Cremna orKremna (Ancient Greek:Κρῆμνα), was an ancient town inPisidia. It is situated in the district ofBucak. It stands in a remote valley on a high plateau dominating the ancientCestrus River (today Aksu), with limited access and good defensive features.[1]
It was first taken byAmyntas, commander of theGalatian auxiliary army ofBrutus andCassius, who became king of Galatia and Pisidia on going over to the side ofMark Antony.Octavian allowed him to remain king until his death in 25 BC.[2] After this, it became aRoman colony, asStrabo says; and there are imperial coins with the epigraph COL. IVL. AVG. CREMNA, which stands forColonia Iulia Augusta [Felix] Cremnena. Its first coins appear to have been minted underHadrian.Ptolemy mentions theCremna Colonia, and according to him it is in the same longitude asSagalassus.[3]
Its water supply posed particular problems and the aqueduct had to include complex and novel solutions.[4]
Thedonatio given by the emperorAurelian (270–275) promised a period of great prosperity for Cremna; but in 276, the town was taken by anIsaurian robber, named Lydius, who used it as a base for looting the region,[5] giving rise to the only visit of aRoman Emperor to the region, that ofMarcus Claudius Tacitus.[6] Later, the town was inserted in theRoman province ofPamphylia Secunda. The name of only one of its bishops is known: Theodorus, present at theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787.[7][8] No longer a residential bishopric, Cremna is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[9]
At some time in the high Middle Ages, the ancient site of the town was abandoned, the population transferring itself to the present village of Çamlık.
The ancient site was identified in 1874 and excavations began in 1970.
37°30′00.50″N30°41′27.96″E / 37.5001389°N 30.6911000°E /37.5001389; 30.6911000
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