Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History ofGreece |
 |
|
|
|
|
 Greece portal |
TheIonian League (Ancient Greek:Ἴωνες,romanized: Íōnes;κοινὸν Ἰώνων,koinón Iōnōn; orκοινὴ σύνοδος Ἰώνων,koinē sýnodos Iōnōn, inLatin:commune consilium), also called thePanionic League, was aconfederation formed at the end of theMeliac War in the mid-7th century BC[2] comprising twelveIonian Greek city-states (adodecapolis, of which there were many others), and eventually thirteen city-states with the admission ofSmyrna. The earliest union of city-states in the area was the Ionian League. The League survived through theHellenistic andRoman periods, until the 3rd century AD.
The twelve ancient city-states were listed byHerodotus as:[3]
Smyrna, an originallyAeolic city bordering the Ionians, asked for admission and entered the League at a later date, being first attested in a decree of 289/8 BC.[4] The league is still attested as having thirteen members as late as the 3rd century AD, but this may reflect tradition more than reality, as due tosynoecisms and the fluctuation in importance of the various cities, some were incorporated into others over time (e.g. Myus became part of Miletus).[5]
One of the earliest known historical sources, theHistories ofHerodotus, and early inscriptions refer to the legally constituted body customarily translated by "league" as "the Ionians" in the special sense of the cities incorporated by it. One therefore reads of the cities, council or decisions "of the Ionians." Writers and documents of theHellenistic Period explicitly use the termkoinon ("common thing") orsynodos ("synod") of the Ionians, and byanachronism apply it to the early league when they mention it.
Under theRoman Empire it was allowed to issue its own coinage under the namekoinon Iōnōn on one side with the face of the emperor on the other.
TheMeliac War was a final settlement between the ancient state ofCaria and theIonians who had been settlers on its land at the mouth of theMaeander for some centuries. Their last stronghold was the fortified settlement of Melia at the smaller peak of Dilek Daglari on the north slopes ofMycale, where the seat of their worship ofPoseidon Heliconius was located. The fort was constructed in the early 7th century BC.
Carians and Ionians had beenintermarrying for generations but a Carian state persisted until a coalition of Ionian cities defeated it and divided its lands among them. In view of the risingPersian threat, they decided to continue the coalition as the Ionian League, building a new religious and political center at Melia.
Delegates (theoroi) of the league gathered to celebrate thePanionia, a religious festival and games (panegyris) dedicated to Poseidon Heliconius at the sanctuary of Poseidon called thePanionium. The Ionians (who had amalgamated with the Carians) had decided to continue the worship of Poseidon. Eventually, a new temple to the god was erected about 540 BC. (Its ruins and the location of Melia were part of the Lohmann et al. discoveries of 2004; prior to then, other theories of the location had been prevalent.)
Media related toIonian League at Wikimedia Commons
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
