theater, particularly since the structure is so remarkably vvell preserved. The theater is directly under the southeast side of the aeropolis hill, on vvhose summit most of the other buildings of Aspendus stand.
I
original part of the structure, but vvas erected by the Seljuks ca. 1220, vvhen Alaettin Keykubat I decided to use the stage building as his residence.
The interior of the theater is almost as vvell preserved as its exterior, lacking only the columns and oth.er archilectural ele-ments and sculptures that önce adorned the inner facade of the stage building. The facade rose in tvvo stories above the prosce-nium, the colonnadcd platform on vvhich the players performed, vvith the uppermost story being used principally to support an avvning-like roof that projected över the stage to improve the acoustics. The tvvo lovver levels of the facade had a double arcade of ten pairs of columns each, complete vvith their entab-lature, the lovver colonnade lonic and the upper Corinthian. The central quartet of columns on the upper level vvas surmounted by a broken pediment vvith a relief—stili visible—representing Dionysus surrounded by floral scrolls; the other panels betvveen the columns had scenes in relief as vvell as statues and portrait busts.The auditorium cxtends somevvhal beyond the usual semi-circlc of a Roman theater. The paradoi, vvhich in Greek theaters
are alvvays öpen and approach the orehestra al an angle, are here parallel to the stage building and covered vvith barrel vaults.Thc auditorium has a capacity of about 20,000.There is a single dia-zoma, vvith tvventy tiers of seats belovv and tvventy-one abovc; stairvvays divide the auditorium into nine cunei in the lovver range and eighteen in the upper, vvith the uppermost rovv backed by an arcaded gallery vvith fifty-nine vaults. Special seats in the front rovv of the auditorium vvere reserved for high-ranking offı-cials such as senators and magistrates; the priestesses of Vesta sat in private boxes in the tvvo tovver-like struetures that flank the stage building.
Beyond the theater to the north is the stadium, 30 meters vvide and 215 meters long, its structure almost completely overgrovvn. Near its curved northern end there are a fevv rock-hevvn tombs, and beyond it to the north there are a number of sareophagi, ali part of the Hellenistic-Roman necropolis of Aspendus. There is a much earlier necropolis in the foothills to the northvvest of the ancient city, in vvhich grave-offerings dating back to ıhe fifth century B.C. have been found.
A path leads uphill betvveen the stadium and the theater to the east gate of the aeropolis, vvhere vve come to the civic center of Aspendus. At the center is the agora, surrounded by the princi-pal public buildings, ali built in Roman times.
On the east side of the agora there is a huge three-aîsled basil¬ica, more than 90 meters long, of vvhich only the foundations remain. At the north end of the basilica, on a higher level, there is a square building stili standing to a height of 15 meters, vvith vvalls nearly 2 meters thick, the vvest vvall reinforced by four exterior buttresses. it has a single arehed entrance on the north side; on the south side threc doors lead into the basilica, the cen¬tral one being the largest, vvith tvvo vvindovvs high up in the same vvall.
Exlerior o/Scene Building al AspeııJuı
Roman Aqueducl ut Aspendus
The west side of the agora is laken up vvith a long market hail comprising a row of two-storied shops with a gallery behind and in front a stoa, of vvhich none of the columns remain.
The north side of the agora is occupied by a prominent build-ing stili standing to a height of 15 meters, its facade nearly 37 meters long. The facade has ten niches in tvvo rovvs, the middle one belovv pierced by a door, the others by öpenings that have no\v been bricked up.This has been identified as a nymphaeum, to vvhich vvater \vas condueted by an aqueduct and then distrib-uted throughout the city.
Just lo the north of the nymphaeum there are the remains of a building 30 meters vvide and nearly 40 meters long, vvith a semi-circular east end. This has been identified tentatively as an odeion, in vvhich case it probably also served as the bouleuterion.
The north gate is the best vanlage point to vievv the great Roman aqueduct that brought vvater to Aspendus from the mountains to the north. This is the best-preserved aqueduct in Asia Minör, dating from the second century A.D.
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue our journey eastvvard through the Pamphylian plain. As vve do so vve eross the Eurymedon, vvhose mouth in antiquity vvould have been elose to the modern highvvay vvhere it erosses the river, vvhile today the shore is some three kilometers to the vvest. The river mouth vvas the site of the battle of the Eurymedon, vvhere in 467 B.c. Cimon of Athens led the Greeks to a great victory över the Persians on both land and sea. Thucydides mentions this in book I of his History of the Peloponnesian War:
Next came the battles of the river Eurymedon in Pamphylia, fought on land and sea by the Athenians and their allies against the Persians. İn both bat¬tles the Athenians vvon the victory on the same day under the command of Cimon, son of Miltiades, and they captured and destroyed the entire Phoenician fleet of 200 triremes.
A funerary monument vvas aftervvards ereeted here to honor the Greek dead, vvith this epitaph inseribed upon it: 'Thesc are the men vvho laid dovvn the splendor of their manhood beside the Eurymedon: on land and on the svvift-sailing ships they fought vvith their spears against the foremost of the bovv4oear-ing Medes. They are no more, but they have left the fairest memorial of their valor."
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving east¬vvard önce again. Some five kilometers beyond the Aspendus turnoff vve turn off to the left on a road signposted for ancient Selge, a drive of fifty-five kilometers up the valley of the Eurymedon. The road is asphalted as far as Beşkonak, tvventy-three kilometers from the turnoff, but from there on it gets steadily vvorse. About five kilometers beyond Beşkonak vve come to a junction and take the left fork, signposted for Altınkaya. The road then erosses the Eurymedon on a Roman bridge that has been in constant use for nearly tvvo thousand years, spanning a deep gorge betvveen tvvo cliffs. Beyond the bridge vve turn right on a rough road that elimbs steadily up until it comes to the village of Zerk, nearly 900 meters above sea
level. This brings us to the site of the ancient Pisidian city of Selge, vvhose ruins lie in and around the village, set againsl the magnificcnt mountain scenery oi the Taurus. Hreya Slark. who visiled Selge in 1954,describes the scene in Alexander's Path:
|Zerk has| fifteen cottages or so scattered among prostrate columns under a Roman theatre in a hollovv. it vvas shallovv as a saucer and the plovved fıelds l'illed it, and small pinnacles surrounded il, w here temples önce stood on easy slopes. Beyond them the high peaks rose . .. Some in light and some in shadovv, thcy had the cold pink mountain glow upon them as we made for an alpine cottage built betvveen the marble shafts of some forgotten pub-lic buildiııg.
Roman Bruf);e iner the liııryıııcıtoıı im the Rıııul to Selve
Strabo quotes the geographer Artemidorus of Ephesus in list-ing Selge among the cities of Pisidia. He thcn goes on to give a detailcd history of the city from remote antiquity up to his o\vn time (64 B.c.-ca. A.D. 25), as vvell as describing its splendid set-ting among the Taurus Mountains:
Selge vvas founded at firsl by the Lacedaemonians as a cjty, and stili carlier by Calchas; but latcr il remaincd an indepcndent city, having waxed so povverful on accounl of the lavv-abiding manner in vvhieh its government vvas conducicd thal it önce conlained lwenl> thousand men . . . The region around the cily and the tcrritory of the Selgians has only a fcvv approachcs, since thcir territory is mountainous and full of precipices and ravines,which are formed. among other rivers, by the P.urymedon and the Cestrus, which flow from the Selgic mountains and cmply into the Pamphylian Sea. But they havc bridges on their roads. Because of their natural fortifıcations, hovvevcr, the Selgians have never, even önce, either in carlier or latcr times, become subject to others, but unmolested have reaped the fruit of the whole country except the part situaled below them in Pamphylia and inside the Taurus, for which they were always at vvar vvith the kings |of Pcrgamuml, but in their relations with the Romans, thcy occupied Ihe part in question on certain stipulaled conditions. Thcy sem an embassy to Alexander and offered to receive his commands as a friendly country, but al the preseni time they have become vvholly subjeci to the Romans and are ineluded in the territory that vvas formerly subject to Amynlas.
During the Byzantine era Selge was the site of a bishopric ranking next after Side and before Aspendus. Selge disappears from history during theTurkish invasions, its name surviving in corrupled form in that of the village of Zerk, vvhieh developed in Ottoman times among the ruins of the ancient city. The site of Selge remained totally unknovvn to the outside vvorld until the second quaıter of the nineteenth century, \vhen it vvas rediscov-ered by Weslern travelers. One of the fırst of these cxplorers was Edvvard Daniell, a companion of Captain T. A. B. Spratt. Daniell came upon the ruins of Selge in May of 1842, just t\vo vvecks before his sudden and untimely death from a fever. Daniell deseribes his discovery of Selge in a letter to Spratt vvritlen just before his death:
I came suddenly in vievv of a theatcr magnificcnlly situated, a stadium, a rovv of lonic columns slanding, and a square belovv, vvhieh must have been the Agora, though novv a corn-ficld. Standing myself upon a large square platform of ancient pavemcni, vvith a bcautiful forcground ... I ıhink in ali my life I never savv such a mountain vievv.
The ruins of Selge lie on and around three hills that form an cquilateral triangle, vvith vertices on the north, east, and vvest— the latler being the highest. The city vvas enclosed by a vvall that vvas över tvvo Roman miles in circumference, vvith tovvers at intervals of about 90 meters. The longest surviving remnant of the fortification is an angled stretch of about 350 meters on the southvvest, vvith a tovver at its vvestern end and a gate near the eastern extremity. Just inside the gate there arc the remains of a small building vvith three rooms, identifıed tentatively as a cus-toms house.
The \vell-prescrved theater lies lo the northeast of the village. The lovver part is hollovved out of the hillside, facing southeast, and the upper part is constructed from masonry. The cavea extends around more than a semicircle, in the Greek style, but it is joined to the stage building in the Roman manner, evidently due to later remodeling. There is a single diazoma, vvith thirty rovvs of seats belovv and fifteen above, both zones divided ver-tically by tvvelve stairvvays. The stage building has collapsed into a pile of masonry, but one can stili see three of the five doors that gave access to the stage, as vvell as a small arehed door in the short vvall at the west end and a larger portal leading into the orehestra.
The poorly preserved stadium is just belovv the theater to the southvvest. it had seats on either side of the arena, those on the vvest resting against the natural slope of the hill, the tiers on the south supported by a vaulted gallery that stili survives in part. Inscriptions record victories in the games; these vvere held annu-ally and vvere normally öpen only to citizens of Selge, but every four years a gala festival vvas celebrated in vvhich outsiders vvere invited to participate.
The agora is on the summit of the eastern hill. it is a paved area measuring somevvhat less than 50 meters on a side, origi-nally enclosed by buildings on ali sides except the south. A short distance to the northeast are the remains of a church, perhaps
ANTALYA TO ALANYA 89
the episcopal cathedral of Byzantine Selge. The main necropo-üs vvas on the east slope of the hill. A fevv of the sareophagi there are decorated vvith a curious symbol, consisting of tvvo lit-tle cusped cireles in the upper quadrant of a much larger and deeper circle, looking like a pair of staring eyes in a moon face. There appears to have been another necropolis on the vvestern slope of the northern hill, vvhere there are three built tombs that have survived only in part.
Midvvay betvveen the east and vvest hills are the remains of a hail or stoa that is 110 meters in length. At its southern end there is a very tali pillar bearing tvvo inseriptions, neither of vvhich identifies the monument.
The vvestern hill is the site of tvvo temples, both of them in ruins. The northern one is thought to have been dedicated to Zeus, vvhose temple vvas the principal sanetuary in Selge, but there is no defınite evidence to prove this. The second temple is thought to have been dedicated to Artemis, as suggested by an inseription found in its vicinity, but here again the evidence is inconelusive. On the vvestern side of the hill there is a large cir-cular cistern, 21 meters in diameter and about 7.5 meters deep. Water vvas condueted to the cistern via a channel from the hills to the northvvest, vvhere there are the impressive ruins of a
Roman aqueduct.
We novv retrace our route to Highvvay 400, vvhere vve turn lef t and resume our drive eastvvard through the Pamphylian plain. After a drive of tvventy kilometers vve turn right on a road sign-posted for ancient Side, a drive of four kilometers. Along the approach to Side vve see stretehes of a Roman aqueduct, part of a system that carried vvater to the city from a source 40 kilo¬meters distant, near the Melas river.Then as vve near the site vve pass the necropolis and some of the outlying ruins of Side, the most unusual of the ancient Pamphylian cities, certain aspects of its history verging on the mysterious.
B.c. The cilizens of Perge had already surrendered to Alexander vvhile he vvas in Phaselis, so vvhen he arrived in Pamphylia the gates of their city vvere opened to him. He then advanced tovvards Aspendus, vvhich at first surrendered to him vvithout a struggle, as Arrian narrates in book I of The Campaigns of Alemnder:
u
Advancing from Perge, he vvas met by plenipotentiaries from Aspendus, vvho offered to surrender ıhe tovvn, but begged, at the same time, that no garrison be put in. As to the garrison, they got vvhat they asked for; but
İ
AIexander demanded that the tovvn should contribute fifty talents tovvards the men's pay and hand över ali the horses bred there as tribute to Darius [Darius III, the Persian king). Both demands vvere agreed to.and theenvoys returned home.
Alexander then moved on to Side, vvhich surrendered imme-diately, after vvhich he proceeded to Sillyum. But there, as vve have seen, the determined resistance of the defenders gave him pause, and he broke off the siege abruptly vvhen he reccived a report, as Arrian vvrites, that "determined him to returned to Aspendus." The rest of the story is best told by Arrian:
The report stated that the people of Aspendus had backed out of their agree-ment; they vvere refusing to hand över the horses to the proper authorities and to pay the money; moreover they had taken their movable property inside the tovvn's defences, shut their gates against Alexander's men, and vvere at vvork upon ali necessary repairs to their vvalls.
The main part of the tovvn of Aspendus is built upon a very steep and easily defended hill, the base of vvhich is vvashed by ıhe river Eurymedon. There vvere also a number of houses on the level ground round this central strong-hold.all of them enelosed vvithin a vvall of no great height.This vvall, together vvith ali houses on the flat ground vvhich secmed impossible to hold, vvas abandoned by the people of ıhe place the moment they vvere avvare of Alexander's approach. They hurriedly vvithdrevv and took refuge vvithin the fortified center on the hill. Alexander, as soon as he reached the tovvn, led his men inside the outer vvall—novv defenceless—and took up his quarters in ıhe deserted houses.
The shock of Alexander's presence and the sight of his army surrounding them vvas too much for the people of the tovvn: they sent their spokesmen to hini and hegged lo be allovved Ihcir original icrms. Alexandcr. hovvever, in spite of the fact ıhat the position of Aspendus was a strong one and he was not prepared fora protracted siege,refused the request; he demanded,in addi-tion to the horses they had previously agreed to hand over, 100 talents instead of the original fıfty and the surrender as hostages of the leading men of the community; furtber, they vvere forced to obey the governor appointed by him-self, to pay an annual tribute to Macedon, and submit to an inquiry inlo the rightful ownership of the land. vvhich they vvere accused of holding by force, \vhen it was really the property of their neighbors.
After Alexander's death Aspendus passed in turn to Antigonus, the Seleucids of Syria, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and the Pergamene kings; then, in 129 B.c, it became part of the Roman province of Asia.
The Romans negleeted Lycia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia, inter-vening only vvhen Cilician pirates interfered vvith their com-merce. What is more, the Roman governors used their office to enrich themselves at the expense of the locals. The \vorst of the Roman governors was Publius Cornelius Dolabella, vvho vvas proconsul in 80-79 B.C, during vvhich time he plundered the cities of Pamphylia and Cilicia vvith the help of his legate Gaius Verres. A decade later Verres vvas prosecuted by Ciceroand con-vieted of having abused his office, vvhich led him to flee into exile to escape punishment. Cicero's address to the court men-tions the art treasures that Verres looted from Aspendus during his term as Dolabclla's legate:
You are avvarc. gentlemen. that Aspendus is an old and famous town in Pamphylia, ful I ol fine statuary. I slıall not allege that from ıhis to\vn thİS or that particular statue vvas removed. My charge is that Verres did not leave one statue behind from temples and public places alike, vvith the vvhole of Aspendus looking on, they vvere ali openly loaded on vvagons and carted avvay. Yes, even the famous Harpist of Aspendus, about vvhom you lıave often heard the saying that is proverbial among the Greeks that 'he made the music inside'—that too he carricd off.
Conditions vvere greatly improved after A.D. 43, vvhen
Claudius joined Lycia and Pamphylia together to make one
province. The tvvo parts of the province each had their ovvn magistrates, headed respectively by a Lyciarch and a Pamphyliarch, vvho managed their internal affairs under the aegis of Rome. This union continued until the early fourth cen-tury, vvhen Diocletian (r. 284-305) made Lycia and Pamphylia separate provinces önce again, an arrangement that continued under his immediate successors and on into the Byzantine era. Aspendus continued to be an important place in the early Byzantine period, but then the Persian and Arab invasions brought about an inexorable decline from vvhich it never recov-ered. Like Perge, it vvas taken by the Seljuks in 1078 and the Ottomans in 1392. By then Aspendus had declined to the status of a village, and in the late Ottoman period it vvas abandoned al together.
Thealer al Aspendus
The magnificent Roman theater at Aspendus has alvvays elicited encomiums from travelers, such as that of the arehae-ologist D. G. Hogarth in his Accidents of an Antiquarian's Life (1910): "You may have seen amphitheatres in Italy, France,Dalmatia and Africa: temples in Egypl and Greece; palaces in Crete; you may be sated vvith antiquity, or scornful of it. But you have not seen the theatre at Aspendus." George Bean vvrites of his first impression of the theater at Aspendus in Turkey's Southern Shore: "the vvriter vvell remembers the feeling, almost of avve, vvhich it gave him vvhen he first stepped into its interior: 'This is not lıke anything I ever savv before.'"
