Claudiopolis (Ancient Greek:Κλαυδιόπολις) also calledNinica andNinica Claudiopolis,[1] was an ancient city ofCilicia.Ammianus[2] mentionsSeleucia and Claudiopolis as cities of Cilicia or of the country drained by theCalycadnus, and Claudiopolis was a colony ofClaudius Caesar. It is described byTheophanes of Byzantium as situated in a plain between the twoTaurus Mountains, a description that exactly corresponds to the position of the basin of the Calycadnus. Claudiopolis may therefore be represented byMut, which is higher up the valley than Seleucia and near the junction of the northern and western branches of the Calycadnus. It is also the place to which the pass over the northern Taurus leads fromLaranda.[3]Pliny mentions aClaudiopolis ofCappadocia,[4] andPtolemy has aClaudiopolis inCataonia.[5] Both these passages and those of Ammianus and Theophanes are cited to prove that there is a Claudiopolis in Cataonia, but it is manifest that the passage in Ammianus at least can apply only to a town in the valley of the Calycadnus inCilicia Trachea. The two Tauri of Theophanes might mean the Taurus andAntitaurus, butHierocles places Claudiopolis inIsauria, a description that cannot apply to the places so named of Pliny and Ptolemy. The city apparently received the Romancolony nameColonia Iulia Felix Augusta Ninica and minted coins in antiquity.[6]
Later assigned to the province ofIsauria, the town became a bishopric. It is no longer the seat of a residential bishop but remains atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church under the name of Claudiopolis in Isauria.[7]
Its site is located near modernMut,Asiatic Turkey.[8][9]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Claudiopolis".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
36°39′06″N33°26′30″E / 36.65168°N 33.44156°E /36.65168; 33.44156
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