Magnesia on the Maeander
Encyclopedia
Magnesia or Magnesia on the Maeander ( or Μαγνησία ἡ ἐπὶ Μαιάνδρῳ) was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia
, considerable in size, at an important location commercially and strategically in the triangle of Priene
, Ephesus
and Tralles. The city was named Magnesia, after the Magnetes
from Thessaly
who settled the area along with some Cretans. It was later called "on the Meander" to distinguish it from the nearby Lydia
n city Magnesia ad Sipylum
.
The territory around Magnesia was extremely fertile, and produced excellent wine
, figs
, and cucumbers. It was near the modern town of Germencik
, Turkey
, situated on the slope of Mount Thorax, on the banks of the small river Lethacus, a tributary
of the Maeander river upstream from Ephesus
. It was 15 miles from the city of Miletus
.
Magnesia lay within Ionia
, but because it had been settled by Aeolians
from Greece, was not accepted into the Ionian League. Magnesia may have been ruled for a time by the Lydia
ns, and was for some time under the control of the Persians, and subject to Cimmerian raids. In later years, Magnesia supported the Romans
in the Second Mithridatic War
.
. However, the city was taken and destroyed by the Cimmerians
, some time between 726 BC and 660 BC. The deserted site was soon reoccupied, and rebuilt by the Milesians
or, according to Athenaeus, by the Ephesians. The Persian satraps of Lydia also occasionally resided in the place.
In the fifth century BC, the exiled Athenian Themistocles
came to Persia to offer his services to Artaxerxes
, and was given control of Magnesia to support his family.
In the time of the Romans
, Magnesia was added to the kingdom of Pergamus
, after Antiochus
had been driven eastward beyond Mount Taunts. After this time the town seems to have declined and is rarely mentioned, though it is still noticed by Pliny
and Tacitus
. Hierocles
ranks it among the bishoprics of Asia, and later documents seem to imply that at one time it bore the name of Maeandropolis. The existence of the town in the time of the emperors Aurelius and Gallienus
is attested to by coins.
, the mother of the gods
; the wife or daughter of Themistocles, was said to have been a priestess of that divinity.
Strabo
later noted the temple no longer existed, the town having been transferred to another place. The change in the site of the town alluded to by Strabo, is not noticed by other contemporary authors, however some suggest that Magnesia was moved from the banks of the Meander to a place at the foot of Mount Thorax three miles from the river.
The new town which Strabo saw was remarkable for its temple of Artemis
Leucophryeno, which in size and the number of its treasures was surpassed by the temple of Ephesus
, but in beauty and the harmony of its parts was superior to all the temples in Asia Minor. The temple to Artemis is said by Vitruvius
to have been built by the architect Hermogenes
, in the Ionic
style.
Little remains of either temple today. The site of Magnesia on the Maeander was once identified with the modern Guzel-kissar; since then the ruins of a temple to Artemis were found at Inck-bazar, and the latter is considered a more likely site.
, discoverer of the Pergamon Altar
. These lasted 21 months and partially revealed the theatre, the Artemis
temple, the agora
, the Zeus
temple and the prytaneion
. Excavations were resumed at the site, after an interval of almost 100 years, in 1984, by Orhan Bingöl of the University of Ankara and the Turkish Ministry of Culture.
Findings from the site are now displayed in Istanbul
and Aydın
, as well as in Berlin
and Paris
. Copies of the portico (pronaos) of the Zeus temple and of a bay of the Artemis temple can be visited in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin. The most of the architectural remains of Magnesia have been destroyed by local lime burners. The well preserved remains of the Zeus temple have been destroyed by local residents even after Humann's excavation campaign.
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, considerable in size, at an important location commercially and strategically in the triangle of Priene
Priene
Priene was an ancient Greek city of Ionia at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of the then course of the Maeander River, from today's Aydin, from today's Söke and from ancient Miletus...
, Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
and Tralles. The city was named Magnesia, after the Magnetes
Magnetes
The Magnetes were an ancient Greek tribe living in Thessalian Magnesia who took part in the Trojan War. They later also contributed to the Greek colonisation by founding two prosperous cities in Western Anatolia, Magnesia on the Maeander and Magnesia ad Sipylum.According to Hesiod's "Eoiae" or...
from Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
who settled the area along with some Cretans. It was later called "on the Meander" to distinguish it from the nearby Lydia
Lydia
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
n city Magnesia ad Sipylum
Magnesia ad Sipylum
Magnesia ad Sipylum , was a city of Lydia, situated about 65 km northeast of Smyrna on the river Hermus at the foot of Mount Sipylus...
.
The territory around Magnesia was extremely fertile, and produced excellent wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, figs
FIGS
FIGS is an acronym for French, Italian, German, Spanish. These are usually the first four languages chosen to localize products into when a company enters the European market....
, and cucumbers. It was near the modern town of Germencik
Germencik
Germencik is a town and a district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.- Geography :Germencik is located in the middle of the fertile Büyük Menderes plain, inland from the Aegean coastal town of Kuşadası, on the Aydın-İzmir highway from the city of Aydın...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, situated on the slope of Mount Thorax, on the banks of the small river Lethacus, a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Maeander river upstream from Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
. It was 15 miles from the city of Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
.
Magnesia lay within Ionia
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
, but because it had been settled by Aeolians
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
from Greece, was not accepted into the Ionian League. Magnesia may have been ruled for a time by the Lydia
Lydia
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
ns, and was for some time under the control of the Persians, and subject to Cimmerian raids. In later years, Magnesia supported the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
in the Second Mithridatic War
Second Mithridatic War
The Second Mithridatic War was one of three wars fought between Pontus and the Roman Republic. The second Mithridatic war was fought between King Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman general Lucius Licinius Murena....
.
General history
Magnesia soon attained great power and prosperity, so as to be able to cope even with a challenge from EphesusEphesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
. However, the city was taken and destroyed by the Cimmerians
Cimmerians
The Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads of Indo-European origin.According to the Greek historian Herodotus, of the 5th century BC, the Cimmerians inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in what is now Ukraine and Russia...
, some time between 726 BC and 660 BC. The deserted site was soon reoccupied, and rebuilt by the Milesians
Milesians (Greek)
The Milesians of Hellenic civilization were the inhabitants of Miletus, a city in the Anatolia province of modern-day Turkey, near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and at the mouth of the Meander River. Settlers from Crete moved to Miletus sometime in 16th century BC...
or, according to Athenaeus, by the Ephesians. The Persian satraps of Lydia also occasionally resided in the place.
In the fifth century BC, the exiled Athenian Themistocles
Themistocles
Themistocles ; c. 524–459 BC, was an Athenian politician and a general. He was one of a new breed of politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy, along with his great rival Aristides...
came to Persia to offer his services to Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes I of Persia
Artaxerxes I was the sixth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 465 BCE to 424 BCE. He was the son of Xerxes I of Persia and Amestris, daughter of Otanes.*Artaxerxes I was the sixth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 465 BCE to 424 BCE. He was the son of Xerxes I of Persia and...
, and was given control of Magnesia to support his family.
In the time of the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Magnesia was added to the kingdom of Pergamus
Pergamus
In Greek mythology, Pergamus was the son of the warrior Neoptolemus and Andromache.In the Bible, Pergamus was quoted as an Asian kingdom where an unknown being from the Book of Revelation sends a message to the seven churches of Asia...
, after Antiochus
Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...
had been driven eastward beyond Mount Taunts. After this time the town seems to have declined and is rarely mentioned, though it is still noticed by Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
and Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
. Hierocles
Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)
Hierocles or Hierokles was a Byzantine geographer of the sixth century and the attributed author of the Synecdemus or Synekdemos, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of the cities of each...
ranks it among the bishoprics of Asia, and later documents seem to imply that at one time it bore the name of Maeandropolis. The existence of the town in the time of the emperors Aurelius and Gallienus
Gallienus
Gallienus was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis...
is attested to by coins.