One can appreciate here betler Ihan anywhere else in Asia Minör the total visual effect of a Roman theater, particularly since the structure is so remarkably vvell preserved. The theater is directly under the southeast side of the aeropolis hill, on vvhose summit most of the other buildings of Aspendus stand.
I
original part of the structure, but vvas erected by the Seljuks ca. 1220, vvhen Alaettin Keykubat I decided to use the stage building as his residence.
The interior of the theater is almost as vvell preserved as its exterior, lacking only the columns and oth.er archilectural ele-ments and sculptures that önce adorned the inner facade of the stage building. The facade rose in tvvo stories above the prosce-nium, the colonnadcd platform on vvhich the players performed, vvith the uppermost story being used principally to support an avvning-like roof that projected över the stage to improve the acoustics. The tvvo lovver levels of the facade had a double arcade of ten pairs of columns each, complete vvith their entab-lature, the lovver colonnade lonic and the upper Corinthian. The central quartet of columns on the upper level vvas surmounted by a broken pediment vvith a relief—stili visible—representing Dionysus surrounded by floral scrolls; the other panels betvveen the columns had scenes in relief as vvell as statues and portrait busts.The auditorium cxtends somevvhal beyond the usual semi-circlc of a Roman theater. The paradoi, vvhich in Greek theaters
are alvvays öpen and approach the orehestra al an angle, are here parallel to the stage building and covered vvith barrel vaults.Thc auditorium has a capacity of about 20,000.There is a single dia-zoma, vvith tvventy tiers of seats belovv and tvventy-one abovc; stairvvays divide the auditorium into nine cunei in the lovver range and eighteen in the upper, vvith the uppermost rovv backed by an arcaded gallery vvith fifty-nine vaults. Special seats in the front rovv of the auditorium vvere reserved for high-ranking offı-cials such as senators and magistrates; the priestesses of Vesta sat in private boxes in the tvvo tovver-like struetures that flank the stage building.
Beyond the theater to the north is the stadium, 30 meters vvide and 215 meters long, its structure almost completely overgrovvn. Near its curved northern end there are a fevv rock-hevvn tombs, and beyond it to the north there are a number of sareophagi, ali part of the Hellenistic-Roman necropolis of Aspendus. There is a much earlier necropolis in the foothills to the northvvest of the ancient city, in vvhich grave-offerings dating back to ıhe fifth century B.C. have been found.
A path leads uphill betvveen the stadium and the theater to the east gate of the aeropolis, vvhere vve come to the civic center of Aspendus. At the center is the agora, surrounded by the princi-pal public buildings, ali built in Roman times.
On the east side of the agora there is a huge three-aîsled basil¬ica, more than 90 meters long, of vvhich only the foundations remain. At the north end of the basilica, on a higher level, there is a square building stili standing to a height of 15 meters, vvith vvalls nearly 2 meters thick, the vvest vvall reinforced by four exterior buttresses. it has a single arehed entrance on the north side; on the south side threc doors lead into the basilica, the cen¬tral one being the largest, vvith tvvo vvindovvs high up in the same vvall.
Exlerior o/Scene Building al AspeııJuı
Roman Aqueducl ut Aspendus
The west side of the agora is laken up vvith a long market hail comprising a row of two-storied shops with a gallery behind and in front a stoa, of vvhich none of the columns remain.
The north side of the agora is occupied by a prominent build-ing stili standing to a height of 15 meters, its facade nearly 37 meters long. The facade has ten niches in tvvo rovvs, the middle one belovv pierced by a door, the others by öpenings that have no\v been bricked up.This has been identified as a nymphaeum, to vvhich vvater \vas condueted by an aqueduct and then distrib-uted throughout the city.
Just lo the north of the nymphaeum there are the remains of a building 30 meters vvide and nearly 40 meters long, vvith a semi-circular east end. This has been identified tentatively as an odeion, in vvhich case it probably also served as the bouleuterion.
The north gate is the best vanlage point to vievv the great Roman aqueduct that brought vvater to Aspendus from the mountains to the north. This is the best-preserved aqueduct in Asia Minör, dating from the second century A.D.
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue our journey eastvvard through the Pamphylian plain. As vve do so vve eross the Eurymedon, vvhose mouth in antiquity vvould have been elose to the modern highvvay vvhere it erosses the river, vvhile today the shore is some three kilometers to the vvest. The river mouth vvas the site of the battle of the Eurymedon, vvhere in 467 B.c. Cimon of Athens led the Greeks to a great victory över the Persians on both land and sea. Thucydides mentions this in book I of his History of the Peloponnesian War:
Next came the battles of the river Eurymedon in Pamphylia, fought on land and sea by the Athenians and their allies against the Persians. İn both bat¬tles the Athenians vvon the victory on the same day under the command of Cimon, son of Miltiades, and they captured and destroyed the entire Phoenician fleet of 200 triremes.
A funerary monument vvas aftervvards ereeted here to honor the Greek dead, vvith this epitaph inseribed upon it: 'Thesc are the men vvho laid dovvn the splendor of their manhood beside the Eurymedon: on land and on the svvift-sailing ships they fought vvith their spears against the foremost of the bovv4oear-ing Medes. They are no more, but they have left the fairest memorial of their valor."
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving east¬vvard önce again. Some five kilometers beyond the Aspendus turnoff vve turn off to the left on a road signposted for ancient Selge, a drive of fifty-five kilometers up the valley of the Eurymedon. The road is asphalted as far as Beşkonak, tvventy-three kilometers from the turnoff, but from there on it gets steadily vvorse. About five kilometers beyond Beşkonak vve come to a junction and take the left fork, signposted for Altınkaya. The road then erosses the Eurymedon on a Roman bridge that has been in constant use for nearly tvvo thousand years, spanning a deep gorge betvveen tvvo cliffs. Beyond the bridge vve turn right on a rough road that elimbs steadily up until it comes to the village of Zerk, nearly 900 meters above sea
level. This brings us to the site of the ancient Pisidian city of Selge, vvhose ruins lie in and around the village, set againsl the magnificcnt mountain scenery oi the Taurus. Hreya Slark. who visiled Selge in 1954,describes the scene in Alexander's Path:
|Zerk has| fifteen cottages or so scattered among prostrate columns under a Roman theatre in a hollovv. it vvas shallovv as a saucer and the plovved fıelds l'illed it, and small pinnacles surrounded il, w here temples önce stood on easy slopes. Beyond them the high peaks rose . .. Some in light and some in shadovv, thcy had the cold pink mountain glow upon them as we made for an alpine cottage built betvveen the marble shafts of some forgotten pub-lic buildiııg.
Roman Bruf);e iner the liııryıııcıtoıı im the Rıııul to Selve
Strabo quotes the geographer Artemidorus of Ephesus in list-ing Selge among the cities of Pisidia. He thcn goes on to give a detailcd history of the city from remote antiquity up to his o\vn time (64 B.c.-ca. A.D. 25), as vvell as describing its splendid set-ting among the Taurus Mountains:
Selge vvas founded at firsl by the Lacedaemonians as a cjty, and stili carlier by Calchas; but latcr il remaincd an indepcndent city, having waxed so povverful on accounl of the lavv-abiding manner in vvhieh its government vvas conducicd thal it önce conlained lwenl> thousand men . . . The region around the cily and the tcrritory of the Selgians has only a fcvv approachcs, since thcir territory is mountainous and full of precipices and ravines,which are formed. among other rivers, by the P.urymedon and the Cestrus, which flow from the Selgic mountains and cmply into the Pamphylian Sea. But they havc bridges on their roads. Because of their natural fortifıcations, hovvevcr, the Selgians have never, even önce, either in carlier or latcr times, become subject to others, but unmolested have reaped the fruit of the whole country except the part situaled below them in Pamphylia and inside the Taurus, for which they were always at vvar vvith the kings |of Pcrgamuml, but in their relations with the Romans, thcy occupied Ihe part in question on certain stipulaled conditions. Thcy sem an embassy to Alexander and offered to receive his commands as a friendly country, but al the preseni time they have become vvholly subjeci to the Romans and are ineluded in the territory that vvas formerly subject to Amynlas.
During the Byzantine era Selge was the site of a bishopric ranking next after Side and before Aspendus. Selge disappears from history during theTurkish invasions, its name surviving in corrupled form in that of the village of Zerk, vvhieh developed in Ottoman times among the ruins of the ancient city. The site of Selge remained totally unknovvn to the outside vvorld until the second quaıter of the nineteenth century, \vhen it vvas rediscov-ered by Weslern travelers. One of the fırst of these cxplorers was Edvvard Daniell, a companion of Captain T. A. B. Spratt. Daniell came upon the ruins of Selge in May of 1842, just t\vo vvecks before his sudden and untimely death from a fever. Daniell deseribes his discovery of Selge in a letter to Spratt vvritlen just before his death:
I came suddenly in vievv of a theatcr magnificcnlly situated, a stadium, a rovv of lonic columns slanding, and a square belovv, vvhieh must have been the Agora, though novv a corn-ficld. Standing myself upon a large square platform of ancient pavemcni, vvith a bcautiful forcground ... I ıhink in ali my life I never savv such a mountain vievv.
The ruins of Selge lie on and around three hills that form an cquilateral triangle, vvith vertices on the north, east, and vvest— the latler being the highest. The city vvas enclosed by a vvall that vvas över tvvo Roman miles in circumference, vvith tovvers at intervals of about 90 meters. The longest surviving remnant of the fortification is an angled stretch of about 350 meters on the southvvest, vvith a tovver at its vvestern end and a gate near the eastern extremity. Just inside the gate there arc the remains of a small building vvith three rooms, identifıed tentatively as a cus-toms house.
The \vell-prescrved theater lies lo the northeast of the village. The lovver part is hollovved out of the hillside, facing southeast, and the upper part is constructed from masonry. The cavea extends around more than a semicircle, in the Greek style, but it is joined to the stage building in the Roman manner, evidently due to later remodeling. There is a single diazoma, vvith thirty rovvs of seats belovv and fifteen above, both zones divided ver-tically by tvvelve stairvvays. The stage building has collapsed into a pile of masonry, but one can stili see three of the five doors that gave access to the stage, as vvell as a small arehed door in the short vvall at the west end and a larger portal leading into the orehestra.
The poorly preserved stadium is just belovv the theater to the southvvest. it had seats on either side of the arena, those on the vvest resting against the natural slope of the hill, the tiers on the south supported by a vaulted gallery that stili survives in part. Inscriptions record victories in the games; these vvere held annu-ally and vvere normally öpen only to citizens of Selge, but every four years a gala festival vvas celebrated in vvhich outsiders vvere invited to participate.
The agora is on the summit of the eastern hill. it is a paved area measuring somevvhat less than 50 meters on a side, origi-nally enclosed by buildings on ali sides except the south. A short distance to the northeast are the remains of a church, perhaps
ANTALYA TO ALANYA 89
the episcopal cathedral of Byzantine Selge. The main necropo-üs vvas on the east slope of the hill. A fevv of the sareophagi there are decorated vvith a curious symbol, consisting of tvvo lit-tle cusped cireles in the upper quadrant of a much larger and deeper circle, looking like a pair of staring eyes in a moon face. There appears to have been another necropolis on the vvestern slope of the northern hill, vvhere there are three built tombs that have survived only in part.
Midvvay betvveen the east and vvest hills are the remains of a hail or stoa that is 110 meters in length. At its southern end there is a very tali pillar bearing tvvo inseriptions, neither of vvhich identifies the monument.
The vvestern hill is the site of tvvo temples, both of them in ruins. The northern one is thought to have been dedicated to Zeus, vvhose temple vvas the principal sanetuary in Selge, but there is no defınite evidence to prove this. The second temple is thought to have been dedicated to Artemis, as suggested by an inseription found in its vicinity, but here again the evidence is inconelusive. On the vvestern side of the hill there is a large cir-cular cistern, 21 meters in diameter and about 7.5 meters deep. Water vvas condueted to the cistern via a channel from the hills to the northvvest, vvhere there are the impressive ruins of a
Roman aqueduct.
We novv retrace our route to Highvvay 400, vvhere vve turn lef t and resume our drive eastvvard through the Pamphylian plain. After a drive of tvventy kilometers vve turn right on a road sign-posted for ancient Side, a drive of four kilometers. Along the approach to Side vve see stretehes of a Roman aqueduct, part of a system that carried vvater to the city from a source 40 kilo¬meters distant, near the Melas river.Then as vve near the site vve pass the necropolis and some of the outlying ruins of Side, the most unusual of the ancient Pamphylian cities, certain aspects of its history verging on the mysterious.
ANTALYA TO ALANYA
This vvas a squarc mcasuring some 75 meters on a side, vvith its inner periphery lined vvith shops opening on to porticoes. The agora vvas built in the fourth century A.D., probably at the same time as the outer vvalls and gatevvay. At ıhe center of the square there are the remains of a circular temple vvith a diameter of 13.5 meters, originally covered by a dome carried on a circlet of sixteen marble columns. The temple vvas probably dedicated to Hermes, the patron deity of merehants.
About 300 meters north of the Hellenistic gate the main north-south avenue is erossed by another coionnaded street. At the junction we see a restored arehvvay of the second century A.D. that stood astride the east-vvest street. An inseription records that the arch vvas dedicated to Artemis Pergaea by tvvo citizens of Perge, Dimitrius and Apollonius, the first being demiourgos and the second gymnasiarch, another high post in the civic hierarchy.
The tvvo streets divided the city into four unequal quarters, the tvvo to the south being much larger than the other pair, vvhich vvere hemmed in under the slope of the aeropolis. Near the cen¬ter of the southvvestern quarter there are the ruins of a large basilica from the fıfth century A.D., believed to have been the episcopal church of Byzantine Perge. Just above the east-vvest street in the northvvestern corner are the remains of a square building measuring some 76 meters on a side, vvith the vvell-pre-served vvall overlooking the street preserving several of its vvin-dovvs. An inseription records that this vvas a palaestra dedicated to the emperor Claudius (r. 41-54) by a citizen named C. Julius Cornutus.
At the vvest end of the eross street vve see the ruins of a Roman bath beside the vvest gate. The bath, vvhich dates from the third century A.D., consists of a congeries of rooms opening off a coionnaded courtyard. The necropolis vvas outside the vvest gate, vvhere in 1946Turkish archaeologists unearthed a number of elaborately decorated tombs. Some of the sareophagi found
in ihese tombs are no\v on exhibit in the Antalya nıuseum. At the upper end of the main avenue vve come to the nymphaeum that supplied vvater to the channel in the center of the colonnaded \vay.The vvater flovved from a large pool dominated by the statue of a river god. This \vas a personification of the river Cestrus, knovvn in Turkish as the Aksu Çayı. The nymphaeum has been dated to the second century A.D.
A path leads up from the nymphaeum to the summit of the acropolis hill.The summit vvas inhabited in the period of the first settlement of Perge. it vvas then abandoned until the early By/aniine period, vvhen the tovvnspepple apparcntly took refuge there from marauders on the plain belovv. The only stnıctures on the summit date from the Byzantine era, the most notable being a large vaulted cistern.
Turkish archaeologists have made excavations on tvvo hills about a kilometer south of the main site in search of the elusive temple of Artemis Pergaea. The most promising of these tvvo siles is on the lovv hill callcd İyilik Belen, some 500 meters to the east of the road at a point 500 meters south of the theater. Archaeologists excavated the hill in 1945 and discovered the foundations of a small Doric prostyle temple, the first one to be found at Perge. This can hardly be the famous temple of Artemis Pergaea, vvhich vvould have been much larger, and vvhich is shovvn on coins as an lonic edifice. At the same time the archae¬ologists also found some architectural fragments in the lonic style, and this has encouraged them to continue their excavations on the hill.
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving eastvvard through the Pamphylian plain. As vve do so vve see far off to our left the acropolis hill of ancienl Sillyum, vvhich vve approach by turning off the highvvay onto a signposted road some fifteen kilo-meters from the Perge turnoff. After a drive of about eight kilo-meters vve come to the village of Asarköy, from vvhere a path leads up to the ancient city, vvhose main site is on a flat-topped hill 210 meters above sea level.
The earliest reference to Sillyum is by the Pseudo-Scylax in thc fourtlı century B.c, but there is reason to believc that by then it vvas already of some antiquity. Archaeologists have recently discovered a statue base inscribed vvith the name of Mopsus, indicating that this legendary seer vvas regarded as the founder of Sillyum, another one of the places first settled after the Trojan War by the "mixed multitudes."
Sillyum first appears in history in 333 B.c, vvhen it vvas unsuccessfully besieged by Alexander just after his capture of the neighboring cities of Aspendus and Side. Arrian describes the incident, referring to the city as Syllium:
Alexander lefl a party of men to occupy Side and then proceeded to Syllium, a fortified tovvn garrisoned by mercenaries and native troops. He was unable, hovvever, to take this place by assault, vvithout regular siege operations, and this fact, coupled \vith a report vvhich he had received dur-ing his march. determined him to return to Aspendus.
Climbing upvvards from the village, vve pass the sparse remains of the stadium. This structure vvas about 180 meters long, vvith the seats on the vvest side resting on a long vaulted gallery, vvhile on the east side they vvere built against the natura! slope of the ground.
