Docimium,Docimia orDocimeium (Greek:Δοκίμια andΔοκίμειον) was an ancient city ofPhrygia,Asia Minor where there were famous marble quarries.[1] The exact site of Docimium was a matter of some dispute until recently; it is now fixed at the modernTurkish townİscehisar, inAfyonkarahisar Province.[2]
This city, as appears from its coins – which bear the epigraphΔημος orΙερα Συνκλητος Δοκιμεων Μακεδονεν – where the inhabitants are calledMacedonians, may have been founded byAntigonos Dokimos.[3][4] The city's name in Greek is Romanized asDokimeion, Dokimia Kome, Dokimaion, and laterDokimion.
Strabo places Docimium somewhere aboutSynnada: he calls it a village, and says that there is there a quarry of Synnadic stone,[5] as theRomans call it, but the people of the country call it Docimites and Docimaea; the quarry at first yielded only small pieces of the stone, but owing to the later efforts of the Romans large columns of one piece are taken out, which in variety come near the Alabastrites, so that, though the transport to the sea of such weights is troublesome, still both columns and slabs were brought to Rome of wondrous size and beauty. The wordDocimaea (Δοκιμαίαν) in this passage of Strabo appears to be corrupt. It should be eitherΔοκιμαῖον orΔοκιμέα. Strabo says that the plain of Synnada is about 60stadia long, and beyond it is Docimium. TheCatholic Encyclopedia infers from this that he supposed Docimium to be not far from the limit of the plain. The Table makes it 32 M. P. between Synnada and Docimium, and Docimium is on the road from Synnada toDorylaeum; but the number is certainly erroneous.
Docimium was the most important marble quarry and workshop forsarcophagi until around the late third century when the production of the famous columnar sarcophagi ended.[6]
Many Christian inscriptions have been found at this site, dating to the time after Constantine.
Docimium was asuffragan ofSynnada inPhrygia Salutaris. Six or seven bishops are known, from 344 to 879 (Lequien,Oriens Christianus, I, 853); another bishop is mentioned in an inscription.[3] Docimium is included in theCatholic Church's list oftitular sees.[7]
Historically marble from Docimium was generally referred to as "Docimeaen marble" or "Synnadic marble".[8] Docimian marble was highly admired and valued for its unique colors and fine grained quality by ancient people such as the Romans.[9] When the Romans took control over Docimian quarries, they were impressed by the beautiful color combinations of Docimian Pavonazzetto, which is a type of white marble with purple veins. These colours which streaked the white marble, taken from the city's holy mountain, were attributed to the drops of blood from the dying godAttis.[10] Emperors such asAugustus,Trajan andHadrian made extensive use of Docimaean marble to many of their major building projects.[11][12] These include thePantheon,[13][14]Trajan's Forum[15][16][17] and theBasilica Aemilia[18][19] (see the main article onPavonazzo marble for a list of buildings including Docimaean marble).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Docimia".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Pétridès, Sophron (1909). "Docimium". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.38°52′N30°45′E / 38.867°N 30.750°E /38.867; 30.750
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