Greek city of Tisna in Aiolis -
Bronze 18mm (4.0 grams) Struck 350-300 B.C.
Reference: Sear 4233; Babelon (Traite) pl. 157,24
Beardless head of horned river-god left.
TIΣ / NAION either side of one-handled vase.
Exact site uncertain, but probably on the river Pythikos, east
of Kyme and in the vicinity of Aigai.
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Aeolis (Ancient
Greek Αιολίς Aiolís) or Aeolia (pronounced
/iːˈoʊlɪə/) (Ancient
Greek Αιολία Aiolía) was an area that comprised the
west and northwestern region of
Asia Minor, mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islands
(particularly
Lesbos), where the
Aeolian
Greek city-states were located. Aeolis incorporated the southern parts of
Mysia which
bounded it to the north,
Ionia to the
south, and Lydia
to the east.
Geography
Aeolis was an ancient district on the western coast of
Asia Minor. It extended along the
Aegean Sea
from the entrance of the
Hellespont
(now the
Dardanelles) south to the Hermus River (now the Gediz River). It was named
for the Aeolians, some of whom migrated there from
Greece before
1000 BC. Aeolis was, however, an ethnological and linguistic enclave rather than
a geographical unit. The district often was considered part of the larger
northwest region of Mysia.
History
According to
Homer's description,
Odysseus,
after his stay with the
Cyclopes,
reached the island of
Aeolus, who
provided him with the west wind
Zephyr.
In early times, by the 8th century BC, the Aeolians' twelve most important
cities were independent, and formed a league (Dodecapolis):
Cyme (also called
Phriconis),
Larissae,
Neonteichos,
Temnus, Cilla,
Notion,
Aegiroessa,
Pitane,
Aegae,
Myrina,
Gryneia, and
Smyrna.[1]
The most celebrated of the cities was
Smyrna (modern
Izmir, Turkey), but in 699 BC, Smyrna became part of an Ionian confederacy.
The remaining cities were conquered by
Croesus, king
of Lydia (reigned
560-546 BC). Later they were held successively by the
Persians,
Macedonians,
Seleucids, and Pergamenes.
Attalus III, the last king of
Pergamum, bequeathed Aeolis to Rome in 133 BC. Shortly afterward, it was
made part of the Roman
province of Asia. At the partition of the
Roman
Empire (395 AD), Aeolis was assigned to the East Roman (Byzantine) empire
and remained under Byzantine rule until the early 1400s, when the
Ottoman Turks occupied the area. |