We then come to the lovver gate, vvhich belongs to a later period of fortification vvhen the tovvnspeople moved dovvn from the acropolis to be closer to their farms on the plain belovv. This gate resembles the main entryvvay at Perge but on a smaller scale, comprising a horseshoe-shaped inner court vvith a tovver on either side. A short distance to the left of the gate vve see the remains of a gymnasium, vvhich vvas later converted to the epis-copal palace of the bishop vvhose see included both Sillyum and Perge,
The approach to the upper city vvas on the vvest side of the plateau, vvhere the slope is less precipitous, though stili too steep for a direct ascent. İt vvas thus necessary to build an elab-
DoorJamb at Sillyum with Inscriplion in Pamphylian
Vtew ojIhe Acropoi
orate ramp that ascended t o the upper gate from both the north and the south, a structure dating from the Hellenistic period. A short stretch of the upper end of the northern ramp is preserved along vvith its stone pavement, vvhile a much longer section of the southern ramp survives in its lovver part. The southern ramp is extremely impressive, vvith a roadvvay 5.2 meters vvide, its outer retaining vvall standing to a height of nine or ten courses, supported at intervals by massive buttresses.The vvall also con-tains a number of large vvindovvs, indicating that the ramp vvas probably roofed to give protection to part of the populace dur-ing times of siege. Above the ramp vve see tvvo great bastions on the southvvestern corner of the plateau, part of the Heilenistic defense vvorks of the upper city.
Belovv the ramp vve see part of the necropolis of Sillyum, vvhose tombs are thus described by George Bean: "The tombs are simple rectangular graves sunk into the surfaces of large masses of fallen rock, vvith steps leading up; they vvere closed vvith separate lids, but none of these novv remain. in many cases holes may be seen for the pouring of libations to the dead." The burials in the necropolis range in date from the third century B.c. to the sixth century A.D., vvith most of the extant graves dating from the Roman imperial period.
Southvvesl of the necropolis vve see the only remaining tovver of the late fortification vvall, a handsome and vvel I-preserved structure in tvvo slories, lacking only its roof. The northern door on the ground floor has a horizontal lintel, vvhile the southern one is archcd; from the upper story, doors on the east and vvest sides led to the ramparts.There are narrovv vvindovvs halfvvay up on the north and south vvalls, vvhile near the top there are smaller openings on ali four sides.
Al the top of the ramp vve come to the upper gate, the main entrance to the acropolis. Most of the extant buildings in the upper city are in the southvvestern sector of the acropolis, to the right of the upper gate as one enters.
türe is a large Byzantine building—as yet unidentified—stand-ing to almost its full height, vvith arched vvindovvs high in its tvvo remaining vvalls. Just beyond that there are tvvo smailer and very attractive Hellenistic buildings. The larger of these, vvhich may have been a public hail, is vvell preserved in part; its vvest vvall is 55 meters long and stands to a height of more than 6 meters, pierced by ten vvindovvs of various sizes. The other building is much smailer, its most remarkable feature being its elaborately decorated door, vvhose right jamb is covered vvith a lengthy inscription dating from ca. 200 B.C. This is the principal evi-dence for the Pamphylian language, vvhich othervvise is knovvn only through a fevv short inscriptions and legends on coins. The inscription here runs to thirty-seven lines, interrupted by a scjuare hole that vvas aftervvards cut in the jamb. it is vvritten in the Greek language and expresses a local Greek dialect that remained in use until the first century A.D. As George Bean remarks of the inscription: "Individual vvords and phrases may be made out but the text as a vvhole is stili obscure."
South of these tvvo buildings vve see the upper four rovvs of the seats of a theater, the rest of vvhich vvas carried avvay vvhen the edgc of the cliff collapsed in a tremendous landslide in the spring of 1969. An odeion just to the east of the theater also dis-appeared in this landslide, in vvhose rubble belovv vve see half of a cistern.
East of the former sites of the theater and the odeion vve see the remains of an attractive complex of private houses, perched on the southern rim of the plateau. The vvalls of the houses are partly of masonry, partly hevvn from the natural rock; they stand on little terraces linked by rock-hevvn stairvvays.flanking narrovv lanes, looking like the mountain villages one stili sees today on the Greek islands of the Aegean.
At the eastern end of this coınplex there are the remains of a small Hellenistic temple measuring J1.3 by 7.62 meters. The east front of the temple originally had four columns. The south
vvall of the cclla has disappeared in a collapsc of the cliff, but the other three vvalls remain, standing in places up to eight courses of handsome masonry. Beyond the temple is a long underground cistern vvith gratings in the roadvvay.
At the vvestern end of the aeropolis vve see the remains of another small temple looking out över the rim of the plateau.
le temple is poorly preserved and has lost much of its original
rm in reconstructions. Beyond it at the northeastern corner of *:e aeropolis there are the remains of a tovver.
We novv vvalk back tovvard the upper gate along the northvvest im of the plateau, passing numerous cisterns and rock-hevvn house foundations. As vve approach the upper gate vve pass a domed building that may have been a mosque during the Seljuk
period,
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving eastvvard for another seventeen kilometers, before turning left on a road signposted for ancient Aspendus, vvhich is fi ve kilometers up the fertile valley of the Köprü Çayı, the river knovvn in antiquity as Seljuk Briçime över the Eurymedon
Ihe Eurymedon. A short vvay along the road \ve pass a hump-backed Seljuk bridge of the thirteenth century that stili spans the river. Just upstream from this vve see in the river bed the ruins of a Roman bridge of the second century A.D. Then as vve approach the site of Aspendus vve see tvvo outlying ruins of the ancient city. These have been identified as a Roman bath com-plex and a gymnasium, both dating from the second century A.D. Then finaily at the road's end vve come to the great theater of Aspendus, vvith the aeropolis hill of the ancient city rising up directly behind it.
Archaeological evidence has confirmed that the aeropolis hill vvas first occupied in the late Bronze Age, vvhich vvould be con-sistent vvith the tradition that Aspendus vvas another of the cities founded by the "mixed multitudes," in this case led by the seer Mopsus. Coins minted here from the early fifth century B.c. through the follovving century give the name of the city as Estvvediiys, vvhich has led some seholars to suggest that Aspendus vvas founded by the Hittite prince Azitavvadda, vvho deseribes himself as a descendant of Mukas, vvho may be the person the Greeks knevv as Mopsus. Local Greek tradition vvas unanimous in aseribing the foundation of the city to men of Argos in the Peloponnesus. This is consistent vvith the legend that the first cities in Pamphylia vvere founded by the "mixed multitudes," vvhich vvould have ineluded the Argivcs, the main force in Agamemnon's army at the siege of Troy.
About 300 meters north of the Hellenistic gate the main north-south avenue is erossed by another coionnaded street. At the junction we see a restored arehvvay of the second century A.D. that stood astride the east-vvest street. An inseription records that the arch vvas dedicated to Artemis Pergaea by tvvo citizens of Perge, Dimitrius and Apollonius, the first being demiourgos and the second gymnasiarch, another high post in the civic hierarchy.
The tvvo streets divided the city into four unequal quarters, the tvvo to the south being much larger than the other pair, vvhich vvere hemmed in under the slope of the aeropolis. Near the cen¬ter of the southvvestern quarter there are the ruins of a large basilica from the fıfth century A.D., believed to have been the episcopal church of Byzantine Perge. Just above the east-vvest street in the northvvestern corner are the remains of a square building measuring some 76 meters on a side, vvith the vvell-pre-served vvall overlooking the street preserving several of its vvin-dovvs. An inseription records that this vvas a palaestra dedicated to the emperor Claudius (r. 41-54) by a citizen named C. Julius Cornutus.
At the vvest end of the eross street vve see the ruins of a Roman bath beside the vvest gate. The bath, vvhich dates from the third century A.D., consists of a congeries of rooms opening off a coionnaded courtyard. The necropolis vvas outside the vvest gate, vvhere in 1946Turkish archaeologists unearthed a number of elaborately decorated tombs. Some of the sareophagi found
in ihese tombs are no\v on exhibit in the Antalya nıuseum. At the upper end of the main avenue vve come to the nymphaeum that supplied vvater to the channel in the center of the colonnaded \vay.The vvater flovved from a large pool dominated by the statue of a river god. This \vas a personification of the river Cestrus, knovvn in Turkish as the Aksu Çayı. The nymphaeum has been dated to the second century A.D.
A path leads up from the nymphaeum to the summit of the acropolis hill.The summit vvas inhabited in the period of the first settlement of Perge. it vvas then abandoned until the early By/aniine period, vvhen the tovvnspepple apparcntly took refuge there from marauders on the plain belovv. The only stnıctures on the summit date from the Byzantine era, the most notable being a large vaulted cistern.
Turkish archaeologists have made excavations on tvvo hills about a kilometer south of the main site in search of the elusive temple of Artemis Pergaea. The most promising of these tvvo siles is on the lovv hill callcd İyilik Belen, some 500 meters to the east of the road at a point 500 meters south of the theater. Archaeologists excavated the hill in 1945 and discovered the foundations of a small Doric prostyle temple, the first one to be found at Perge. This can hardly be the famous temple of Artemis Pergaea, vvhich vvould have been much larger, and vvhich is shovvn on coins as an lonic edifice. At the same time the archae¬ologists also found some architectural fragments in the lonic style, and this has encouraged them to continue their excavations on the hill.
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving eastvvard through the Pamphylian plain. As vve do so vve see far off to our left the acropolis hill of ancienl Sillyum, vvhich vve approach by turning off the highvvay onto a signposted road some fifteen kilo-meters from the Perge turnoff. After a drive of about eight kilo-meters vve come to the village of Asarköy, from vvhere a path leads up to the ancient city, vvhose main site is on a flat-topped hill 210 meters above sea level.
The earliest reference to Sillyum is by the Pseudo-Scylax in thc fourtlı century B.c, but there is reason to believc that by then it vvas already of some antiquity. Archaeologists have recently discovered a statue base inscribed vvith the name of Mopsus, indicating that this legendary seer vvas regarded as the founder of Sillyum, another one of the places first settled after the Trojan War by the "mixed multitudes."
Sillyum first appears in history in 333 B.c, vvhen it vvas unsuccessfully besieged by Alexander just after his capture of the neighboring cities of Aspendus and Side. Arrian describes the incident, referring to the city as Syllium:
Alexander lefl a party of men to occupy Side and then proceeded to Syllium, a fortified tovvn garrisoned by mercenaries and native troops. He was unable, hovvever, to take this place by assault, vvithout regular siege operations, and this fact, coupled \vith a report vvhich he had received dur-ing his march. determined him to return to Aspendus.
Climbing upvvards from the village, vve pass the sparse remains of the stadium. This structure vvas about 180 meters long, vvith the seats on the vvest side resting on a long vaulted gallery, vvhile on the east side they vvere built against the natura! slope of the ground.
We then come to the lovver gate, vvhich belongs to a later period of fortification vvhen the tovvnspeople moved dovvn from the acropolis to be closer to their farms on the plain belovv. This gate resembles the main entryvvay at Perge but on a smaller scale, comprising a horseshoe-shaped inner court vvith a tovver on either side. A short distance to the left of the gate vve see the remains of a gymnasium, vvhich vvas later converted to the epis-copal palace of the bishop vvhose see included both Sillyum and Perge,
The approach to the upper city vvas on the vvest side of the plateau, vvhere the slope is less precipitous, though stili too steep for a direct ascent. İt vvas thus necessary to build an elab-
DoorJamb at Sillyum with Inscriplion in Pamphylian
Vtew ojIhe Acropoi
orate ramp that ascended t o the upper gate from both the north and the south, a structure dating from the Hellenistic period. A short stretch of the upper end of the northern ramp is preserved along vvith its stone pavement, vvhile a much longer section of the southern ramp survives in its lovver part. The southern ramp is extremely impressive, vvith a roadvvay 5.2 meters vvide, its outer retaining vvall standing to a height of nine or ten courses, supported at intervals by massive buttresses.The vvall also con-tains a number of large vvindovvs, indicating that the ramp vvas probably roofed to give protection to part of the populace dur-ing times of siege. Above the ramp vve see tvvo great bastions on the southvvestern corner of the plateau, part of the Heilenistic defense vvorks of the upper city.
Belovv the ramp vve see part of the necropolis of Sillyum, vvhose tombs are thus described by George Bean: "The tombs are simple rectangular graves sunk into the surfaces of large masses of fallen rock, vvith steps leading up; they vvere closed vvith separate lids, but none of these novv remain. in many cases holes may be seen for the pouring of libations to the dead." The burials in the necropolis range in date from the third century B.c. to the sixth century A.D., vvith most of the extant graves dating from the Roman imperial period.
Southvvesl of the necropolis vve see the only remaining tovver of the late fortification vvall, a handsome and vvel I-preserved structure in tvvo slories, lacking only its roof. The northern door on the ground floor has a horizontal lintel, vvhile the southern one is archcd; from the upper story, doors on the east and vvest sides led to the ramparts.There are narrovv vvindovvs halfvvay up on the north and south vvalls, vvhile near the top there are smaller openings on ali four sides.
Al the top of the ramp vve come to the upper gate, the main entrance to the acropolis. Most of the extant buildings in the upper city are in the southvvestern sector of the acropolis, to the right of the upper gate as one enters.
türe is a large Byzantine building—as yet unidentified—stand-ing to almost its full height, vvith arched vvindovvs high in its tvvo remaining vvalls. Just beyond that there are tvvo smailer and very attractive Hellenistic buildings. The larger of these, vvhich may have been a public hail, is vvell preserved in part; its vvest vvall is 55 meters long and stands to a height of more than 6 meters, pierced by ten vvindovvs of various sizes. The other building is much smailer, its most remarkable feature being its elaborately decorated door, vvhose right jamb is covered vvith a lengthy inscription dating from ca. 200 B.C. This is the principal evi-dence for the Pamphylian language, vvhich othervvise is knovvn only through a fevv short inscriptions and legends on coins. The inscription here runs to thirty-seven lines, interrupted by a scjuare hole that vvas aftervvards cut in the jamb. it is vvritten in the Greek language and expresses a local Greek dialect that remained in use until the first century A.D. As George Bean remarks of the inscription: "Individual vvords and phrases may be made out but the text as a vvhole is stili obscure."
South of these tvvo buildings vve see the upper four rovvs of the seats of a theater, the rest of vvhich vvas carried avvay vvhen the edgc of the cliff collapsed in a tremendous landslide in the spring of 1969. An odeion just to the east of the theater also dis-appeared in this landslide, in vvhose rubble belovv vve see half of a cistern.
East of the former sites of the theater and the odeion vve see the remains of an attractive complex of private houses, perched on the southern rim of the plateau. The vvalls of the houses are partly of masonry, partly hevvn from the natural rock; they stand on little terraces linked by rock-hevvn stairvvays.flanking narrovv lanes, looking like the mountain villages one stili sees today on the Greek islands of the Aegean.
At the eastern end of this coınplex there are the remains of a small Hellenistic temple measuring J1.3 by 7.62 meters. The east front of the temple originally had four columns. The south
vvall of the cclla has disappeared in a collapsc of the cliff, but the other three vvalls remain, standing in places up to eight courses of handsome masonry. Beyond the temple is a long underground cistern vvith gratings in the roadvvay.
At the vvestern end of the aeropolis vve see the remains of another small temple looking out över the rim of the plateau.
le temple is poorly preserved and has lost much of its original
rm in reconstructions. Beyond it at the northeastern corner of *:e aeropolis there are the remains of a tovver.
We novv vvalk back tovvard the upper gate along the northvvest im of the plateau, passing numerous cisterns and rock-hevvn house foundations. As vve approach the upper gate vve pass a domed building that may have been a mosque during the Seljuk
period,
We novv return to Highvvay 400 and continue driving eastvvard for another seventeen kilometers, before turning left on a road signposted for ancient Aspendus, vvhich is fi ve kilometers up the fertile valley of the Köprü Çayı, the river knovvn in antiquity as Seljuk Briçime över the Eurymedon
Ihe Eurymedon. A short vvay along the road \ve pass a hump-backed Seljuk bridge of the thirteenth century that stili spans the river. Just upstream from this vve see in the river bed the ruins of a Roman bridge of the second century A.D. Then as vve approach the site of Aspendus vve see tvvo outlying ruins of the ancient city. These have been identified as a Roman bath com-plex and a gymnasium, both dating from the second century A.D. Then finaily at the road's end vve come to the great theater of Aspendus, vvith the aeropolis hill of the ancient city rising up directly behind it.
Archaeological evidence has confirmed that the aeropolis hill vvas first occupied in the late Bronze Age, vvhich vvould be con-sistent vvith the tradition that Aspendus vvas another of the cities founded by the "mixed multitudes," in this case led by the seer Mopsus. Coins minted here from the early fifth century B.c. through the follovving century give the name of the city as Estvvediiys, vvhich has led some seholars to suggest that Aspendus vvas founded by the Hittite prince Azitavvadda, vvho deseribes himself as a descendant of Mukas, vvho may be the person the Greeks knevv as Mopsus. Local Greek tradition vvas unanimous in aseribing the foundation of the city to men of Argos in the Peloponnesus. This is consistent vvith the legend that the first cities in Pamphylia vvere founded by the "mixed multitudes," vvhich vvould have ineluded the Argivcs, the main force in Agamemnon's army at the siege of Troy.
ANTALYA TO ALANYA
We novv leave Antalya and begin driving eastvvard on Highvvay 400.This takes us through the heart of the Pamphylian plain, vvhich stretches off to the east betvveen the Mediterranean and the Taurus mountains.
Pamphylia is a Greek vvord that means "the land of ali the tribes."This stems from the tradition that the fırst Greek settlers of Pamphylia \vere the "mixed multitudes" of people \vho vvan-dered here after the fail of Troy, led by the seers Calchas, Mopsus, and Amphilochus. The legends vary, one being that Calchas died at Claros vvhen defeated by Mopsus in a contest of divination, as related by Hesiod in his Melampodia. But another story telis of hovv Calchas vvent on to Pamphylia and, together vvith Mopsus, founded the city of Perge. Mopsus and Amphilochus are said to have continued on into Cilicia, found-ing cities along the way, most notably Mallus, after vvhich they quarreled and killed one another in single combat.
The earliest reference to the Pamphylians is by Herodotus, vvho in book VII of his Histories describes their contingenl in the fleet of Xerxes: "The Pamphylians contributed thirty ships. Their armor was Greek. These people are descended from the Greeks vvho follovved Amphilochus and Calchas vvhen the army vvas dispersed after the capture of Troy."
