Lysimachia (Thrace)
Ancient Greek: Λυσιμάχεια | |
Location | Kavakköy, Gelibolu, Çanakkale, Gulf of Saros, Turkey |
---|---|
Region | Thrace |
Coordinates | 40°35′N 26°53′E / 40.583°N 26.883°E |
Type | Settlement |
History | |
Builder | Lysimachus |
Founded | 309 BC |
Lysimachia (
History
The city was built by Lysimachus in 309 BC, when he was preparing for war with his rivals; for the new city, being situated on the isthmus, commanded the road from Sestos to the north and the mainland of Thrace. In order to obtain inhabitants for his new city, Lysimachus destroyed the neighbouring town of Cardia, the birthplace of the historian Hieronymus,[2] and settled the inhabitants of it and other Chersonesean cities here.[3] Lysimachus no doubt made Lysimachia the capital of his kingdom, and it must have rapidly risen to great splendour and prosperity.
After his death the city fell under
The last time the place is mentioned under its ancient name, is in a passage of Ammianus Marcellinus.[5] The emperor Justinian (527–565) restored it and surrounded it with strong fortifications,[6] and after that time it is spoken of only under the name of Hexamilion.[7] The place now occupying the site of Lysimachia, Eksemil, derives its name from the Justinianian fortress, though the ruins of the ancient city are more numerous in the neighbouring village of Ortaköy.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Lysimachia". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Notes
- ISBN 3-7749-1750-7.
- ^ Strabo, Geography, 2.5.40, 7.52, 7.54; Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.9.8; Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca, 20.29.1; Polybius, Histories, 5.34; Pliny, Natural History, 4.11.48 [1].
- ^ John Freely (1998). Turkey around the Marmara. SEV Matbaalıcık ve Yayıncılık, A.Ş. İstanbul. p.104.
- ^ Livy, History of Rome, xxxiii. 38, 40; Appian, The Foreign Wars, "The Syrian Wars", 1.
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Histoire de Rome, xxii. 8.
- ^ Procopius, De aedificiis, iv. 10.
- Symeon Metaphrastes, Chronicon.