Landmarks
Magnesia contained a temple of DindymeneDindymene
Dindymene is an extinct genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida. It contains two species, D. didymograpti, and D. hughesiae.-External links:* at the Paleobiology Database...
, the mother of the gods
Cybele
Cybele , was a Phrygian form of the Earth Mother or Great Mother. As with Greek Gaia , her Minoan equivalent Rhea and some aspects of Demeter, Cybele embodies the fertile Earth...
; the wife or daughter of Themistocles, was said to have been a priestess of that divinity.
Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
later noted the temple no longer existed, the town having been transferred to another place. The change in the site of the town alluded to by Strabo, is not noticed by other contemporary authors, however some suggest that Magnesia was moved from the banks of the Meander to a place at the foot of Mount Thorax three miles from the river.
The new town which Strabo saw was remarkable for its temple of Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
Leucophryeno, which in size and the number of its treasures was surpassed by the temple of Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, but in beauty and the harmony of its parts was superior to all the temples in Asia Minor. The temple to Artemis is said by Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
to have been built by the architect Hermogenes
Hermogenes of Priene
Interest in Hermogenes of Priene , the Hellenistic architect of a temple of Artemis Leukophryene at Magnesia in Lydia, an Ionian colony on the banks of the Maeander river in Anatolia, has been sparked by references to his esthetic made by the 1st century Roman architect Vitruvius .Hermogenes'...
, in the Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
style.
Little remains of either temple today. The site of Magnesia on the Maeander was once identified with the modern Guzel-kissar; since then the ruins of a temple to Artemis were found at Inck-bazar, and the latter is considered a more likely site.
Modern excavations
The first excavations at the archaeological site were performed during 1891 and 1893 by a German archaeological team conducted by Carl HumannCarl Humann
Carl Wilhelm Humann was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist...
, discoverer of the Pergamon Altar
Pergamon Altar
The Pergamon Altar is a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon in Asia Minor....
. These lasted 21 months and partially revealed the theatre, the Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
temple, the agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...
, the Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
temple and the prytaneion
Prytaneion
A Prytaneion was seat of the Prytaneis , and so the seat of government in ancient Greece. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games met at Olympia...
. Excavations were resumed at the site, after an interval of almost 100 years, in 1984, by Orhan Bingöl of the University of Ankara and the Turkish Ministry of Culture.
Findings from the site are now displayed in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and Aydın
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
, as well as in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Copies of the portico (pronaos) of the Zeus temple and of a bay of the Artemis temple can be visited in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin. The most of the architectural remains of Magnesia have been destroyed by local lime burners. The well preserved remains of the Zeus temple have been destroyed by local residents even after Humann's excavation campaign.
Notable people
- BathyclesBathycles of MagnesiaBathycles of Magnesia was an Ionian sculptor of Magnesia on the Maeander. He was commissioned by the Spartans to make a marble throne for the statue of Apollo at Amyclae, about 550 BC. Pausanias gives us a detailed description of this monument, which is of the greatest value to us, showing the...
(6th century BC) Greek sculptor. - ThemistoclesThemistoclesThemistocles ; c. 524–459 BC, was an Athenian politician and a general. He was one of a new breed of politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy, along with his great rival Aristides...
of Athens spent his final years and was buried here.
Sources
- Carl HumannCarl HumannCarl Wilhelm Humann was a German engineer, architect and archaeologist...
: Magnesia am Maeander. Bericht über die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen der Jahre 1891–1893. Berlin: Reimer, 1904 - Volker Kästner: Der Tempel des Zeus Sosipolis von Magnesia am Mäander, in: Brigitte Knittlmayer and Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer: Die Antikensammlung, Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1998, p. 230-231
- Johannes Althoff: Ein Meister des Verwirklichens. Der Archäologe Theodor Wiegand, in: Peter Behrens, Theodor Wiegand und die Villa in Dahlem. Klaus Rheidt and Barbara A. Lutz (ed.), Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2004, p. 151