Strabo quotes Herodotus in his description of Pamphylia,also referring to an earlier source on this great migration, namely Callinus of Ephesus, vvriting in the early seventh century B.C.
from Troy; and that most of them remained here, but that some vvere scat-tered to numerous places on earth. Callinus says that Calchas died in Claros, but that the peoples led by Mopsus passed över the Taurus, and that, though some remained in Pamphylia. the others vvere dispersed in Cilicia, and also in Syria as far even as Phoenicia.
These Greek founding legends are seldom based on factual evidence, but in the case of Pamphylia there are reasons for believing in the great migration of the "mixed multitudes" along the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia at the end of the Bronze Age. Recent studies of Hittite records seem to shovv that Mopsus may be a historical figüre associated vvith the founding of a city in this region ca. 1200 B.C.
As \ve drive through the Pamphylian plain vve see camel cara-vans of Yuruk nomads strung out along the road in their immemorial trek betvveen their vvinter encampments on the coast and their yaylas, or summer pastures, in the highland meadovvs of the Taurus and Lycian mountains, their black goat-hair tents visible among the groves of olives and bananas, their \vay of life unehanged in its essentials since theTurks first made their vvay into Anatolia in the mid-eleventh century.
Soon the highvvay veers inland and brings us deeper into the plain as it erosses the Düden Çayı, a stream that flovvs into the sea auhe supposed site of Magydus, a lost city that preceded Attaleia as the principal port of Pamphylia. Then, some sixteen kilometers out of Antalya, vve come to Aksu, vvhere a signposted road on our left leads to the site of ancient Perge. The scene here has changed little since Charles Fellovvs visited Perge in 1840, as vve gather from reading his Travels and Researches in Lycia (1856):
Continuing my route for eight miles further, I pitehed my tent amidst the ruins of Perge: near me vvas a small encampment of shepherds vvho had brought their catıle to pasture amidst the ruins. The first object that strikes the trav-eller is the extreme beauty of the situation of the ancient tovvn, lying betvveen and upon the sides of tvvo hills, vviıh an extensive valley in front, vvatered by the riverCcstrus.and backed by the mountains of the Taurus....
Perge vvas believed by its citizens to have been one of the cities established by the "mixed multitudes" after the Trojan Wars, revering as their founders Calchas and Mopsus. The long-held belief in this foundation legend is evidenced by the inserip-tions on tvvo statue bases from the second century A.D. found at Perge in 1953, vvith dedications to "the founder Calchas of Argos, son of Thestor," and "the founder Mopsus of Delphi, son of Apollo." Calchas is first mentioned by Homer in book I of The lliad, vvhere he is praised for his divinatory povvers: "Calchas, Thestor's son, far the best of the bird interpreters/vvho knovvs ali things that vvere, the things to come and the things past."
The earliest mention of Perge is by the geographer knovvn as the Pseudo-ScyIax, vvriting in the mid-fourth century B.c. Othervvise the city first appears in history in 333 B.C. vvhen the Pergeans vvelcomed Alexander and provided guides to lead him from Phaselis in Lycia into Pamphylia. After the death of Alexander, Perge vvas held in turn by the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, and Pergamene kingdoms. it became part of the Roman province of Asia in 129 B.c and prospered during the Roman imperial era, vvhen many of its finest edifices vvere construeted.
Perge is renovvned as the birthplace of one of the greatest mathematicians of the Hellenistic age. This vvas Apollonius of Perge, vvho vvas born here ca. 260 B.C. and studied at Alexandria vvith the pupils of Euclid, after vvhich he lived in Pergamum under the patronage of Attalus I. While at Pergamum Apollonius completed his Conics, in vvhich he shovved that the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola are ali seetions of a cone, a vvork that vvas to be of crucial importance in the European scientific revo-lution of the seventeenth century.
assembly is held every year." The temple is shovvn on the coins of Perge and in reliefs, as vvell as being mentioned in a number of inscriptions. But the temple of Artemis Pergaea has never been found, though archaeologists continue to search for it.
Perge seems to have been one of the earliest centers for the spread of Christianity in the region. Paul visited Perge on his first missionary journey, ca. A.D. 47, as vve read in Acts 13 and 14:
Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Pamphylia vvhere John left them to go back to Jerusalem. The others carried on from Perge till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they vvent to synagogue on the sabbath and took their seats . . .They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then. after proclaiming the vvord at Perge they went dovvn to Attaleia and from there sailed to Antioch. vvhere they had originally been commanded to the grace of God for the \vork they had novv completed.
Perge vvas represented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the Council of Ephesus in 431. By then it had the status of a met-ropolitan bishopric, vvhich it shared with the nearby tovvn of Sillyum. Perge continued to be an important place until the medieval Byzantine period, vvhen the Persian and Arab inva-sions caused many of its inhabitants to flee from the region. it never recovered thereafter, and it vvas little more than a village vvhen it fell to the Seljuks in 1078, vvith the Ottomans eventual-ly taking it in 1392. The Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited the site ca. 1660, vvhen it vvas knovvn as Tekke Hisarı, and described it thus in his Seyahatname (Narrative of Travels): 'There are no guards, no soldiers, commandant or any important official.The place is inhabited only by seventy or eighty house-holds of the Türkmen tribe. They migrate to the summer pas-tures in July. .. ."
The approach road brings us first to the theater, vvhich together vvith the stadium just to its north is on the left outside the gates of the ancient city. The fairly vvell-preserved theater vvas built in the Hellcnistic period and remodeled in the imperial Roman era. The cavea is more than a semicircle and is separated from the
stage building by a pair of paradoi in the Greek style. The para¬pet separating the orchestra from the front rovv of seats vvas erected in the late Roman era, providing protection for the spec-tators during gladiatorial combats and spectacles involving vvild animals. There is a single diazoma, vvith tvventy-six rovvs of seats belovv and thirteen above, the seating capacity e'stimated at 15,000. An arcaded gallery runs around the top tier of the cavea, and at the middle of its arc there is an entrance from the hillside behind the theater. There are also entrances from the hillside on either side at the level of the diazoma, vvhere there are tvvo large passages knovvn as vomitoria since, as it vvere, they vomited spectators at the end of a performance.
Theater al I'er^e
The tvvo-tiered stage building, erected in the latter half of the second century A.D., stili stands to a considerable height, vvith a handsome vaulted hail vvell preserved in the bottom story. The stage building stood on a narrovv podium decorated vvith a frieze of panels representing mythological scenes, some of vvhich have been recovered in rccent excavations. A number of these reliefs contain scenes İroni the life of Dionysus, god of the theater. One extraordinary relief shovvs Artemis Pergaea, vvho is wearing a tali headdress in the form of an inverted cone, with the fıgures of eighteen of her devotees represented in three tiers belovv. The five niches in the high vvall abutting the back of the stage build-ing indicate that a nymphaeum vvas erected here in the late Roman era, vvith each of the recesses containing a vvater basin that served as a public fountain.
Rctiej in Tlu'altrr al Pcr^c: Dionysus with Satyr and Bacchanles
The stadium, vvhich vvas probably erected in the second cen-tury A.D., is one of the best preserved in Asia Minör after that of Aphrodisias. The structure is 34 meters vvide and 234 meters long, vvith the sphendone (curved end) on the notth, vvhile at the straight south end there vvas a monumental entryvvay, of vvhich only a fevv fragments remain. The tiers of seats are supported by barrel vaults. Belovv the seats on the east side there are thirty intercomm'unicating chambers opening to the outside of the sta¬dium, vvith every third room also giving access to a passagevvay that led around the periphery of the arena. The other tvventy
Stadium al ferge
chambers vvere shops; some of them bear inscriptions giving the name of their ovvner or, in tvvo cases, his trade.
We novv approach the outer gate of the city, to the right of vvhich there are the scanty remains of a funerary monument erected late in the Hadrianicera.This is identified by an inscrip-tion as a memorial to the lady Plancia Magna, vvhose name appears in a score of places in Perge as a benefactress of the city. Plancia vvas a high priestess of Artemis and of the mother of the gods, and she also held the office of demiourgos, the highest post in the civic hierarchy of the city. She vvas the vvife of M. Plancius Varus, vvho had been a Roman senatör in the reign of Nero (r. 54-68) and had served as proconsul of Bithynia under Vespasian (r. 69-79). Their son, C. Plancius Varus, vvas a successful athlete in his youth and then vvent on to be consul under Hadrian.
The Hellenistic vvall is well preserved, particularly on the east side, and sevcral of its tovvers are stili standing to their full height; it contains three large gates—on the west, east, and south—as vvell as several posterns. The shattercd round tovvers of the orig¬inal Hellenistic south gate can be seen framed in the portal of the late Roman entryvvay as vve approach the entrance to the city. The inner and outer gates are connected by curtain vvalls of Roman date, vvith the east vvall ending at the agora. During the reign of Septimius Severus (r. 193-211) a nymphaeum and a splendid Corinthian propylon vvere built into the vvest curtain vvall, vvith the latter leading to a huge Roman bath. Beyond the propylon there are three niches in the vvest curtain vvall; these contained statues that vvere discovered by Professor Arif Müfit Mansel during his excavations in 1943-45. Tvvo of the statues are of Plancia Magna, one of vvhich is novv on exhibit in the Antalya museum. Outside the east curtain vvall vve see the remains of a basilica that vvas converted into a church in the early Byzantine period.
The inner gatevvay, vvith its tvvo splendid round tovvers of aslı¬lar masonry, is ali that remains of the original south vvall of the Hellenistic city, demolished vvhen the outer gate and its flank-ing vvalls vvere erected in the fourth century A.D. inside the gate¬vvay there vvas a magnificent courtyard of horseshoe shape; from here one entered the city via a tvvo-storied gatevvay vvith three portals, endovved by Plancia Magna ca. 120. Around the periphery of the courtyard there are niches that önce contained statues, more of vvhich stood on a ledge at the foot of the vvall. Excavations in 1954-56 recovered the bases of nine of these statues along vvith their inscriptions, vvhich record that they vvere dedicated to the founders of the city. These "founders" included Calchas and Mopsus and five mythological figures,all
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA II
Coionnaded Central Avenue al Perge
of them obscure, along vvith M. Plancius Varus and his son C. Plancius Varus, vvith Plancia Magna being mentioned in both of their inscriptions.
The courtyard vvithin the inner gatevvay opens on to the beginning of a coionnaded vvay extending northvvard for some 400 meters, vvith its marble pavemerrt stili bearing the ruts of vvagon vvheels. This vvas the main avenue of Perge, flanked by shops and divided dovvn its middle by a vvater channel fed by a nymphaeum at its upper end. (Note the corrugated surface of a piece of marble by one of the basins, a place vvhere the vvomen of Perge did their laundry.) On either side of the street there vvere colonnades, many of vvhose marble columns are stili standing, at least in part. A number of columns are decorated at the top vvith reliefs, one of vvhich shovvs Artemis carrying her bovv and arrovvs and a torch; another depicts Apollo, and a third has a male figüre in a toga pouring a libation.
Pamphylia is a Greek vvord that means "the land of ali the tribes."This stems from the tradition that the fırst Greek settlers of Pamphylia \vere the "mixed multitudes" of people \vho vvan-dered here after the fail of Troy, led by the seers Calchas, Mopsus, and Amphilochus. The legends vary, one being that Calchas died at Claros vvhen defeated by Mopsus in a contest of divination, as related by Hesiod in his Melampodia. But another story telis of hovv Calchas vvent on to Pamphylia and, together vvith Mopsus, founded the city of Perge. Mopsus and Amphilochus are said to have continued on into Cilicia, found-ing cities along the way, most notably Mallus, after vvhich they quarreled and killed one another in single combat.
The earliest reference to the Pamphylians is by Herodotus, vvho in book VII of his Histories describes their contingenl in the fleet of Xerxes: "The Pamphylians contributed thirty ships. Their armor was Greek. These people are descended from the Greeks vvho follovved Amphilochus and Calchas vvhen the army vvas dispersed after the capture of Troy."
Strabo quotes Herodotus in his description of Pamphylia,also referring to an earlier source on this great migration, namely Callinus of Ephesus, vvriting in the early seventh century B.C.
from Troy; and that most of them remained here, but that some vvere scat-tered to numerous places on earth. Callinus says that Calchas died in Claros, but that the peoples led by Mopsus passed över the Taurus, and that, though some remained in Pamphylia. the others vvere dispersed in Cilicia, and also in Syria as far even as Phoenicia.
These Greek founding legends are seldom based on factual evidence, but in the case of Pamphylia there are reasons for believing in the great migration of the "mixed multitudes" along the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia at the end of the Bronze Age. Recent studies of Hittite records seem to shovv that Mopsus may be a historical figüre associated vvith the founding of a city in this region ca. 1200 B.C.
As \ve drive through the Pamphylian plain vve see camel cara-vans of Yuruk nomads strung out along the road in their immemorial trek betvveen their vvinter encampments on the coast and their yaylas, or summer pastures, in the highland meadovvs of the Taurus and Lycian mountains, their black goat-hair tents visible among the groves of olives and bananas, their \vay of life unehanged in its essentials since theTurks first made their vvay into Anatolia in the mid-eleventh century.
Soon the highvvay veers inland and brings us deeper into the plain as it erosses the Düden Çayı, a stream that flovvs into the sea auhe supposed site of Magydus, a lost city that preceded Attaleia as the principal port of Pamphylia. Then, some sixteen kilometers out of Antalya, vve come to Aksu, vvhere a signposted road on our left leads to the site of ancient Perge. The scene here has changed little since Charles Fellovvs visited Perge in 1840, as vve gather from reading his Travels and Researches in Lycia (1856):
Continuing my route for eight miles further, I pitehed my tent amidst the ruins of Perge: near me vvas a small encampment of shepherds vvho had brought their catıle to pasture amidst the ruins. The first object that strikes the trav-eller is the extreme beauty of the situation of the ancient tovvn, lying betvveen and upon the sides of tvvo hills, vviıh an extensive valley in front, vvatered by the riverCcstrus.and backed by the mountains of the Taurus....
Perge vvas believed by its citizens to have been one of the cities established by the "mixed multitudes" after the Trojan Wars, revering as their founders Calchas and Mopsus. The long-held belief in this foundation legend is evidenced by the inserip-tions on tvvo statue bases from the second century A.D. found at Perge in 1953, vvith dedications to "the founder Calchas of Argos, son of Thestor," and "the founder Mopsus of Delphi, son of Apollo." Calchas is first mentioned by Homer in book I of The lliad, vvhere he is praised for his divinatory povvers: "Calchas, Thestor's son, far the best of the bird interpreters/vvho knovvs ali things that vvere, the things to come and the things past."
The earliest mention of Perge is by the geographer knovvn as the Pseudo-ScyIax, vvriting in the mid-fourth century B.c. Othervvise the city first appears in history in 333 B.C. vvhen the Pergeans vvelcomed Alexander and provided guides to lead him from Phaselis in Lycia into Pamphylia. After the death of Alexander, Perge vvas held in turn by the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, and Pergamene kingdoms. it became part of the Roman province of Asia in 129 B.c and prospered during the Roman imperial era, vvhen many of its finest edifices vvere construeted.
Perge is renovvned as the birthplace of one of the greatest mathematicians of the Hellenistic age. This vvas Apollonius of Perge, vvho vvas born here ca. 260 B.C. and studied at Alexandria vvith the pupils of Euclid, after vvhich he lived in Pergamum under the patronage of Attalus I. While at Pergamum Apollonius completed his Conics, in vvhich he shovved that the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola are ali seetions of a cone, a vvork that vvas to be of crucial importance in the European scientific revo-lution of the seventeenth century.
assembly is held every year." The temple is shovvn on the coins of Perge and in reliefs, as vvell as being mentioned in a number of inscriptions. But the temple of Artemis Pergaea has never been found, though archaeologists continue to search for it.
Perge seems to have been one of the earliest centers for the spread of Christianity in the region. Paul visited Perge on his first missionary journey, ca. A.D. 47, as vve read in Acts 13 and 14:
Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Pamphylia vvhere John left them to go back to Jerusalem. The others carried on from Perge till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they vvent to synagogue on the sabbath and took their seats . . .They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then. after proclaiming the vvord at Perge they went dovvn to Attaleia and from there sailed to Antioch. vvhere they had originally been commanded to the grace of God for the \vork they had novv completed.
Perge vvas represented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the Council of Ephesus in 431. By then it had the status of a met-ropolitan bishopric, vvhich it shared with the nearby tovvn of Sillyum. Perge continued to be an important place until the medieval Byzantine period, vvhen the Persian and Arab inva-sions caused many of its inhabitants to flee from the region. it never recovered thereafter, and it vvas little more than a village vvhen it fell to the Seljuks in 1078, vvith the Ottomans eventual-ly taking it in 1392. The Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited the site ca. 1660, vvhen it vvas knovvn as Tekke Hisarı, and described it thus in his Seyahatname (Narrative of Travels): 'There are no guards, no soldiers, commandant or any important official.The place is inhabited only by seventy or eighty house-holds of the Türkmen tribe. They migrate to the summer pas-tures in July. .. ."
The approach road brings us first to the theater, vvhich together vvith the stadium just to its north is on the left outside the gates of the ancient city. The fairly vvell-preserved theater vvas built in the Hellcnistic period and remodeled in the imperial Roman era. The cavea is more than a semicircle and is separated from the
stage building by a pair of paradoi in the Greek style. The para¬pet separating the orchestra from the front rovv of seats vvas erected in the late Roman era, providing protection for the spec-tators during gladiatorial combats and spectacles involving vvild animals. There is a single diazoma, vvith tvventy-six rovvs of seats belovv and thirteen above, the seating capacity e'stimated at 15,000. An arcaded gallery runs around the top tier of the cavea, and at the middle of its arc there is an entrance from the hillside behind the theater. There are also entrances from the hillside on either side at the level of the diazoma, vvhere there are tvvo large passages knovvn as vomitoria since, as it vvere, they vomited spectators at the end of a performance.
