Soli (Cilicia)
Geography
Located in Southern Anatolia, on the edge of the timber-rich
History
Neolithic
Archaeological evidence indicates a human presence in the area as early as 7000 BCE at the Yumuktepe mound, 9 km to the northeast.
Late Bronze Age
The first known Luwian settlements and fortifications at Soli proper date the 15th century BCE, and the city was an active port from that time onwards.[1] Soli may have functioned as the harbor city of Kizzuwatna, but this is disputed.[2] The region was controlled by the Hittite Empire from the 14th-13th centuries BCE, and recovered Mycenaean bronzes and ceramics indicate trade with the Aegean.[3][4]
The Bronze Age Collapse ended Hittite hegemony in Cilicia, and Soli may have suffered an attack from the Sea Peoples. This "destruction layer" is populated by burned and broken pottery and is followed by a hiatus in human occupation.[1]
Archaic Period
Achaean and Rhodian colonists[5] reestablished a permanent human presence at Soli between 700 and 690 BCE,[6] leaving behind geometric pottery characteristic of the Archaic period.
Persian Period
Cilicia became a vassal state to and satrapy of the
Hellenistic Period
After Alexander's death (323 BCE), Soli fell to the control of Ptolemy I Soter, and was attacked unsuccessfully by Demetrius I Poliorcetes.[13] Cilicia traded hands between Alexander's successors until the end of the Fifth Syrian War (197 BCE), at which point Soli was held by the Seleucid Empire. Throughout the Hellenistic Period, the city gained considerable local autonomy, minting its own coinage and largely conducting its own affairs.[14] Rhodes appealed to the Roman Senate to liberate Soli from the Seleucids on the grounds of their common heritage, but this case was dropped.[15] Tigranes the Great of Armenia sacked Soli during the Seleucid Empire's collapse (83 BCE), and took the city's citizens to inhabit Tigranocerta, his newly founded capital.[16]
Roman Period
In 67 BCE, the lex Gabinia was passed by the Roman Senate, endowing Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) with proconsular powers to combat piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean. After subduing the pirates, he resettled some surrendered pirates in the depopulated Soli,[17][18] renaming it Pompeiopolis (not to be confused with the Pompeiopolis in nearby Paphlagonia, also founded around this time).[19][5] The harbor was improved and expanded with Roman concrete,[20] and new city walls, a theater and baths were built.[1] The harbor was renovated again by 130 CE under the aegis of Antoninus Pius (though the project may have been begun by Hadrian),[20] and the port city flourished under Roman rule.
After defeating Valerian at Edessa in spring of 260 CE, Sassanid King Shapur I invaded Cilicia and was defeated while besieging Soli-Pompeiopolis.[21] The exact circumstances of the battle are disputed.
The Soli-Pompeiopolis became a bishopric sometime around 300 CE. In 525 CE, the city was leveled by a powerful earthquake and largely abandoned.[22]
Etymology
"...[Solon then] lived in Cilicia and founded a city which he called Soli after his own name. In it he settled some few Athenians, who in process of time corrupted the purity of Attic and were said to "solecize."[24]
Alternately, soloi could derive from local economic resources, namely "metal ingots"[25] or "a mass of iron."[26]
The city may be mentioned in the Šunaššura Treaty,[27] between Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I and Kizzuwatna, as Ellipra or Pitura.[2] These may alternately refer to the Yumuktepe site, but certainly refer to one of the few harbor settlements on the border between Kizzuwatna and Tarḫuntašša.
It has been suggested that Soli corresponds to the coastal city Sallusa in the later Annals of Ḫattušili III, which indicates that some Luwian variant of the classical name may have predated Hellenic settlement of the area.[2]
Locally, the site is known as Viranşehir, meaning "Ruined City".[28]
Notable natives
- Philemon (c. 362 BC – c. 262 BC) a poet of the New Comedy.[5]
- Athenodorus of Soli (c. 3rd Century BC) a Stoic.[29]
- Chrysippus of Soli (c. 279 BC – c. 206 BC) a Stoic.[5]
- Crantor (4th-3rd Century BC) a philosopher of the Academy.[30]
References
- ^ S2CID 135420199.
- ^ a b c Remzi, Yağcı (2001). "The Importance of Soli in the Archaeology of Cilicia in the Second Millennium B.C". Publications de l'Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes (in French). 13 (1).
- JSTOR 502497.
- )
- ^ a b c d e f "Strabo, Geography, Book 14, chapter 5, section 8". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ S2CID 161881666.
- ^ Herodotus. Histories. 5.118, 6.43, 6.95.
- OCLC 314086999.
- JSTOR 43573706.
- ^ "Ancient coinage of Cilicia". snible.org. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- ^ Arrian. "Chapter V". The Anabasis of Alexander.
- ^ Arrian. "Chapter XX". The Anabasis of Alexander.
- ^ "Plutarch, Demetrius, chapter 20, section 4". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ISBN 978-0198142812.
- ^ "Perseus Under Philologic: Polyb. 21.24.12". perseus.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- ^ "Plutarch • Life of Pompey". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- ^ "Cassius Dio — Book 36". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Strabo, Geography, Book 14, chapter 3, section 1". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ "Appian, Mithridatic Wars, CHAPTER XVII". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-25.
- ^ S2CID 161492639.
- )
- ISSN 1057-2414.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ "LacusCurtius • Diogenes Laërtius: Solon". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- )
- ISSN 0484-8942.
- JSTOR 43075426.
- ^ "Soli (Pompeiopolis) | Turkish Archaeological News". turkisharchaeonews.net. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- ^ Laërtius, Diogenes. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers.
- ^ Laërtius, Diogenes. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers.