LYCIAN DYNASTS - Kuprlli
(A dynast of considerable importance judging from the extent of his coinage)
Silver Obol 8mm (0.7 grams) -
Struck 475-450 B.C. -
Head of Athena right in crested helmet.
Triskeles.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Lycia (pronounced
/ˈlɪ.ʃi.ə/;[1]
Lycian: Trm̃mis;
Greek: Λυκία) was a region in
Anatolia in
what are now the
provinces of
Antalya and
Muğla on the southern
coast of
Turkey. It was
a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a
province of the
Roman
Empire. The Lycian League was the first federation in the world with
democratic principles which later influenced the
United States Constitution.[2]
Geography
Map of Lycia showing significant ancient cities and some major
mountains and rivers. Red dots are mountain peaks, white dots are
ancient cities.
The borders of Lycia varied over time but at its center was the Teke
peninsula in south-western Turkey. It was bounded by
Caria to the west
and north west,
Pamphylia
to the east, and
Pisidia to the north east. The region is mountainous and densely forested
region with few large valleys. The mountains are the westernmost part of the
Taurus mountains in particular the Akağları and Beydağları mountains whose
peaks can exceed 3000 meters. Inland is the Elmalı basin. The major rivers are
the
Eşen Çay (ancient Xanthos river), Demre Çay (ancient Myros river),
Arykandos, and Alakir Çay. The area is known for steep gorges and underground
rivers.[3]
Modern
In modern Turkey the region is split between Antalya (on the east) and Muğla
(on the west) provinces. The major city is
Fethiye built
on ancient Telmessos. Well known towns include
Kalkan,
Kaş, and
Demre (ancient
Myra). Inland
Elmalı is fairly important.
Turkey's first
waymarked
long-distance footpath, the
Lycian Way,
follows part of the coast of the region.
Ancient
Ancient names are sometimes be difficult to match the
Cragus
and Anticragus mountains on the west side of the Xanthos river seem to
include modern
Babadağ.
The principal cities of ancient Lycia were
Xanthos,
Patara,
Myra,
Pinara,
Tlos and
Olympos (each
entitled to three votes in the Lycian League) and
Phaselis.
Cities such as
Telmessos
and
Krya were sometimes listed by Classical authors as Carian and sometimes as
Lycian.
Features
and sights of interest
Though the second-century AD dialogue
Erotes
found the cities of Lycia "interesting more for their history than for their
monuments, since they have retained none of their former splendor", many relics
of the Lycians remain visible today, especially their distinctive rock-cut tombs
in the sides of cliffs in the region. The
British Museum in
London has one
of the best collections of Lycian artifacts. Lycia was an important center of
worship for the goddess
Leto and later, her twin children,
Apollo and
Artemis.
Ancient
language
The eponymous inhabitants of Lycia, the
Lycians,
spoke an
Indo-European language, belonging to its
Anatolian branch. The closest language to the Lycian language is the
Luwian language, which was spoken in Anatolia during the 2nd and early 1st
millennium BC; it may even be its direct ancestor.
History
Bronze
age
Ancient Egyptian records describe the Lycians as allies of the
Hittites.
Lycia may have been a member state of the
Assuwa league of ca. 1250 BC, appearing as 'Lukka
or Luqqa. After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, Lycia emerged as an
independent "Neo-Hittite"
kingdom. According to
Herodotus,
Lycia was named after
Lycus, the son of
Pandion II
of Athens. The
region was never unified into a single territory in antiquity, but remained a
tightly-knit confederation of fiercely independent city-states.
Lycia was frequently mentioned by
Homer as an ally
of Troy. In Homer's
Iliad, the Lycian
contingent was said to have been led by two esteemed warriors:
Sarpedon
(son of Zeus and
Laodamia)
and
Glaucus (son of
Hippolochus). Elsewhere in
Greek mythology, the Lycian kingdom was said to have been ruled by another
Sarpedon, a
Cretan exile and
brother of the king
Minos; Sarpedon's followers were called Termilae, and they founded a dynasty
after their conquest of a people called the Milyans. As with the founding of
Miletus, this
mythical story implies a Cretan connection to the settlement of Asia Minor.
Lycia appears elsewhere in Greek myth, such as in the story of
Bellerophon, who eventually succeeded to the throne of the Lycian king
Iobates (or
Amphianax).
Classical
period
Lycia came under the control of the
Persian Empire in 546 BC when
Harpagus
of Media, a
general in the service of
Cyrus conquered
Asia Minor.
Harpagus's
descendants ruled Lycia until 468 BC when Athens wrested control away. Following
the ousting of the Persians, as Athens and Sparta fought the Peloponnesian wars,
the majority of Lycian cities defaulted from the Delian League, with the
exception of Telmessos and Phaselis.
In 429 BC, Athens sent an expedition against Lycia to try to force it to
rejoin the league. This failed when Lycia's leader Gergis of Xanthos defeated
General Melasander. The Lycians once again fell under Persian domination and by
412 BC, Lycia is documented as fighting on the winning side of Persia. The
Persian
satraps were re-installed, but (as the coinage of the time attests) they
allowed local dynasts the freedom to rule.[4]
Persia held Lycia until it was conquered by
Alexander III (the Great)
of Macedon during 334-333 BC.[5]
Hellenistic
period
After the death of
Alexander the Great in 324 BC,
his generals
fought amongst themselves over the succession. Lycia fell into the hands of the
general
Antigonus by 304 BC. In 301 BC Antigonus was killed by an alliance of the
other successors of Alexander, and Lycia became a part of the kingdom of
Lysimachus,
who ruled until he was killed in battle in 281 BC.[6]
By 240 BC Lycia was part of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom, centred on Egypt,[7]
and remained in their control through 200 BC.[8]
It had apparently come under
Seleucid control by 190 BC, when the Seleucids' defeat in the
Battle of Magnesia resulted in Lycia being awarded to
Rhodes in the
Peace of Apamea in 188 BC. It was then granted independence by
Rome in 168 BC (see
Lycian League below) and remained so until becoming a Roman province in 43 AD.[9]
Lycian tombs at Simena, Üçağız (Turkey).
Lycian
League
The Lycian League was established in 168 BC with democratic principles. It
comprised some 23 known
city-states
as members. Lycia, which had been under
Rhodian control
since the
Peace of Apamea in 188 BC, was granted independence by the
Roman
Empire at the conclusion of the
Third Macedonian War. These city states joined together in a federal-style
government that shared political resources against larger nations. A “Lyciarch”
was elected by a senate that convened every autumn at a different city, where
each member sent one, two or three representatives, depending on the city's
size, to the senate, or
Bouleuterion, as it was called. The major cities of the League included
Xanthos,
Patara,
Pinara,
Olympos,
Myra, and
Tlos, with Patara
as the capital.
Phaselis joined the League at a later time. The league continued to function
after Lycia became a Roman province in 46 AD. Lycia ceased being a federation in
the fourth century AD, when it was taken over by the
Byzantine Empire.
Roman
period
In 43, the emperor
Claudius
annexed it to the
Roman
Empire and united it with
Pamphylia
as a Roman province. The heir of
Augustus,
Gaius
Caesar, was killed there in 4 AD.
Byzantine
era
It subsequently was a part of the
Byzantine Empire.
Turkish
era
It was incorporated into the
Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and eventually became part of
Turkey. There
had been a
population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the
Greco-Turkish War in the early 20th century. The region is now one of the
key centres of domestic and foreign tourism in Turkey.
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