Theater al I'er^e
The tvvo-tiered stage building, erected in the latter half of the second century A.D., stili stands to a considerable height, vvith a handsome vaulted hail vvell preserved in the bottom story. The stage building stood on a narrovv podium decorated vvith a frieze of panels representing mythological scenes, some of vvhich have been recovered in rccent excavations. A number of these reliefs contain scenes İroni the life of Dionysus, god of the theater. One extraordinary relief shovvs Artemis Pergaea, vvho is wearing a tali headdress in the form of an inverted cone, with the fıgures of eighteen of her devotees represented in three tiers belovv. The five niches in the high vvall abutting the back of the stage build-ing indicate that a nymphaeum vvas erected here in the late Roman era, vvith each of the recesses containing a vvater basin that served as a public fountain.
Rctiej in Tlu'altrr al Pcr^c: Dionysus with Satyr and Bacchanles
The stadium, vvhich vvas probably erected in the second cen-tury A.D., is one of the best preserved in Asia Minör after that of Aphrodisias. The structure is 34 meters vvide and 234 meters long, vvith the sphendone (curved end) on the notth, vvhile at the straight south end there vvas a monumental entryvvay, of vvhich only a fevv fragments remain. The tiers of seats are supported by barrel vaults. Belovv the seats on the east side there are thirty intercomm'unicating chambers opening to the outside of the sta¬dium, vvith every third room also giving access to a passagevvay that led around the periphery of the arena. The other tvventy
Stadium al ferge
chambers vvere shops; some of them bear inscriptions giving the name of their ovvner or, in tvvo cases, his trade.
We novv approach the outer gate of the city, to the right of vvhich there are the scanty remains of a funerary monument erected late in the Hadrianicera.This is identified by an inscrip-tion as a memorial to the lady Plancia Magna, vvhose name appears in a score of places in Perge as a benefactress of the city. Plancia vvas a high priestess of Artemis and of the mother of the gods, and she also held the office of demiourgos, the highest post in the civic hierarchy of the city. She vvas the vvife of M. Plancius Varus, vvho had been a Roman senatör in the reign of Nero (r. 54-68) and had served as proconsul of Bithynia under Vespasian (r. 69-79). Their son, C. Plancius Varus, vvas a successful athlete in his youth and then vvent on to be consul under Hadrian.
The Hellenistic vvall is well preserved, particularly on the east side, and sevcral of its tovvers are stili standing to their full height; it contains three large gates—on the west, east, and south—as vvell as several posterns. The shattercd round tovvers of the orig¬inal Hellenistic south gate can be seen framed in the portal of the late Roman entryvvay as vve approach the entrance to the city. The inner and outer gates are connected by curtain vvalls of Roman date, vvith the east vvall ending at the agora. During the reign of Septimius Severus (r. 193-211) a nymphaeum and a splendid Corinthian propylon vvere built into the vvest curtain vvall, vvith the latter leading to a huge Roman bath. Beyond the propylon there are three niches in the vvest curtain vvall; these contained statues that vvere discovered by Professor Arif Müfit Mansel during his excavations in 1943-45. Tvvo of the statues are of Plancia Magna, one of vvhich is novv on exhibit in the Antalya museum. Outside the east curtain vvall vve see the remains of a basilica that vvas converted into a church in the early Byzantine period.
The inner gatevvay, vvith its tvvo splendid round tovvers of aslı¬lar masonry, is ali that remains of the original south vvall of the Hellenistic city, demolished vvhen the outer gate and its flank-ing vvalls vvere erected in the fourth century A.D. inside the gate¬vvay there vvas a magnificent courtyard of horseshoe shape; from here one entered the city via a tvvo-storied gatevvay vvith three portals, endovved by Plancia Magna ca. 120. Around the periphery of the courtyard there are niches that önce contained statues, more of vvhich stood on a ledge at the foot of the vvall. Excavations in 1954-56 recovered the bases of nine of these statues along vvith their inscriptions, vvhich record that they vvere dedicated to the founders of the city. These "founders" included Calchas and Mopsus and five mythological figures,all
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA II
Coionnaded Central Avenue al Perge
of them obscure, along vvith M. Plancius Varus and his son C. Plancius Varus, vvith Plancia Magna being mentioned in both of their inscriptions.
The courtyard vvithin the inner gatevvay opens on to the beginning of a coionnaded vvay extending northvvard for some 400 meters, vvith its marble pavemerrt stili bearing the ruts of vvagon vvheels. This vvas the main avenue of Perge, flanked by shops and divided dovvn its middle by a vvater channel fed by a nymphaeum at its upper end. (Note the corrugated surface of a piece of marble by one of the basins, a place vvhere the vvomen of Perge did their laundry.) On either side of the street there vvere colonnades, many of vvhose marble columns are stili standing, at least in part. A number of columns are decorated at the top vvith reliefs, one of vvhich shovvs Artemis carrying her bovv and arrovvs and a torch; another depicts Apollo, and a third has a male figüre in a toga pouring a libation.
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
The tvvo islands mentioned by Hamilton are Can Ada and Yeşilada, the latter connected to the mainland by a causevvay. During Ottoman times Yeşilada vvas inhabited entirely by Christians, many of vvhose houses have survived, along vvith an abandoned Greek church.
We novv continue aiong Highvvay 330, \vhich takes us around the southern end of Eğirdir Gölü and then up the lake's eastern shore. After passing the village of Mahmut on the eastern shore of the lake \ve come to a Seljuk caravanserai known as the Ertokuş Hanı. The caravanserai is dated by an inscription to 1229. it is partially in ruins but stili impressive. The main entryvvay is a double one, the inner gate being flanked by tvvo small chambers. This leads into the central aisle of a large court flanked by four pairs of vaulted chambers. At the end of the court another gatevvay leads into the central aisle of the cara-vanserai's main hail, flanked by t\vo narrovver side aisles, ali three divisions covered \vith ogive-arched vaults. The outer vvalls of this hail are reinforced vvith four angular bastions for defense; these are mentioned by Hamilton in his deseription of the han, which he records in hisjournal for 28 September 1836:
Soon after len we reachcd a largc ruined building ncar the lake, called a khan. where the mountains becoming more woodcd as we advanced. approached to the \vater's edge. The northern end of the khan was built of large square stones, \vith projecıing angles and tovvers for delence. An Arabic inscription was over one of the doors. İn early days these khans in many parts of Asia served as placcs of refugc and safety from the vvander-ing nomadic tribes.
The Yuruks, a nomadic shepherd people, can stili be seen along the roads of southern Turkey, looking insi as Hamilton deseribed them on his approach to the Ertokuş Hanı, though they are no longer armed:
On this plain we met a dark and swarthy Buruquc. \vhose occupation vvas in strik-"ing contrast with his appearance: he was armcd to the teeth vvith pistol.dirk and
NORTH FROM ANTALYA 45
yataghan |a curved s\vord|, leading a camel. and spinning a coarse black thrcad from a handful of goats' hair which he held in his hand. Their black tents are made of this coarse material.and consistof long pieces of cloth.supported by three poles and stretehed out by three cords, so that they do not reach the ground, the upright part of the tent being generally made of reeds tied together. . . We also passed some strong and vvell-construcled carts, superior to any I had seen in Asia Minör.
Farther to the north, near Yalvaç, Hamilton had passed a Yuruk encampment, and the scene that hc deseribed is unehanged today, as these nomads perpetuate their vvay of life along this ancient caravan route betvveen central Anatolia and the Mediterranean coast.
About six miles from Yalobatch, quitting the river as it flows through a deep and rocky ravine to the left, \ve ascended a range of limestone hills to an elevated plain, w here we fell in wiıh a busy scene, viz. the halt of a tribe of Euruques, who had just reached the ground ready for their encampment. Each family, vvith its herd of camels and mares, and flocks of shcep and goats, took up a separate station; the vvomen vvere busy unrolling their tent-clolhs and driving in the vvooden pegs, vvhilc the camels knelt dovvn side by side vvaiting patiently to be relicved of their loads, and then strolled avvay to the neighbouring hills to graze on the dry grass and thorny shrubs; the men mounted on their horses vvere galloping about shouting aloud,and giv-ing their orders in every direetion vvith an air of great importance. Each string of five or six camels vvas alvvays preceded by an ass.
We follovv Highvvay 330 as it Icaves the shore of Eğirdir Gölü and curves inland tovvard the northeast, passing the tovvn of Geiendost. Eleven kilometers beyond Gelendost vve turn left on Highvvay 32-08, signposted for Yalvaç. After fifteen kilometers vve come to aT-junction, vvhere vve turn left on Highvvay 320 and soon come to Yalvaç, a tovvn set at an altitude of 1,100 meters on the right bank of the river knovvn in antiquity as the Anthius. Yalvaç vvill be our base for visiting ancient Antiocheia in Pisidia, vvhich is about tvvo kilometers northvvest of the tovvn. Numerous architectural fragments of the ancient city are built into the local mosques and other buildings of the tovvn, vvith a number of antiq-uities from the archacological site exhibited in the local museum.
NORTHFROM ANTALYA 47
The city vvas probably founded by the Seleucid king Antiochus I (r. 280-261 B.C.), for \vhom it is named. it is called Antiocheia in Pisidia, or Pisidian Antioch, to distinguish it t'rom the half-dozen other cities of that name founded by Antiochus I —the most notable being Antioch on the Orontes, the Seleucid capital, now the Turkish tovvn of Antakya. After the defeat of Antiochus III at the battle of Magnesia in 189 B.C., the treaty of Apameia madc Antiocheia a free and independent city. it retaincd this stalus ııntil 39 B.C, vvhen it came under the control of the Galatian king Amyntas, and after his death in 25 B.c. it revcrted to the Romans. The Romans then established a colony here named Colonia Caesarca Antiocheia, but by the end of ıhe first century A.D. the city had reverted to its original name.
Paul visited Pisidian Antioch on his first missionary journey (ca. A.D. 47) along \vith Barnabas. Here Paul addressed the con-gregation gathercd in the synagogue on the Sabbath, his first recordcd sermon, beginning \vith these vvords: "Men of Israel and fearers of God, listen!" Paul's message aroused great inter-est among the congregation and they invited him to speak again the follovving Saturday, as recorded in Acts 13:42:
The next sabbalh almosi the whole tovvn assembled to hear the word of God. When they savv the crovvds, the Jevvs, prompted by jealousy, uscd blas-phemies and contradieted everylhing Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. 'We had to proelaim the vvord of üod to you first, but since you havc rejected it. since you do not think yourself worthy of elernal life, vve must turn to the pagans. For this is vvhal the Lord commanded us to do \vhcn ne said:
I have made you a light for the nations,
sp that my salvalion might reach (he ends of the earth.'
İt made the pagans very happy to hear this and they ıhankcd the Lord for his message; ali who \verc destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the vvord of Ihe Lord sprcad through the vvhole countryside.
But the Jevvs vvorked upon some of the devout vvomen of the upper class-es and the leading men of the city and persuaded ıhcm to turn against Paul and Barnabas and cxpel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet and vvent of!" to Iconium, but the disciples vvere fillcd vvith joy and the Holy Spiril.
48
PAMPHYL1A AND PISIDIA I
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
49
Pisidian Antioch continued to be an important city during the Byzantine period, surviving the Arab invasions and the initial Turkish raids after the Seljuk victory över the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071. The army of the First Crusade, led by Bohemund and Tancred, stopped here in 1097 after their long march across the central Anatolian plateau.The city fınally fell to the Tıırks in the t\vclfth or thirteenth century, after vvhieh it \vas abandoned and fell into ruins, with the Turkish tovvn of Yalvaç developing near its site. Hamilton was one of the first foreign travelers to explore the site of Pisidian Antioch, which he describes in his journal for 27 Scptember 1836:
1 startcd early ıhis morning lo sce ıhe ruins. which arc about a mile and a hail' Irom Yalobatch. The sile ol" ıhe to\vn is covered with huge blocks of marble, and ıhe first ruin I saw was an oblong building consisıing of an inner and an outerwall,extending from S. E.to N. W.Thcouterwall isbuilt of rough blocks of blue semi-cryslalline limestone four feet in ıhickness, and is formed of t\vo rovvs of largc stones placed edgeways.The inner wall, vvhieh is also a parallelogram. is built of white scaglia limestone. The length. ineluding the thickness of the inner wall. is 73 paces, or about 180 feet, and ils breadth 21 paces or 60 feet. İt has been a temple or a church, perhaps each in succession. About 200 yards to the N. E. are the remains of another massivc building on the brow of the hill facing N. W.; bencath arc two arehed vaults, one of them leading into scveral subterranean chambers; above this is a Hat terrace, \viıh the foundations of other massive walls beyond. One of the most striking fcatures is the ruined aqueduct. consider-able remains of \vhich are stili standing....
Rcturning from the aqueducl lo the corner of the \vall, vvhieh appears to have been conneeted \vith it, I observed a low narro\v pavement exlcnding from il S. E. by S. into the interiorof the town. From thence ıhe ground rises lo Ihe S. E. to the top of the hill a quarter of a mile distant. vvhieh was prob¬ably the Acropolis, and ihen falls rapidly to a deep ravine on Ihe east. Near Ihe summit a curious semicircular hollovv has been excavatcd in the rocky side of the hill to the N. W., in the centre of vvhieh a large mass of solid rock tvventy feet si|uare. and hollovved out into a square chamber, has been left standing. Masscs of highly fınished marble corniccs, vvith several broken fluted columns ivvo feet eighı inehes in diameter. are scatlered about the hollovv, and on the perpendicular face of the rock a rovv of small squarc holes has been cut out ali round.aboullen feet from the ground. as if for the inscrıion of beams. İt has probably been the adytum of a temple, for ıhe
remains of a portico can be seen in front, vvith broken columns, cornices, and other fragments. Antioch vvas celebrated in its early days for the vvor-ship of Men Arcaeus. and it is not unlikely that this building may have been conneeted vvith the vvorship of that deity, perhaps the Menes of the Lydians. At the back of the Acropolis is a deep ravine, vvatered by the stream ihat flovvs through Yalobatch, probably the Anteus of antiquity. on the banks of vvhieh Antioch seems to have been situated. The remainder of the day vvas spent in copying inseriptions ... They vvere ali in Latin, vvith the exception of No. 177, on a sareophagus. I vvas fortunate to find one vvith the vvords ANTIOCHEAECAESARE; the remainder having been entirely effaced. İn turning över a large column to copy an inseription vve disturbed some curi¬ous red and black-spotted loads of the most disgusting ugliness.
The site of Pisidian Antioch vvas excavated in the years 1912-29 by archaeologists from the University of Michigan. The first monument that vve come upon is a ruined triple-arehed Corinthian propylaeum, probably dating from the refounding of the city by Augustus as a Roman colony. The relief of a Nike can stili be seen on the gate. When the American archaeologists began their vvork here they found a long inseription in Latin on the temple. This proved to be the famous Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Achievements of the Deified Augustus), a politi-cal autobiography of the emperor vvhieh he completed on 11 May A.D. 14. The record vvas deposited vvith the vestal virgins until his death one hundred days later; then, in accordance vvith the instruetions of the Roman senate, it vvas carved on bronze tablets outside the emperor's mausoleum and inseribed on the vvalls of every temple of Augustus throughout the empire. The Res Gestae begins vvith the follovving preamble: "Subjoined is a copy made of the exploits of the deified Augustus, by vvhieh he brought the vvhole vvorld under the empire of the Roman people ..." Among the many imperial exploits recorded in the inserip¬tion is a census that Augustus ordered in the tvventieth year of his reign. This is the very census of vvhieh Luke vvrites in his Gospel, the one that led Joseph to journey vvith Mary to Bethlehem for the enrolment, vvhere she gave birth to her child. N.B. When the Christian calendar vvas first adopted it erred by seven years in setting the date of Christ's birth.
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PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
The central square of the Roman city vvas the Augusta Platea, dedicated to Augustus; this was approached from the west via a tvvo-tiered portico, Ionic at ground level and Doric above. The square vvas bounded on its eastern side by the "curious semicir-cular hollovv" mentioned by Hamilton. This vvas the site of a temple dedicated to the deified Augustus and to the Phrygian fertility god knovvn as Men Arcaeus, as Hamilton suggested. Architectural fragments scattered around the site indicate that the temple, dated to the second quarter of the first century A.D., had a tetrastyle (four-columned) Corinthian porch and vvas dec-orated vvith tvvo sculptured friezes, one vvith bull heads.
in front of the propylaeum there vvas another square, knovvn as the Tiberia Platea, dedicated to the emperor Tiberius (r. 14-37). On the north side of the square there are the remains of a stoa vvith shops. At the southvvest corner of the square the American archaeologists unearthed the remains of a round building erected by Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-80). A short distance to the vvest of the Tiberia Platea vve see the remains of a cruciform Byzantine church. Northvvest of the square there are the ruins of a Byzantine basilica vvith a mosaic pavement; an inscription found here records the name of Optimus, vvho vvas bishop of Pisidian Antioch in the years 375-81.
Other monuments farther out from the city center include a Roman bath and a nymphaeum, as vvell as the aqueduct men¬tioned by Hamilton. Ali that remains of the theater is its cavea carved out of the slope of the hill, its seats and other parts of its structure having been carried off by the people of Yalvaç to build •their houses.The li-ttle museum in Yalvaç has antiquities ranging from the middle of the third millennium B.C. to the fourth cen¬tury A.D.,as vvell as an ethnographical section vvith exhibits from the Turkish era.
We novv continue eastvvard on Highvvay 320. After passing Ihe village of Kumdamı this takes us along the northern shore of Eğirdir Gölü. Midvvay along the shore vve pass Taşevi, vvhere there is a panoramic vievv aeross the northern expanse of the
NORTH FROM ANTALYA 51
lake, knovvn as Hayran Gölü. Hamilton deseribes this vievv in his journal for 28 September 1836:
The vievv över the lake vvas magnificent. and the vast expanse of vvater, spread out as it vvere at our feet, vvas a most grateful sight after the barren plains and hills över vvhich vve had so long been travelling. But the shape of the lake vvas very different from vvhat 1 had expected, for after contraeting to a vvidth of very little more than a mile, at a spot three miles to the vvest of the hill.it again suddenly expands.forming another large though lessexten-sive sheet of vvater, vvhich, although entirely part of the lake of Eğerdir, is called in the country Hoiran Ghieul .. .The day had been particularly fine, and the atmosphere clear, and I never remember to have vvitnessed a more glorious sunset, or more brilliant and deeper hues than refleeted from the mountains to the S. E. as I returned aeross the plain.They appeared like hills of purple. vvhile the vvestern sky glovved like a sca of gold.
After passing the lake the highvvay takes us southvvestvvard betvveen tvvo parallel mountain ranges, vvith Karakuş Dağı to the north and Barladağ to the south. At Uluborlu vve come to the site of ancient Apollonia, knovvn in the Byzantine era as Sozopolis. The site has yielded large quantities of coins and numerous inseriplions, but no trace remains of the ancient city.
Tvventy-one kilometers beyond Uluborlu vve come to a T-junc-tion, vvhere vve turn right on Highvvay 650.Then after nineteen kilo¬meters vve turn left on Highvvay 650, vvhich after another fıvc kilo¬meters brings us to Dinar, a tovvn set.at an altitude of 880 meters.
Dinar is the ancient Apameia Cibotus, built by Antiochus I in the second quarter of the third century B.C. and named for his mother Apame.The city vvas built in the foothills of the moun¬tains above the east side of a rich plain on the borderland betvveen Pisidia and Phrygia, vvhere the headvvaters of the Maeander are joined by four other streams. it vvas founded near the aeropolis of an earlier settlement named Celaenae, vvhose people vvere relocated in Apameia by Antiochus. The city gave its name to the Treaty of Apameia, signed in 188 B.C, a year after the ballle of Magnesia ended the vvar betvveen the Seleucid king Antiochus III on one side and the Romans and their
52
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
53
Rhodian and Pergamene allies on the other. According to the terms of the treaty, Antiochus gave up ali of his possessions in vvestern Asia Minör, with most of his former territory being awarded to Pergamum. After the fail of the Pergamene king-dom, Apameia was annexed by Rome in 129 B.c. Early in the follovving century it vvas destroyed in one of the earthquakes to vvhich the region is subject, after vvhich it vvas repaired by Mithridates VI of Pontus. After the fail of Mithridates, Apameia came under the control of Rome, and early in the Roman impe-rial era it became one of the most prosperous cities in Asia Minör. As Strabo vvriies in book XIII of his Geography: "Apameia is a great emporium of Asia, I mean Asia in the spe-cial meaning of that term |i.e., Asia Minör], and ranks second only to Ephesus, for it is a common entrepöt for the merchan-dise from both Italy and Greece."
Apameia vvas overrun in the Arab and Turkish invasions, vvhich together vvith the frequent earthquakes that it suffered utterly destroyed vvhat vvas left of the ancient city. Thus Dinar today has no historic monuments of note, vvith even its more recent buildings destroyed by a severe earthquake in 1995.
We leave Dinar on Highvvay 625, vvhich takes us southeast for thirty-tvvo kilometers to a junction, vvhere—on the left— Highvvay 625 heads off to İsparta and—on the right—Highvvay 650 leads to Burdur. We turn off onto Highvvay 650, vvhich after tvventy-four kilometers brings us around the eastern end of Burdur Gölü to the tovvn of Burdur.
Burdur is the ancient Arcania Limnae, vvhich acquired its pre- ' sent name early in the Turkish period. The traveler Ibn Battuta, vvho visited Burdur in the mid-fourteenth century, described it as "a small place vvith many orchards and streams, and a small fortress on a hilltop." Hamilton describes the tovvn, vvhich he calls Buldur, in his journal for 3 Octobcr 1836:
At half-past five vve were near Buldur, situated on the sloping sides of the hills vvhich rise up like an amphitheatre in a semicircular form, in advance of vvhich are several lovver hills covered vvith houses. The tovvn vvith the suburbs covers a large space of ground, as many of the houses have gardens attached to them.The vvhole presents a striking and picturesque appearance. Buldur is said to contain 5000 houses, of vvhich a considerable proportion are Greek. I visited the bazaars, vvhich are crovvded vvith a picturesque col-lection of molley groups from the neighbouring villages.
The oldest monument in the tovvn is the Ulu Cami, built by the Hamitoğlu emir, Dündar Bey, in the fourteenth century. The ear-liest Ottoman monument is the Bulgurlu Medrese, vvhich novv houses the archaeological museum.The museum has objects dat-ing from the Neolithic Age through the Byzantine period from archaeological sites in northern Pisidia, the most important being Hacılar. There are also a number of fine old Ottoman houses in Burdur that have been restored and are öpen to the public.
We novv make an excursion southvvestvvard on Highvvay 330, vvhich at first takes us along the southern shore of Burdur Gölü. Knovvn in antiquity as Lake Ascania, Burdur Gölü is the fourlh largest of the Pisidian lakes. it measures thirty-tvvo kilometers southvvest to northeast and a maximum of eight kilometers in vvidth, its surface being at an elevation of 845 meters.
The road veers inland before reaching the southvvest end of the lake. Then, tvventy-five kilometers from Burdur, it brings us to Hacılar, a village about 1,500 meters from the archaeological site to vvhich it has given its name.
The archaeological site of Hacılar vvas excavated in the years 1957-60 by James Mellaart for the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara. Mellaart unearthed nine levels of human occupation, the lovvest and earliest dating from the seventh mil-lennium B.c. in vvhich houses made of mud brick vvere found. Some of the finds from Hacılar are exhibited in the Burdur museum and in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, the most striking being the statuettes of the Anatolian mother goddess, the oldest of vvhich vvere found here.
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PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
We novv retrace our route to Burdur, after vvhich we head southeast on Highvvay 650. This takes us över the Çelikçi Pass at an altitude of 1,226 meters, after vvhich the road descends steeply until it veers eastvvard to approach its junction vvith Highvvay 685, thirty kilometers from Burdur. At the junction vve head south on Highvvay 650, vvhich takes us from the Pisidian highlands to the Pamphylian plain, vvhere vve end our itinerary in Antalya.
We novv continue aiong Highvvay 330, \vhich takes us around the southern end of Eğirdir Gölü and then up the lake's eastern shore. After passing the village of Mahmut on the eastern shore of the lake \ve come to a Seljuk caravanserai known as the Ertokuş Hanı. The caravanserai is dated by an inscription to 1229. it is partially in ruins but stili impressive. The main entryvvay is a double one, the inner gate being flanked by tvvo small chambers. This leads into the central aisle of a large court flanked by four pairs of vaulted chambers. At the end of the court another gatevvay leads into the central aisle of the cara-vanserai's main hail, flanked by t\vo narrovver side aisles, ali three divisions covered \vith ogive-arched vaults. The outer vvalls of this hail are reinforced vvith four angular bastions for defense; these are mentioned by Hamilton in his deseription of the han, which he records in hisjournal for 28 September 1836:
Soon after len we reachcd a largc ruined building ncar the lake, called a khan. where the mountains becoming more woodcd as we advanced. approached to the \vater's edge. The northern end of the khan was built of large square stones, \vith projecıing angles and tovvers for delence. An Arabic inscription was over one of the doors. İn early days these khans in many parts of Asia served as placcs of refugc and safety from the vvander-ing nomadic tribes.
The Yuruks, a nomadic shepherd people, can stili be seen along the roads of southern Turkey, looking insi as Hamilton deseribed them on his approach to the Ertokuş Hanı, though they are no longer armed:
On this plain we met a dark and swarthy Buruquc. \vhose occupation vvas in strik-"ing contrast with his appearance: he was armcd to the teeth vvith pistol.dirk and
NORTH FROM ANTALYA 45
yataghan |a curved s\vord|, leading a camel. and spinning a coarse black thrcad from a handful of goats' hair which he held in his hand. Their black tents are made of this coarse material.and consistof long pieces of cloth.supported by three poles and stretehed out by three cords, so that they do not reach the ground, the upright part of the tent being generally made of reeds tied together. . . We also passed some strong and vvell-construcled carts, superior to any I had seen in Asia Minör.
Farther to the north, near Yalvaç, Hamilton had passed a Yuruk encampment, and the scene that hc deseribed is unehanged today, as these nomads perpetuate their vvay of life along this ancient caravan route betvveen central Anatolia and the Mediterranean coast.
About six miles from Yalobatch, quitting the river as it flows through a deep and rocky ravine to the left, \ve ascended a range of limestone hills to an elevated plain, w here we fell in wiıh a busy scene, viz. the halt of a tribe of Euruques, who had just reached the ground ready for their encampment. Each family, vvith its herd of camels and mares, and flocks of shcep and goats, took up a separate station; the vvomen vvere busy unrolling their tent-clolhs and driving in the vvooden pegs, vvhilc the camels knelt dovvn side by side vvaiting patiently to be relicved of their loads, and then strolled avvay to the neighbouring hills to graze on the dry grass and thorny shrubs; the men mounted on their horses vvere galloping about shouting aloud,and giv-ing their orders in every direetion vvith an air of great importance. Each string of five or six camels vvas alvvays preceded by an ass.
We follovv Highvvay 330 as it Icaves the shore of Eğirdir Gölü and curves inland tovvard the northeast, passing the tovvn of Geiendost. Eleven kilometers beyond Gelendost vve turn left on Highvvay 32-08, signposted for Yalvaç. After fifteen kilometers vve come to aT-junction, vvhere vve turn left on Highvvay 320 and soon come to Yalvaç, a tovvn set at an altitude of 1,100 meters on the right bank of the river knovvn in antiquity as the Anthius. Yalvaç vvill be our base for visiting ancient Antiocheia in Pisidia, vvhich is about tvvo kilometers northvvest of the tovvn. Numerous architectural fragments of the ancient city are built into the local mosques and other buildings of the tovvn, vvith a number of antiq-uities from the archacological site exhibited in the local museum.
NORTHFROM ANTALYA 47
The city vvas probably founded by the Seleucid king Antiochus I (r. 280-261 B.C.), for \vhom it is named. it is called Antiocheia in Pisidia, or Pisidian Antioch, to distinguish it t'rom the half-dozen other cities of that name founded by Antiochus I —the most notable being Antioch on the Orontes, the Seleucid capital, now the Turkish tovvn of Antakya. After the defeat of Antiochus III at the battle of Magnesia in 189 B.C., the treaty of Apameia madc Antiocheia a free and independent city. it retaincd this stalus ııntil 39 B.C, vvhen it came under the control of the Galatian king Amyntas, and after his death in 25 B.c. it revcrted to the Romans. The Romans then established a colony here named Colonia Caesarca Antiocheia, but by the end of ıhe first century A.D. the city had reverted to its original name.
Paul visited Pisidian Antioch on his first missionary journey (ca. A.D. 47) along \vith Barnabas. Here Paul addressed the con-gregation gathercd in the synagogue on the Sabbath, his first recordcd sermon, beginning \vith these vvords: "Men of Israel and fearers of God, listen!" Paul's message aroused great inter-est among the congregation and they invited him to speak again the follovving Saturday, as recorded in Acts 13:42:
The next sabbalh almosi the whole tovvn assembled to hear the word of God. When they savv the crovvds, the Jevvs, prompted by jealousy, uscd blas-phemies and contradieted everylhing Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. 'We had to proelaim the vvord of üod to you first, but since you havc rejected it. since you do not think yourself worthy of elernal life, vve must turn to the pagans. For this is vvhal the Lord commanded us to do \vhcn ne said:
I have made you a light for the nations,
sp that my salvalion might reach (he ends of the earth.'
İt made the pagans very happy to hear this and they ıhankcd the Lord for his message; ali who \verc destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the vvord of Ihe Lord sprcad through the vvhole countryside.
But the Jevvs vvorked upon some of the devout vvomen of the upper class-es and the leading men of the city and persuaded ıhcm to turn against Paul and Barnabas and cxpel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet and vvent of!" to Iconium, but the disciples vvere fillcd vvith joy and the Holy Spiril.
48
PAMPHYL1A AND PISIDIA I
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
49
Pisidian Antioch continued to be an important city during the Byzantine period, surviving the Arab invasions and the initial Turkish raids after the Seljuk victory över the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071. The army of the First Crusade, led by Bohemund and Tancred, stopped here in 1097 after their long march across the central Anatolian plateau.The city fınally fell to the Tıırks in the t\vclfth or thirteenth century, after vvhieh it \vas abandoned and fell into ruins, with the Turkish tovvn of Yalvaç developing near its site. Hamilton was one of the first foreign travelers to explore the site of Pisidian Antioch, which he describes in his journal for 27 Scptember 1836:
1 startcd early ıhis morning lo sce ıhe ruins. which arc about a mile and a hail' Irom Yalobatch. The sile ol" ıhe to\vn is covered with huge blocks of marble, and ıhe first ruin I saw was an oblong building consisıing of an inner and an outerwall,extending from S. E.to N. W.Thcouterwall isbuilt of rough blocks of blue semi-cryslalline limestone four feet in ıhickness, and is formed of t\vo rovvs of largc stones placed edgeways.The inner wall, vvhieh is also a parallelogram. is built of white scaglia limestone. The length. ineluding the thickness of the inner wall. is 73 paces, or about 180 feet, and ils breadth 21 paces or 60 feet. İt has been a temple or a church, perhaps each in succession. About 200 yards to the N. E. are the remains of another massivc building on the brow of the hill facing N. W.; bencath arc two arehed vaults, one of them leading into scveral subterranean chambers; above this is a Hat terrace, \viıh the foundations of other massive walls beyond. One of the most striking fcatures is the ruined aqueduct. consider-able remains of \vhich are stili standing....
Rcturning from the aqueducl lo the corner of the \vall, vvhieh appears to have been conneeted \vith it, I observed a low narro\v pavement exlcnding from il S. E. by S. into the interiorof the town. From thence ıhe ground rises lo Ihe S. E. to the top of the hill a quarter of a mile distant. vvhieh was prob¬ably the Acropolis, and ihen falls rapidly to a deep ravine on Ihe east. Near Ihe summit a curious semicircular hollovv has been excavatcd in the rocky side of the hill to the N. W., in the centre of vvhieh a large mass of solid rock tvventy feet si|uare. and hollovved out into a square chamber, has been left standing. Masscs of highly fınished marble corniccs, vvith several broken fluted columns ivvo feet eighı inehes in diameter. are scatlered about the hollovv, and on the perpendicular face of the rock a rovv of small squarc holes has been cut out ali round.aboullen feet from the ground. as if for the inscrıion of beams. İt has probably been the adytum of a temple, for ıhe
remains of a portico can be seen in front, vvith broken columns, cornices, and other fragments. Antioch vvas celebrated in its early days for the vvor-ship of Men Arcaeus. and it is not unlikely that this building may have been conneeted vvith the vvorship of that deity, perhaps the Menes of the Lydians. At the back of the Acropolis is a deep ravine, vvatered by the stream ihat flovvs through Yalobatch, probably the Anteus of antiquity. on the banks of vvhieh Antioch seems to have been situated. The remainder of the day vvas spent in copying inseriptions ... They vvere ali in Latin, vvith the exception of No. 177, on a sareophagus. I vvas fortunate to find one vvith the vvords ANTIOCHEAECAESARE; the remainder having been entirely effaced. İn turning över a large column to copy an inseription vve disturbed some curi¬ous red and black-spotted loads of the most disgusting ugliness.
The site of Pisidian Antioch vvas excavated in the years 1912-29 by archaeologists from the University of Michigan. The first monument that vve come upon is a ruined triple-arehed Corinthian propylaeum, probably dating from the refounding of the city by Augustus as a Roman colony. The relief of a Nike can stili be seen on the gate. When the American archaeologists began their vvork here they found a long inseription in Latin on the temple. This proved to be the famous Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Achievements of the Deified Augustus), a politi-cal autobiography of the emperor vvhieh he completed on 11 May A.D. 14. The record vvas deposited vvith the vestal virgins until his death one hundred days later; then, in accordance vvith the instruetions of the Roman senate, it vvas carved on bronze tablets outside the emperor's mausoleum and inseribed on the vvalls of every temple of Augustus throughout the empire. The Res Gestae begins vvith the follovving preamble: "Subjoined is a copy made of the exploits of the deified Augustus, by vvhieh he brought the vvhole vvorld under the empire of the Roman people ..." Among the many imperial exploits recorded in the inserip¬tion is a census that Augustus ordered in the tvventieth year of his reign. This is the very census of vvhieh Luke vvrites in his Gospel, the one that led Joseph to journey vvith Mary to Bethlehem for the enrolment, vvhere she gave birth to her child. N.B. When the Christian calendar vvas first adopted it erred by seven years in setting the date of Christ's birth.
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PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
The central square of the Roman city vvas the Augusta Platea, dedicated to Augustus; this was approached from the west via a tvvo-tiered portico, Ionic at ground level and Doric above. The square vvas bounded on its eastern side by the "curious semicir-cular hollovv" mentioned by Hamilton. This vvas the site of a temple dedicated to the deified Augustus and to the Phrygian fertility god knovvn as Men Arcaeus, as Hamilton suggested. Architectural fragments scattered around the site indicate that the temple, dated to the second quarter of the first century A.D., had a tetrastyle (four-columned) Corinthian porch and vvas dec-orated vvith tvvo sculptured friezes, one vvith bull heads.
in front of the propylaeum there vvas another square, knovvn as the Tiberia Platea, dedicated to the emperor Tiberius (r. 14-37). On the north side of the square there are the remains of a stoa vvith shops. At the southvvest corner of the square the American archaeologists unearthed the remains of a round building erected by Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-80). A short distance to the vvest of the Tiberia Platea vve see the remains of a cruciform Byzantine church. Northvvest of the square there are the ruins of a Byzantine basilica vvith a mosaic pavement; an inscription found here records the name of Optimus, vvho vvas bishop of Pisidian Antioch in the years 375-81.
