Greek City of Selge in Psidia
Bronze 11mm (2.6 grams) Struck circa 100-25 B.C.
Reference: Sear 5491; B.M.C. 19.262,47-8
Head of bearded Hercules right, club behind neck.
Winged thunderbolt and bow; Σ - E in field.
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Selge (in
Greek Σελγη) was an important city in
Pisidia, on
the southern slope of
Mount Taurus, at the part where the river
Eurymedon River forces its way through the mountains towards the south.
The town was believed to be a
Greek colony, for
Strabo[1]
states that it was founded by
Spartans, but
adds the somewhat unintelligible remark that previously it had been founded by
Calchas. The
acropolis
of Selge bore the name of Kesbedion[2].
The district in which the town was situated was extremely fertile, producing
abundance of oil and wine, but the town itself was difficult of access, being
surrounded by precipices and beds of torrents flowing towards the Eurymedon and
Cestrus (today Aksu), and requiring bridges to make them passable. In
consequence of its excellent laws and political constitution, Selge rose to the
rank of the most powerful and populous city of Pisidia, and at one time was able
to send an army of 20,000 men into the field. Owing to these circumstances, and
the valour of its inhabitants, for which they were regarded as worthy kinsmen of
the Spartans, the Selgians were never subject to any foreign power, but remained
in the enjoyment of their own freedom and independence. When
Alexander the Great passed through Pisidia (333 BC), Selge sent an embassy
to him and gained his favour and friendship.[3]
At that time they were at war with
Termessos.
At the period when
Achaeus had made himself master of Western Asia, Selge were at war with
Pednelissus, which was besieged by them; and Achaeus, on the invitation of
Pednelissus, sent a large force against Selge (218 BC). After a long and
vigorous siege, the Selgians, being betrayed and despairing of resisting Achaeus
any longer, sent deputies to sue for peace, which was granted to them on the
following terms: they agreed to pay immediately 400
talents, to restore the prisoners of Pednelissus, and after a time to pay
300 talents in addition.[4]
We now have for a long time no particulars about the history of Selge; in the
5th century AD
Zosimus[5]
calls it indeed a little town, but it was still strong enough to repel a body of
Goths. It is
strange that
Pliny does not notice Selge, for we know from its coins that it was still a
flourishing town in the time of
Hadrian; and
it is also mentioned in
Ptolemy[6]
and
Hierocles. Independently of wine and oil, the country about Selge was rich
in timber, and a variety of trees, among which the
storax was much
valued from its yielding a strong perfume. Selge was also celebrated for an
ointment prepared from the iris root.[7]
The remains of the city consist mainly of parts of the encircling wall and of
the acropolis. A few traces have survived of the
gymnasium, the stoa,
the stadium
and the
basilica. There are also the outlines of two temples, but the best conserved
monument is the
theater, restored in the 3rd century AD.
Halfway on the road to Selge from the
Pamphylian
coastal plain,
a well-preserved Roman Bridge crosses the deep
Eurymedon
valley.
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