Λάμψακος | |
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  Lampsacus Shown within The Aegean Sea area | |
| Alternative name | Pityusa, Pityussa, Lampsakos |
|---|---|
| Location | Lapseki,Çanakkale Province, Turkey |
| Region | Troad |
| Coordinates | 40°20′48″N26°41′57″E / 40.34667°N 26.69917°E /40.34667; 26.69917 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Builder | Colonists fromPhocaea andMiletus |
Lampsacus (/ˈlæmsəkəs/;Ancient Greek:Λάμψακος,romanized: Lampsakos) was anancient Greek city located in modern dayTurkey, strategically situated on the eastern side of theHellespont in the northernTroad.[1] An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town ofLapseki.
Originally known asPityusa orPityussa[2] (Ancient Greek:Πιτυούσ(σ)α), it was colonized fromPhocaea andMiletus. In the 6th century BC Lampsacus was attacked byMiltiades the Elder and Stesagoras, the Athenian tyrants of the nearbyThracian Chersonese.[3] During the 6th and 5th centuries BC, Lampsacus was successively dominated byLydia,Persia,Athens, andSparta. The Greek tyrants Hippoclus and later his son Acantides ruled underDarius I.[4]Artaxerxes I assigned it toThemistocles with the expectation that the city supply the Persian king with its famouswine. When Lampsacus joined theDelian League after thebattle of Mycale (479 BC), it paid a tribute of twelvetalents, a testimony to its wealth; it had agold coinage in the 4th century, an activity only available to the more prosperous cities.[5]
A revolt against the Athenians in 411 BC was put down by force. In 196 BC, theRomans defended the town againstAntiochus the Great, and it became an ally of Rome;Cicero (2 Verr. i. 24. 63) andStrabo (13. 1. 15) attest its continuing prosperity under Roman rule. Lampsacus was also notable for its worship ofPriapus, who was said to have been born there.
The philosopherAnaxagoras was forced to retire to Lampsacus after a trial in Athens around 434–433 BC. The citizens of Lampsacus erected an altar to Mind and Truth in his honor, and observed the anniversary of his death for many years. Additionally, in his honor, the annual celebration known as theAnaxagoreia was established.
The people of Lampsacus were pro-Persian, or were suspected of being so andAlexander the Great was furiously angry, and threatened to do them massive harm. They sentAnaximenes of Lampsacus to intercede for them. Alexander knew why he had come, and swore by the gods that he would do the opposite of what he would ask, so Anaximenes said, 'Please do this for me, your majesty: enslave the women and children of Lampsacus, burn their temples, and raze the city to the ground.' Alexander had no way round this clever trick, and since he was bound by his oath he reluctantly pardoned the people of Lampsacus.[6][7]
Lampsacus produced a series of notable historians and philosophers.Charon of Lampsacus (c. 500 BC) composed histories of Persia, Libya, and Ethiopia, and annals of his native town.[8]Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the elder) (5th century BC) was a philosopher from the school ofAnaxagoras.Strato of Lampsacus (c. 335 – c. 269 BC) was a Peripatetic philosopher and the third director of Aristotle'sLyceum at Athens.Euaeon of Lampsacus was one ofPlato's students. A group of Lampsacenes were in the circle ofEpicurus; they includedPolyaenus of Lampsacus (c. 340 – 278 BC) a mathematician, the philosophersIdomeneus of Lampsacus,Colotes the satirist andLeonteus of Lampsacus;Batis of Lampsacus the wife of Idomeneus, was the sister ofMetrodorus of Lampsacus (the younger), whose elder brother, also a friend of Epicurus, wasTimocrates of Lampsacus.Anaximenes of Lampsacus, a rhetorician and historian. His nephew (son of his sister), was also named Anaximenes and was a historian.[9] Aristocles (Ἀριστοκλῆς) of Lampsacus was a stoic philosopher.[10]Xenophon of Lampsacus was a geographer.
The people of Lampsacus dedicated a statue of Anaximenes of Lampsacus atOlympia, Greece.[11]
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According to legend,St Tryphon was buried at Lampsacus after his martyrdom atNicaea in 250.[12]
The first knownbishop in Lampsacus wasParthenius, underConstantine I. Part of the Hellespont, Lampsacus was subject to the metropolis ofCyzicus. In 364, thesee was occupied byMarcian and in the same year a council of bishops was held at Lampsacus. Marcian was summoned to theFirst Council of Constantinople ofConstantinople in 381, but refused to retract his adherence of theMacedonian Christiansect. Other known Bishops of Lampsacus were Daniel, who assisted at theCouncil of Chalcedon (451);Harmonius (458); Constantine (680), who attended theThird Council of Constantinople; John (787), at Nicaea;St. Euschemon, a correspondent ofSt. Theodore the Studite, and a confessor of the Faith for the veneration of images, underTheophilus. The See of Lampsacus is mentioned in the "Notitiae Episcopatuum" until about the 12th or 13th century.[13] The famousLampsacus Treasure, now in the British Museum, dates from this period.Thebishopric remains a vacant andtitular see.[14]
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Media related toLampsacus at Wikimedia Commons
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