Other monuments farther out from the city center include a Roman bath and a nymphaeum, as vvell as the aqueduct men¬tioned by Hamilton. Ali that remains of the theater is its cavea carved out of the slope of the hill, its seats and other parts of its structure having been carried off by the people of Yalvaç to build •their houses.The li-ttle museum in Yalvaç has antiquities ranging from the middle of the third millennium B.C. to the fourth cen¬tury A.D.,as vvell as an ethnographical section vvith exhibits from the Turkish era.
We novv continue eastvvard on Highvvay 320. After passing Ihe village of Kumdamı this takes us along the northern shore of Eğirdir Gölü. Midvvay along the shore vve pass Taşevi, vvhere there is a panoramic vievv aeross the northern expanse of the
NORTH FROM ANTALYA 51
lake, knovvn as Hayran Gölü. Hamilton deseribes this vievv in his journal for 28 September 1836:
The vievv över the lake vvas magnificent. and the vast expanse of vvater, spread out as it vvere at our feet, vvas a most grateful sight after the barren plains and hills över vvhich vve had so long been travelling. But the shape of the lake vvas very different from vvhat 1 had expected, for after contraeting to a vvidth of very little more than a mile, at a spot three miles to the vvest of the hill.it again suddenly expands.forming another large though lessexten-sive sheet of vvater, vvhich, although entirely part of the lake of Eğerdir, is called in the country Hoiran Ghieul .. .The day had been particularly fine, and the atmosphere clear, and I never remember to have vvitnessed a more glorious sunset, or more brilliant and deeper hues than refleeted from the mountains to the S. E. as I returned aeross the plain.They appeared like hills of purple. vvhile the vvestern sky glovved like a sca of gold.
After passing the lake the highvvay takes us southvvestvvard betvveen tvvo parallel mountain ranges, vvith Karakuş Dağı to the north and Barladağ to the south. At Uluborlu vve come to the site of ancient Apollonia, knovvn in the Byzantine era as Sozopolis. The site has yielded large quantities of coins and numerous inseriplions, but no trace remains of the ancient city.
Tvventy-one kilometers beyond Uluborlu vve come to a T-junc-tion, vvhere vve turn right on Highvvay 650.Then after nineteen kilo¬meters vve turn left on Highvvay 650, vvhich after another fıvc kilo¬meters brings us to Dinar, a tovvn set.at an altitude of 880 meters.
Dinar is the ancient Apameia Cibotus, built by Antiochus I in the second quarter of the third century B.C. and named for his mother Apame.The city vvas built in the foothills of the moun¬tains above the east side of a rich plain on the borderland betvveen Pisidia and Phrygia, vvhere the headvvaters of the Maeander are joined by four other streams. it vvas founded near the aeropolis of an earlier settlement named Celaenae, vvhose people vvere relocated in Apameia by Antiochus. The city gave its name to the Treaty of Apameia, signed in 188 B.C, a year after the ballle of Magnesia ended the vvar betvveen the Seleucid king Antiochus III on one side and the Romans and their
52
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
53
Rhodian and Pergamene allies on the other. According to the terms of the treaty, Antiochus gave up ali of his possessions in vvestern Asia Minör, with most of his former territory being awarded to Pergamum. After the fail of the Pergamene king-dom, Apameia was annexed by Rome in 129 B.c. Early in the follovving century it vvas destroyed in one of the earthquakes to vvhich the region is subject, after vvhich it vvas repaired by Mithridates VI of Pontus. After the fail of Mithridates, Apameia came under the control of Rome, and early in the Roman impe-rial era it became one of the most prosperous cities in Asia Minör. As Strabo vvriies in book XIII of his Geography: "Apameia is a great emporium of Asia, I mean Asia in the spe-cial meaning of that term |i.e., Asia Minör], and ranks second only to Ephesus, for it is a common entrepöt for the merchan-dise from both Italy and Greece."
Apameia vvas overrun in the Arab and Turkish invasions, vvhich together vvith the frequent earthquakes that it suffered utterly destroyed vvhat vvas left of the ancient city. Thus Dinar today has no historic monuments of note, vvith even its more recent buildings destroyed by a severe earthquake in 1995.
We leave Dinar on Highvvay 625, vvhich takes us southeast for thirty-tvvo kilometers to a junction, vvhere—on the left— Highvvay 625 heads off to İsparta and—on the right—Highvvay 650 leads to Burdur. We turn off onto Highvvay 650, vvhich after tvventy-four kilometers brings us around the eastern end of Burdur Gölü to the tovvn of Burdur.
Burdur is the ancient Arcania Limnae, vvhich acquired its pre- ' sent name early in the Turkish period. The traveler Ibn Battuta, vvho visited Burdur in the mid-fourteenth century, described it as "a small place vvith many orchards and streams, and a small fortress on a hilltop." Hamilton describes the tovvn, vvhich he calls Buldur, in his journal for 3 Octobcr 1836:
At half-past five vve were near Buldur, situated on the sloping sides of the hills vvhich rise up like an amphitheatre in a semicircular form, in advance of vvhich are several lovver hills covered vvith houses. The tovvn vvith the suburbs covers a large space of ground, as many of the houses have gardens attached to them.The vvhole presents a striking and picturesque appearance. Buldur is said to contain 5000 houses, of vvhich a considerable proportion are Greek. I visited the bazaars, vvhich are crovvded vvith a picturesque col-lection of molley groups from the neighbouring villages.
The oldest monument in the tovvn is the Ulu Cami, built by the Hamitoğlu emir, Dündar Bey, in the fourteenth century. The ear-liest Ottoman monument is the Bulgurlu Medrese, vvhich novv houses the archaeological museum.The museum has objects dat-ing from the Neolithic Age through the Byzantine period from archaeological sites in northern Pisidia, the most important being Hacılar. There are also a number of fine old Ottoman houses in Burdur that have been restored and are öpen to the public.
We novv make an excursion southvvestvvard on Highvvay 330, vvhich at first takes us along the southern shore of Burdur Gölü. Knovvn in antiquity as Lake Ascania, Burdur Gölü is the fourlh largest of the Pisidian lakes. it measures thirty-tvvo kilometers southvvest to northeast and a maximum of eight kilometers in vvidth, its surface being at an elevation of 845 meters.
The road veers inland before reaching the southvvest end of the lake. Then, tvventy-five kilometers from Burdur, it brings us to Hacılar, a village about 1,500 meters from the archaeological site to vvhich it has given its name.
The archaeological site of Hacılar vvas excavated in the years 1957-60 by James Mellaart for the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara. Mellaart unearthed nine levels of human occupation, the lovvest and earliest dating from the seventh mil-lennium B.c. in vvhich houses made of mud brick vvere found. Some of the finds from Hacılar are exhibited in the Burdur museum and in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, the most striking being the statuettes of the Anatolian mother goddess, the oldest of vvhich vvere found here.
54
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
We novv retrace our route to Burdur, after vvhich we head southeast on Highvvay 650. This takes us över the Çelikçi Pass at an altitude of 1,226 meters, after vvhich the road descends steeply until it veers eastvvard to approach its junction vvith Highvvay 685, thirty kilometers from Burdur. At the junction vve head south on Highvvay 650, vvhich takes us from the Pisidian highlands to the Pamphylian plain, vvhere vve end our itinerary in Antalya.
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
The caravanserai is at the foot of the Çubuk Pass, vvhich at its crest is 925 meters above sea level, at vvhich point vve leave Pamphylia and enter the highlands of Pisidia. Referring to the geographer Artemidorus of Ephesus, \vho vvrote ca. 100 B.C, Strabo describes Pisidia in book XII of his Ceography, vvhere he vvrites about the Pisidians after his account of their neighbors to the north, the Lycaonians:
Contiguous lo ihese are the Pisidians, and in particular the Selgeis, who are ıhe most notable of the Pisidians. Novv the grealest part ol" thenı occupy the sunınıils of the Taurus, but some. situated above Side and Aspendus, Pamphylian cities, occupy hiily places.everyvvhere planted vvith olivc trees; and the region above this (we are now in ıhe mouıitains) is occupied by the Catanneis, whose country borders on that of the Selgeis and the Homonaeis; but the Sagalasseis occupy the region this side the Taurus that faces Milyas. Artemidorus says that ıhe cities of the Pisidians are Selgc, Sagallasus, Petnelissus, Adada, Tymbriada. Cremna, Pityassus, Amblada. Anabura, Sinda, Aarassus, Tarbassus, and Termessos. Of these, some are entirely in the mountains, vvhile others extend cven as far as the foot-hills on either side, to both Pamphylia and Milyas. and border on the Phrygians and the Lydians and the Carians. \vhich are ali peaceable tribes, although they are situated tou'ards the north .. .And the nature of the region is vvonderful, for among the summits of the Taurus there is a country vvhich can supporl tens of ihousands of inhabitanıs and is so fertile ıhaı it is planted vvith the olive in many places, and vvith fine vineyards, and produces abundant pasture for catıle of ali kinds: and above this country, ali round il, lie forests of various kinds of timber.
Just beyond the Çubuk Pass a signposted road on the left leads to the site of ancient Ariassos, a drive of about one kilo-meter. This is the city that Strabo, quoting Artemidorus, calls Aarassus. The site vvas discovered in 1885 by Austrian arehae-ologists, vvbo incorrectly identified it as Cretopolis. The correct identificalion vvas made in 1892 by French epigraphers, vvho deciphered inseriptions on the site and also found coins of Ariassos dating from the Hellenistic period to the mid-third cen-tury A.D. The site vvas surveyed in 1988-89 by a team of British archacologists headcd by Stephcn Mitchell, vvho identified the extant monııments and mapped the site.
Roımın Galemıy al Arias.uı.s
The ancient city vvas built at the bottom and on the terraced orth slope of a steep-sided valley, vvilh the original Hellenistic civic cenler to the southvvest and the later Roman tovvn to the northeast. The most prominent monument is a three-arched monumental Roman gatevvay at the northcastern end of the val¬ley, an almost perfectly preserved strueture standing to its full height of some 12 meters. The gatevvay is dated to the period A.D. 220-40. The consoles on its facade originally supported honorific statucs. The main street of the Roman tovvn led soııth-vvestvvard to the forum, novv occupied by the ruins of an carly Byzantine basilican ehureh. The basilica, 23.4 meters long and 14.4 meters vvide, comprised a cenlral nave flanked by a pair of aisles, vvith a narthex on the vvest and a semicircular apse vvith a synthronon at the cast—the chamber at the southvvest corner probably being the bapiistery. The street continues beyond the forum to a gymnasium-bath :>mplc.\, dated by inseriptions lo the first half of the third cen-Ury A.D. One of the inseriptions, bearing the date A.D. 214-15,
26
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
is from thc base of a statııe of ihe emperor Caracalla (r. 211 -17). At the southvvest end of the valley there are the remains of a Roman nymphaeum.
The buildings of the Hellenistic civic center were grouped around a small paved agora at the southvveslern end of the valley. The remains of the bouleuterion are on the north side, a rectangu-lar structure measuring some 18 by 14 melers. w idi ten rpws of seats arrayed around a small orehestra. Opposite the bouleuterion are the ruins of a small prostyle temple, and to the southvvest there is a small building that may havc becn the prytaneion, or senate house.
There are extensive burial grounds outside the city to the east, south, and southvvest. The monuments inelude lidded cists, sar-cophagi, and at least t\venty-five mausolea, many of them vvell preserved.
We novv return to the main highvvay and continue driving north. After about fi ve kilometers vve pass the village of Boğazköy. East of the village there are the ruins of a small ancient city on a hillside. An inseription has identified this as Panemoteichos, a place not mentioned by Strabo among the cities of Pisidia. The earliesl evidence of its existence comes from coins minted during the third century A.D. beginning vvith those of Caracalla and his mother Julia Domna, vvidovv of Septimius Severus. Ali that is lef t of the ancient city are some scattered architectural fragments, many of them built into the village houses. One of them, an inseribed stele, has becn set up in the center of the village; the inseription rceords the dedica-lion of a statue of Septimius Severus (r. 193-211) erceted by the council and people of Panemoteichos.
About a kilometer farther along vve turn left on the road to Korkuteli, Highvvay 635, vvhich four kilometers from the junc-tion passes the village of Kızılkaya. About five kilometers beyond Kızılkaya vve turn off to the right on a road signposted for Ürkütül, a drive of some three kilometers. This brings us
NORTH FROM ANTALYA 27
to the site of an ancient city on and around a mound knovvn as Şerefeönü Höyük. The mound is covered vvith pottery shards and roughly carved stone fragments, vvhile numerous ancient architectural fragments are scattered in the surrounding fields. George Bean identified this as Comama, vvhich Augustus (r. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14) founded as a base for the Roman army ca. 25 B.c.
Stephen Mitchell has recently identified the site of ancient Cretopoiis at the village of Yüreğil, six kilometers duc north of Şerefeönü Höyük. The earliest mention of the city is by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in his account of the cam-paign of Antigonus against Alcetas in 319 B.c. Diodorus vvrites that Antigonus marehed his forces south from Cappadocia to Pisidia as far as "the city of the Cretans," vvherc he defeated Alcetas. Alcetas then retreated to Termessos, vvhere he subse-quently commıtted suicide. The name Cretopoiis is believed to stem from the fact that Alexander settled some Crctan veterans of his army there after his campaign in Pisidia. Ali that remains of the ancient city are some architectural fragments, most of them built into the local houses, as vvell as numerous shards from the Roman period.
Returning to Highvvay 650, vve continue driving northvvard, passing on our left the shallovv lake knovvn as Kestel Gölü. At the point vvhere the highvvay comes eloseşt to the lake, vve turn right on a road that in a kilometer or so takes us to the Susuz Han, a Seljuk caravanserai built late in the reign of Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II around 1246. The building, vvhich is very vvell preserved, is square in plan, measuring 26.5 meters on a side.The elaboratcly carved entryvvay Icads to the central aisle, from vvhich five trans-verse aisles lead off on either side, ali of them covered vvith ogi ve vaults, vvith a dome on a drum over thc central erossing.
We return to the highvvay önce again and continue driving north for another nine kilometers or so. We then turn right on a road signposted for the tovvn of Bucak, a drive of three kilometers.
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
29
There is nothing of interest in the tovvn itself, but it is a base for visiting t\vo ancient Pisidian sites.
The first of these is near the village of Çamlık, a drive of about tvvelve kilometers east-northeast of Bucak. This is the site of ancient Cremna, fırst investigated in the 1880s by the Austrian Count von Lanckoronski. Nothing further vvas done until the I970s, vvhen it vvas excavated by archaeologists from istanbul University under Jale İnan; in more recent years a nevv study has been made by a British team directed by Stephen Mitchell. A large collection of Cremna's coins from the first century B.c. are novv exhibited in the Burdur Archaeological Museum.
Cremna's lofty site vvas thought to make it impregnable, though it surrendered to Alexander during his Pisidian campaign. Then in 25 B.c. it fell to King Amyntas, a client of the Romans, vvho at that time ruled much of vvest-central Asia Minör. Strabo describes the fail of Cremna and the subsequent fate of Amyntas in book XII of his Geography, vvhere he gives a vivid picture of vvarfare in the mountains of Pisidia in his ovvn time:
Novv Amyntas capturecl Cremna, and, passing inlo the country of the Honıonadeis, vvho vvere considered too strong to capture, and having novv established himsclf as master of most of these places, having cven slain their tyrant, vvas caught by treachery through the artifice of the tyrant's vvife. And he vvas pul to death by those peoplc, but Cyrinius |Sulpicius Quirinus, governor of Syria| overthrevv the inhabitants by starving them, and captured alive four thousand men and settled them in the neighbour-ing cities, leaving the country dcstitute of ali its men vvho vvere in the prime of life. İn the midst of the heights of the Taurus, vvhich are very stcep and for the most part impassable, there is a hollovv and fertile plain vvhich is divided into several valleys. But though the people tilled this plain, they lived on the overhanging brovvs of the mountains or in caves. They vvere armcd for the most part and vvere vvont to overrun the country of others, having mountains that served as vvalls about their country.
Aftcr the death of Amyntas his kingdom vvas annexed by Rome, the vvestern part becoming the province of Galatia.
30
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
Augustus established a Roman colony in Cremna and rebuilt the city's defense \valls, vvhîch three centuries later vvere restored by the emperor Probus (r. 276-82). The Iatter restoration vvas necessitated by the great damage that the \valls had suffered (ca. 270) when Cremna vvas seized by a Pisidian brigand chieftain named Lydius, vvho held out against the Romans for some time before they vvere able to recapture the city.
The ancient city is on a spectacular hilltop site high above the Aksu Çayı, the river Cestrus of antiquity. in her book Roman Colonies in Southern Asia Minör Barbara Levick describes the site \vith the follovving quote from Count von Lanckoronski:
Cremna stoocl on a plaîeau whiclı Count Lanckoronski vvell described as having the shape of the head and shoulders of a flying eagle, \vith the beak tovvards t hu east. Only on the castern side. aeross the neck of the eagle, is the site easy of access. Here the ground falls away in a gentle slope. Along the w hole length of the southem side run narrovv ledges baeked by steep cliffs, and it is on one of these that the south gate is plaeed. An cnemy \vho tried to enter by this gate vvould be at the merey of the defenders above on his left. The plateau is cut ofl on the approachable vvestern side by a line of fortifications running right aeross its vvidth. Outside this wall is the ceme-tery; vvithin a site of about ninety acres.
The hill slopes dovvn precipitously on ali sides except the vvest, vvhere an ancient road leads up to the aeropolis. The sum-mit is a long and narrovv plateau tapering irregularly to an apex on the east, measuring 1,200 meters east-vvest and 200-500 meters north-south. The ancient defense vvall that proteeted the aeropolis on its vvestern and southern sides survives to a large extent, along vvith tvvo of its gatevvays. The necropolis vvas out¬side the main gate at the vvestern end of the plateau, as evi-denced by the sareophagi lying there. There is also a ruined Byzantine church outside the vvalls at the poinl vvlıere lhe ancient road reaches the summit of the hill.
The civic center of Cremna vvas at the narrovvest part of the aeropolis, approachcd via a stoa some 150 meters in length
32
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDİA 1
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
33
flanked by t\vin colonnades, a monument dating from the reign ol' Hadrian (r. 117-138). I his Icd lo the main square of ihe Roman tovvn, the Forum Longus,dominated on its northern side by a basilica. At the northvvest corner of the forum we see the splcndid remains of a great marble stairvvay that led to a propy-lon and nymphaeum. At the foot of the stairvvay there is a dam-aged but stili beautiful relief from an exedra, its central figüre a goddess identified as Artemis. South of the forum there are the remains of a handsome library of \vhich one vvall has survived to almost its full height along vvith tvvo arches. East of the forum is the theater, vvhich faces northvvest över a stoa. At its eastern end this stoa leads to a gymnasium, and just beyond that is a pi-shaped Doric stoa knovvn as the Forum Marcellum, a structure originally erected in the Hellenistic period and rebuilt in the imperial Roman era. Other monuments include four small tem-ples and a second Byzantine church, ali of them arraycd along the northern edgc of the plateau.
The second site is t\venty-five kilometers southeast of Bucak on Highvvay 15-26. At the road's end vve come to Kocaaliler, formerly knovvn as Melli, from vvhere a \valk of about a kilo-meter to the southeast brings us to an ancient site that George Bean identified as ancient Milyas. Bean based his identificalion partly on the supposition that Melli, the former name of the nearby tovvn vvas a form of Milyas; but some authorities are not convinced by this. Bean also based his identification on a refer-ence by Strabo in book XII of his Geography. in describing Phaselis, Strabo vvrites: "Above it lies Solyma, a mountain, and alsoTermessos, a Pisidian city situated ncar the defıles, through vvhich there is a pass över the mountains to Milyas. Alexander destroycd Milyas for the reason that he vvished to öpen the defıles." The site here is near one of the passes that leads to Termessos, but ııeithcr does this fact convince many authorities, and its identification as Milyas remains in doubt.
in any event, the ancient city is situated on the top of a hill overlooking one of the tributaries of the river Cestrus. On the summit vve see the remains of a polygonal vvall dating from the early Hellenistic period. Near the summit, on the northeast slope of the hill, vve see the ruins of the Hellenistic theater, of vvhich only ten or so tiers of seats remain of the cavea, as vvell as part of its stage building. Farther dovvn the slope there are the scat-tered masonry blocks of a number of unidentified buildings.The main necropolis vvas on the northvvest slope of the hill, vvhere there are a number of sarcophagi and other funerary monuments. There is also a relief carved on a rocky hillside visible from the path that leads from the tovvn to the archaeological site.
We novv make our vvay back to the main highvvay via Bucak and continue driving north. After about a kilomcter vve turn off to the left on a road that soon brings us to the İncir Hanı, a Seljuk caravanserai built in 1239 by Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II.
The building is partly in ruins but nonetheless impressive, particularly its ornately carved entryvvay, vvhose fluted outer arch is flanked by the small figures in lovv relief of tvvo con-fronted lions. The gatevvay leads to the outer courtyard, a square area measuring 36 meters on a side. A second gatevvay leads to the caravanserai proper, 28 meters vvide and 40 meters long, comprising a central aisle flanked by seven pairs of transverse corridors, ali of them of them covered vvith ogive vaults, vvith a dome raised on a drum över the central crossing to provide light and ventilation.
Contiguous lo ihese are the Pisidians, and in particular the Selgeis, who are ıhe most notable of the Pisidians. Novv the grealest part ol" thenı occupy the sunınıils of the Taurus, but some. situated above Side and Aspendus, Pamphylian cities, occupy hiily places.everyvvhere planted vvith olivc trees; and the region above this (we are now in ıhe mouıitains) is occupied by the Catanneis, whose country borders on that of the Selgeis and the Homonaeis; but the Sagalasseis occupy the region this side the Taurus that faces Milyas. Artemidorus says that ıhe cities of the Pisidians are Selgc, Sagallasus, Petnelissus, Adada, Tymbriada. Cremna, Pityassus, Amblada. Anabura, Sinda, Aarassus, Tarbassus, and Termessos. Of these, some are entirely in the mountains, vvhile others extend cven as far as the foot-hills on either side, to both Pamphylia and Milyas. and border on the Phrygians and the Lydians and the Carians. \vhich are ali peaceable tribes, although they are situated tou'ards the north .. .And the nature of the region is vvonderful, for among the summits of the Taurus there is a country vvhich can supporl tens of ihousands of inhabitanıs and is so fertile ıhaı it is planted vvith the olive in many places, and vvith fine vineyards, and produces abundant pasture for catıle of ali kinds: and above this country, ali round il, lie forests of various kinds of timber.
Just beyond the Çubuk Pass a signposted road on the left leads to the site of ancient Ariassos, a drive of about one kilo-meter. This is the city that Strabo, quoting Artemidorus, calls Aarassus. The site vvas discovered in 1885 by Austrian arehae-ologists, vvbo incorrectly identified it as Cretopolis. The correct identificalion vvas made in 1892 by French epigraphers, vvho deciphered inseriptions on the site and also found coins of Ariassos dating from the Hellenistic period to the mid-third cen-tury A.D. The site vvas surveyed in 1988-89 by a team of British archacologists headcd by Stephcn Mitchell, vvho identified the extant monııments and mapped the site.
Roımın Galemıy al Arias.uı.s
The ancient city vvas built at the bottom and on the terraced orth slope of a steep-sided valley, vvilh the original Hellenistic civic cenler to the southvvest and the later Roman tovvn to the northeast. The most prominent monument is a three-arched monumental Roman gatevvay at the northcastern end of the val¬ley, an almost perfectly preserved strueture standing to its full height of some 12 meters. The gatevvay is dated to the period A.D. 220-40. The consoles on its facade originally supported honorific statucs. The main street of the Roman tovvn led soııth-vvestvvard to the forum, novv occupied by the ruins of an carly Byzantine basilican ehureh. The basilica, 23.4 meters long and 14.4 meters vvide, comprised a cenlral nave flanked by a pair of aisles, vvith a narthex on the vvest and a semicircular apse vvith a synthronon at the cast—the chamber at the southvvest corner probably being the bapiistery. The street continues beyond the forum to a gymnasium-bath :>mplc.\, dated by inseriptions lo the first half of the third cen-Ury A.D. One of the inseriptions, bearing the date A.D. 214-15,
26
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
is from thc base of a statııe of ihe emperor Caracalla (r. 211 -17). At the southvvest end of the valley there are the remains of a Roman nymphaeum.
The buildings of the Hellenistic civic center were grouped around a small paved agora at the southvveslern end of the valley. The remains of the bouleuterion are on the north side, a rectangu-lar structure measuring some 18 by 14 melers. w idi ten rpws of seats arrayed around a small orehestra. Opposite the bouleuterion are the ruins of a small prostyle temple, and to the southvvest there is a small building that may havc becn the prytaneion, or senate house.
There are extensive burial grounds outside the city to the east, south, and southvvest. The monuments inelude lidded cists, sar-cophagi, and at least t\venty-five mausolea, many of them vvell preserved.
We novv return to the main highvvay and continue driving north. After about fi ve kilometers vve pass the village of Boğazköy. East of the village there are the ruins of a small ancient city on a hillside. An inseription has identified this as Panemoteichos, a place not mentioned by Strabo among the cities of Pisidia. The earliesl evidence of its existence comes from coins minted during the third century A.D. beginning vvith those of Caracalla and his mother Julia Domna, vvidovv of Septimius Severus. Ali that is lef t of the ancient city are some scattered architectural fragments, many of them built into the village houses. One of them, an inseribed stele, has becn set up in the center of the village; the inseription rceords the dedica-lion of a statue of Septimius Severus (r. 193-211) erceted by the council and people of Panemoteichos.
About a kilometer farther along vve turn left on the road to Korkuteli, Highvvay 635, vvhich four kilometers from the junc-tion passes the village of Kızılkaya. About five kilometers beyond Kızılkaya vve turn off to the right on a road signposted for Ürkütül, a drive of some three kilometers. This brings us
NORTH FROM ANTALYA 27
to the site of an ancient city on and around a mound knovvn as Şerefeönü Höyük. The mound is covered vvith pottery shards and roughly carved stone fragments, vvhile numerous ancient architectural fragments are scattered in the surrounding fields. George Bean identified this as Comama, vvhich Augustus (r. 27 B.C.-A.D. 14) founded as a base for the Roman army ca. 25 B.c.
Stephen Mitchell has recently identified the site of ancient Cretopoiis at the village of Yüreğil, six kilometers duc north of Şerefeönü Höyük. The earliest mention of the city is by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in his account of the cam-paign of Antigonus against Alcetas in 319 B.c. Diodorus vvrites that Antigonus marehed his forces south from Cappadocia to Pisidia as far as "the city of the Cretans," vvherc he defeated Alcetas. Alcetas then retreated to Termessos, vvhere he subse-quently commıtted suicide. The name Cretopoiis is believed to stem from the fact that Alexander settled some Crctan veterans of his army there after his campaign in Pisidia. Ali that remains of the ancient city are some architectural fragments, most of them built into the local houses, as vvell as numerous shards from the Roman period.
Returning to Highvvay 650, vve continue driving northvvard, passing on our left the shallovv lake knovvn as Kestel Gölü. At the point vvhere the highvvay comes eloseşt to the lake, vve turn right on a road that in a kilometer or so takes us to the Susuz Han, a Seljuk caravanserai built late in the reign of Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II around 1246. The building, vvhich is very vvell preserved, is square in plan, measuring 26.5 meters on a side.The elaboratcly carved entryvvay Icads to the central aisle, from vvhich five trans-verse aisles lead off on either side, ali of them covered vvith ogi ve vaults, vvith a dome on a drum over thc central erossing.
We return to the highvvay önce again and continue driving north for another nine kilometers or so. We then turn right on a road signposted for the tovvn of Bucak, a drive of three kilometers.
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
29
There is nothing of interest in the tovvn itself, but it is a base for visiting t\vo ancient Pisidian sites.
The first of these is near the village of Çamlık, a drive of about tvvelve kilometers east-northeast of Bucak. This is the site of ancient Cremna, fırst investigated in the 1880s by the Austrian Count von Lanckoronski. Nothing further vvas done until the I970s, vvhen it vvas excavated by archaeologists from istanbul University under Jale İnan; in more recent years a nevv study has been made by a British team directed by Stephen Mitchell. A large collection of Cremna's coins from the first century B.c. are novv exhibited in the Burdur Archaeological Museum.
Cremna's lofty site vvas thought to make it impregnable, though it surrendered to Alexander during his Pisidian campaign. Then in 25 B.c. it fell to King Amyntas, a client of the Romans, vvho at that time ruled much of vvest-central Asia Minör. Strabo describes the fail of Cremna and the subsequent fate of Amyntas in book XII of his Geography, vvhere he gives a vivid picture of vvarfare in the mountains of Pisidia in his ovvn time:
Novv Amyntas capturecl Cremna, and, passing inlo the country of the Honıonadeis, vvho vvere considered too strong to capture, and having novv established himsclf as master of most of these places, having cven slain their tyrant, vvas caught by treachery through the artifice of the tyrant's vvife. And he vvas pul to death by those peoplc, but Cyrinius |Sulpicius Quirinus, governor of Syria| overthrevv the inhabitants by starving them, and captured alive four thousand men and settled them in the neighbour-ing cities, leaving the country dcstitute of ali its men vvho vvere in the prime of life. İn the midst of the heights of the Taurus, vvhich are very stcep and for the most part impassable, there is a hollovv and fertile plain vvhich is divided into several valleys. But though the people tilled this plain, they lived on the overhanging brovvs of the mountains or in caves. They vvere armcd for the most part and vvere vvont to overrun the country of others, having mountains that served as vvalls about their country.
Aftcr the death of Amyntas his kingdom vvas annexed by Rome, the vvestern part becoming the province of Galatia.
30
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDIA I
Augustus established a Roman colony in Cremna and rebuilt the city's defense \valls, vvhîch three centuries later vvere restored by the emperor Probus (r. 276-82). The Iatter restoration vvas necessitated by the great damage that the \valls had suffered (ca. 270) when Cremna vvas seized by a Pisidian brigand chieftain named Lydius, vvho held out against the Romans for some time before they vvere able to recapture the city.
The ancient city is on a spectacular hilltop site high above the Aksu Çayı, the river Cestrus of antiquity. in her book Roman Colonies in Southern Asia Minör Barbara Levick describes the site \vith the follovving quote from Count von Lanckoronski:
Cremna stoocl on a plaîeau whiclı Count Lanckoronski vvell described as having the shape of the head and shoulders of a flying eagle, \vith the beak tovvards t hu east. Only on the castern side. aeross the neck of the eagle, is the site easy of access. Here the ground falls away in a gentle slope. Along the w hole length of the southem side run narrovv ledges baeked by steep cliffs, and it is on one of these that the south gate is plaeed. An cnemy \vho tried to enter by this gate vvould be at the merey of the defenders above on his left. The plateau is cut ofl on the approachable vvestern side by a line of fortifications running right aeross its vvidth. Outside this wall is the ceme-tery; vvithin a site of about ninety acres.
The hill slopes dovvn precipitously on ali sides except the vvest, vvhere an ancient road leads up to the aeropolis. The sum-mit is a long and narrovv plateau tapering irregularly to an apex on the east, measuring 1,200 meters east-vvest and 200-500 meters north-south. The ancient defense vvall that proteeted the aeropolis on its vvestern and southern sides survives to a large extent, along vvith tvvo of its gatevvays. The necropolis vvas out¬side the main gate at the vvestern end of the plateau, as evi-denced by the sareophagi lying there. There is also a ruined Byzantine church outside the vvalls at the poinl vvlıere lhe ancient road reaches the summit of the hill.
The civic center of Cremna vvas at the narrovvest part of the aeropolis, approachcd via a stoa some 150 meters in length
32
PAMPHYLIA AND PISIDİA 1
NORTH FROM ANTALYA
33
flanked by t\vin colonnades, a monument dating from the reign ol' Hadrian (r. 117-138). I his Icd lo the main square of ihe Roman tovvn, the Forum Longus,dominated on its northern side by a basilica. At the northvvest corner of the forum we see the splcndid remains of a great marble stairvvay that led to a propy-lon and nymphaeum. At the foot of the stairvvay there is a dam-aged but stili beautiful relief from an exedra, its central figüre a goddess identified as Artemis. South of the forum there are the remains of a handsome library of \vhich one vvall has survived to almost its full height along vvith tvvo arches. East of the forum is the theater, vvhich faces northvvest över a stoa. At its eastern end this stoa leads to a gymnasium, and just beyond that is a pi-shaped Doric stoa knovvn as the Forum Marcellum, a structure originally erected in the Hellenistic period and rebuilt in the imperial Roman era. Other monuments include four small tem-ples and a second Byzantine church, ali of them arraycd along the northern edgc of the plateau.
The second site is t\venty-five kilometers southeast of Bucak on Highvvay 15-26. At the road's end vve come to Kocaaliler, formerly knovvn as Melli, from vvhere a \valk of about a kilo-meter to the southeast brings us to an ancient site that George Bean identified as ancient Milyas. Bean based his identificalion partly on the supposition that Melli, the former name of the nearby tovvn vvas a form of Milyas; but some authorities are not convinced by this. Bean also based his identification on a refer-ence by Strabo in book XII of his Geography. in describing Phaselis, Strabo vvrites: "Above it lies Solyma, a mountain, and alsoTermessos, a Pisidian city situated ncar the defıles, through vvhich there is a pass över the mountains to Milyas. Alexander destroycd Milyas for the reason that he vvished to öpen the defıles." The site here is near one of the passes that leads to Termessos, but ııeithcr does this fact convince many authorities, and its identification as Milyas remains in doubt.
in any event, the ancient city is situated on the top of a hill overlooking one of the tributaries of the river Cestrus. On the summit vve see the remains of a polygonal vvall dating from the early Hellenistic period. Near the summit, on the northeast slope of the hill, vve see the ruins of the Hellenistic theater, of vvhich only ten or so tiers of seats remain of the cavea, as vvell as part of its stage building. Farther dovvn the slope there are the scat-tered masonry blocks of a number of unidentified buildings.The main necropolis vvas on the northvvest slope of the hill, vvhere there are a number of sarcophagi and other funerary monuments. There is also a relief carved on a rocky hillside visible from the path that leads from the tovvn to the archaeological site.
We novv make our vvay back to the main highvvay via Bucak and continue driving north. After about a kilomcter vve turn off to the left on a road that soon brings us to the İncir Hanı, a Seljuk caravanserai built in 1239 by Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II.
The building is partly in ruins but nonetheless impressive, particularly its ornately carved entryvvay, vvhose fluted outer arch is flanked by the small figures in lovv relief of tvvo con-fronted lions. The gatevvay leads to the outer courtyard, a square area measuring 36 meters on a side. A second gatevvay leads to the caravanserai proper, 28 meters vvide and 40 meters long, comprising a central aisle flanked by seven pairs of transverse corridors, ali of them of them covered vvith ogive vaults, vvith a dome raised on a drum över the central crossing to provide light and ventilation.
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